DMK misusing land at Anna Arivalayam: AIADMK MLA

CHENNAI: Reviving a decade-old issue, AIADMK MLA P Vetrivel on Thursday urged the State government to retrieve the Open Space Reservation (OSR) land in front of the DMK headquaters, the Anna Arivalayam. He  said that the Rs 100 crore-worth land in the heart of the city has been used for the executive and general council meetings of the DMK in violation of rules. Raising the issue during the discussion on the demands for grants for Housing Department in the State Assembly, Vetrivel said that he had been fighting for the retrieval of this piece of land ever since he was a  Corporation Councillor. Housing Minister R Vaithilingam said Chennai Corporation had to take action in this regard but since the Mayor of Chennai now was a DMK man, no action was taken.  Action would be taken within a couple of months after the local body elections are over,  he said.An unrelenting Vetrivel said the OSR land had been left with the DMK headquarters only for maintenance. As such, either the Corporation or the Local Administration Department could take action to retrieve the land.Vetrivel said the OSR lands were meant for providing the much-needed lung space in the city. But the DMK had been using it violating the rules.In 2004, during the AIADMK regime, State Housing Secretary had sent a show-cause notice to the Chairman of the DMK Trust asking why action should not be taken against it for not setting aside the mandated OSR area at Anna Arivalayam. The Development Control Rules for the city mandated that constructions on land extending to more than 10,000 square metres could be taken up only after setting aside 10 per cent of the piece of land to be developed for open space. The area must be handed over to the local body by a gift deed. The DMK headquarters is spread over about 18,000 sq.mts.Many years ago, Vetrivel, as the chairman of the Corporation’s Standing Committee on Town Planning, had brought the issue to light at a Corporation Council meeting. The area, which was used as a parking lot, was then converted into a makeshift park.