Chennai: The ongoing Smart City project work at Pondy Bazaar for a pedestrian plaza, saw branches of age-old trees being cut, right from Venkatanarayana Road till Pondy Bazaar, where the plaza is to come up. Several residents have now voiced their concerns over the civic act.
Sundar, a long time resident of T Nagar, said, “I witnessed people cutting of branches of trees using powerful machines. My simple question is why should the green space which is well above the road level be removed and what is the benefit they will derive from this action?”
“When questioned about this, an official had no answer for why the trees were being targeted, apart from the reason that it was for the Smart City work, ” he added.
Krishnaswamy, another resident of GN Chetty Road, said, ‘They have already implemented a project for pavement vendors by giving space at a newly constructed commercial complex in Pondy Bazaar and laid a new footpath for shoppers and visitors. Now, in the name of Pedestrian Plaza, they are removing the green space which will result in generating more heat from the equipment and machines kept at establishments here,” and added, “These kind of actions will only deteriorate the living conditions of people here,” he cautioned.