Past a population threshold, a gated community has at the least, one teenager fancying themselves as the next Ravichandran Ashwin. The next Mithali Raj. The next PV Sindhu. The next Ajith Lal. The next Geethu Jose. And there is the masters’ circuit to boot — the hyperlocal Bhutias and Tendulkars spoiling for a go at a sport they once adorned.
So, multifarious sporting aspirations stamped with the same address is usually a fact of big-community living. A residents’ welfare association has its work cut out when these aspirations have to be accommodated in a measly 2000 sq.ft or thereabouts. The pitch is further queered when the development of this space is contingent upon meeting stipulations from the local civic body.
Wedged into a similar situation, the Rani Meyyammai Towers at MRC Nagar in Raja Annamalaipuram, with its 300-plus units, found its answer in a synthetic-multi-purpose turf.
Residents used this facility at their gated community in the days after its inauguration when Coronavirus cases were on the decline. With the ongoing surge in cases, the facility has been temporarily closed. Photo: Special Arrangement
As J. Madhan, secretary, Rani Meyyammai Towers Residents Welfare Association puts it, when the question of developing a Greater Chennai Corporation park at the community’s OSR land came up, the idea of a multi-purpose turf was nowhere on the horizon.
(In early March this year, the community unwrapped the facility in a soft launch. The sudden surge in Coronavirus led it to be temporarily closed on April 6.)
The exercise largely began when RMT parents were plunged into depression over their inability to control their fledglings’ gadget usage.
Madhan underlies how a need was felt to provide children with an outdoor-space within the safe confines
of the community. The facility had to also serve every other age group.
- The management committee at Rani Meyyammai Towers has formed a sports committee to manage the facility. The committee has drawn up an ad hoc time chart on how different age groups could share the facility — it would come into effect when the facility is reopened, states the secretary of the community’s RWA, J. Madhan.
- By placing moveable nets and goal-posts, a variety of sports can be played.
- Says Madhan, “Residents of neighbouring communities visit the facility as they have friends at RMT. And vice versa, as these communities also have their OSR parks.”
The secretary points out that the management committee zeroed in on a section of the Corporation park for establishing the play area.
“This section largely remained unused over the last 15 years. With its corroded metal fitness fixtures, it hardly made a welcome sight. Besides, the overgrowths raised fears of insect attacks,” explains Madhan.
“One of the committee-members — Avinash Senthil — coordinated with Corporation authorities and attended to the formalities that go with a community taking up the development and maintenance of an open space reservation park,” says Madhan. “There were development guidelines to be met. First and foremost, the Corporation stipulated that the space’s essential character as a park should not be diluted. A part of it can be developed into a general play arena though. Two, this play arena should not be dedicated to any particular sport with permanent fixtures. As per the scheme then, we also paid a caution deposit with the Corporation in September 2020.”
A snapshot of the multi-sport facility at the gated community, when it was being used. Photo: Special Arrangement
Says Avinash, “We initiated the park adoption process with Greater Chennai Corporation more than six months ago; and the final approval came in January.”
- Greater Chennai Corporation launched Park Adoption Scheme for Urban Landscape Maintenance (PASUMAI) on 24 December, 2020, to lop off processes that made it difficult for entities — corporate houses, voluntary organisations, residents’ welfare associations and individuals — to take up the development and maintenance of parks, traffic islands and median gardens.
- “The park adoption process is being carried out at the headquarters of Ripon Buildings,” said a Corporation official attached to the Parks Department of Greater Chennai Corporation
- The Corporation official elaborated: “Before executing an MoU, we have to understand the entity who is coming forward to maintain the park. If they are fit enough to handle it — that is, whether they have the resource and know-how to handle it. They have to maintain the standards. After handing it over to them, if it becomes worse, it becomes a double whammy for us.”
- The Corporation official stated that to make it easy for entities to adopt parks, traffic islands and medians, through PASUMAI, projects signed up after 24 December, 2020 — when PASUMAI was launched — the refundable deposit of ₹100 per sq.m for the maintenance of the park, and ₹50,000 for traffic island and median gardens, was waived.
- “The Adoption process cannot be done online, because an MoU has to be executed. And before that, we have to ascertain the background of the entities coming forward to adopt a park. We have to make sure that the entites would not exploit it for commercial purpose,” the Corporation official added.
- At the time of this article being written, the Corporation official said that due to the election Code of Conduct, no agreements were being made in the last 40-45 days.
(It may be noted the Corporation has further simplified the process of park adoption by entities — which include corporates, NGOs, resident welfare associations and even individuals — under what it calls Park Adoption Scheme for Urban Landscape Maintenance, which goes under the acronym PASUMAI. See box 2)
In its embryonic stage, the exercise was a gazillon of years removed from what it ultimately evolved into, explains Madhan. When it was decided a multi-purpose turf would meet the expectations of one and sundry, the question of resources popped up. Turfs do not come cheap.
The facility at the gated community in MRC Nagar in Raja Annamalaipuram, when it was used being used. Photo: Special Arrangement
“We have spent a huge amount to develop the facility, which was made made possible by contributions from some residents of our community, and from the communities around them,” Madhan elaborates.
Following the turf’s inauguration when residents used this facility for a while before it was temporarily closed, reveals Madhan, many parents reported that their children had come out of gadget addiction — Madhan says this would be the biggest achievement of this initiative.