23 parks inaugurated; Work on 300 parks that were proposed a few years ago to begin soon.

Even as 23 parks were thrown open to residents on Tuesday, the Chennai Corporation is chalking out plans for adding another 145 to the city’s map.

Nine playgrounds in the city, including those Gopalapuram, T.Nagar, Royapuram, Nandanam and Ambattur, would receive a facelift.

The combined project is estimated at Rs.120 crore.

Following a review meeting on Tuesday by Mayor Saidai Duraisamy on the condition of parks in the city, officials are set to fast-track the work of sprucing up 300 parks that were proposed a few years ago. The Chennai Corporation has completed work on landscaping of 164 of the 300 parks proposed a few years ago. The Chennai Corporation has initiated various measures based on a plan to increase the forest cover in the city to 33 per cent from the present 6.25 per cent.

At a council meeting held a few months ago, Mayor Saidai Duraisamy said the civic body would initiate a major drive to increase the tree cover after completion of the tree census.

The civic body would adopt practices such as drip irrigation in parks to conserve water during times of scarcity. Corporation officials have been asked to identify spaces such as open space reservation (OSR) land for planting of trees. Residents will be motivated to plant trees on such lands to commemorate birthdays or marriage anniversaries. Private agencies will begin distributing saplings to residents free of cost. The civic body is also planning to strengthen the security mechanism to prevent smoking and drinking at parks and pilferage on the premises. Currently, the Corporation maintains 502 parks for residential neighbourhoods across the city.