Chennai: The sprawling 16-acre OSR land in Porur, featuring a serene six-acre lake, is set to open its gates to the public by the end of Dec. With nearly 80% of the work completed, the first wetland park is expected to transform Porur's urban landscape.
CMDA developed the 16.63 acre OSR land, originally a wetland, at Sri Ramachandra University located off Mount-Poonamallee High Road at a cost of 12.6 crore. As part of the initiative, the
6-acre lake
inside the park was also taken up for restoration.
The park will feature a 600m boardwalk, view point, a pollinator garden, a basketball and badminton court, cosy seating areas, gym and landscaped channels leading to a lake. "The OSR land was lying unused for many years, and after knowing that it had a lake, we decided to revive it. Instructions were given to strengthen the bund," said P K Sekarbabu, CMDA minister.
The consultants appointed by CMDA upgraded the existing stormwater drain on the site as a blue-green infrastructure that collects runoff and goes through a nature-based filtration process. The natural waterbody on site stores the runoff and has been deepened to improve its holding capacity and increase groundwater recharge.
The park is designed as a community amenity for wellness and nature-based recreation. CMDA officials said the park will reduce the impact of flooding by collecting and filtering 90% of the surface runoff, thus improving groundwater recharge.
T Seralathan, president, Ramapuram Residents Welfare Association Federation, said that there was no recreational spot in and around Ramapuram and Porur, and this lake is a welcome move. "This is a vantage point. We also need a mini stadium in this locality. It should be a public facility, and entry should not be ticketed to help underprivileged youngsters play," he added.
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