The Kalaignar Memorial Centenary Park, to be established on a plot of 6.09 acres, will be modelled after the Botanical Garden and Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. In his Independence Day speech, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin announced that the park would be developed at a cost of ₹25 crore.
The park will come up on a prime land on Cathedral Road near the U.S. Consulate. The plot was regained by the State government in June, after the Madras High Court delivered a verdict in its favour. Up until then, it had been in the possession of the Agri Horticultural Society. Several properties, including the one on Cathedral Road, were taken on lease by the society in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The government started the legal process in 1989 to reclaim the land, and, after a 33-year legal battle, finally took possession of the property, valued at about ₹1,000 crore.
The Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops has already created a park, Senganthal Poonga, on 6.3 acres of land, which was also under the possession of the Agri Horticultural Society.
“Now we have removed fences dividing Senganthal Poonga and the newly-gained land. Both areas will be developed together,” said R. Brindha Devi, Director of Horticulture and Plantation Crops. She, along with M.R.K. Panneerselvam, Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare had visited Singapore to study the parks there.
“The park to be developed will be linked with the Semmozhi Poonga on the other side of the road. Whether it should be linked by an elevated bridge or underground bridge is being studied at present,” Ms. Devi said. The Department has already started surveying the area. “After a thorough study, we will send the proposals to the Chief Minister to make a decision,” she said.
Once created, the park with giant trees, several varieties of plants, creepers, an open air theatre and a nursery, will be one of the important landmarks of Chennai, as it is in the heart of the city.
