Sivan Park at K.K. Nagar is a greenspace that hosts cultural events too

Sivan Park in K.K. Nagar is the largest green space, offering leisurely strolls, children's play area, and cultural events.

Sivan Park, nestled in the heart of K.K. Nagar, at P.V. Rajamannar Salai, stands as a vital greenspace in the neighbourhood’s landscape. The largest park in the area, Sivan Park has a significant green cover, a fountain, and a workout area. It attracts locals with its array of food, fruit and vegetable vendors lining its perimeter. Here in the ever-bustling space, visitors enjoy leisurely strolls on the well-maintained walking tracks.

The park, which has false Ashoka, coolabah, copperpod, ben teak, neem, gulmohar, and peepal trees, also has a designated and functional play area for children. Dominating the park’s interior is a magnificent statue of Lord Shiva, which is worshipped by visitors with pujas and other rituals during auspicious occasions like Shivaratri and other important Hindu festivals.

Developed by the Tamil Nadu Housing Board in the early 1970s, Kalaignar Karunanidhi Nagar reflects a commitment to incorporating greenspace into urban planning, with each of its twelve sectors boasting their own, small parks.

A research paper titled, ‘Social Life in a Smart Neighbourhood: The case of K.K. Nagar, Chennai’, by architects Devyani Gangopadhyay and Prathyusha Ravi, says the dimension of the sectors (300 x 300 m) and the presence of huge trees along the streets allow the residents to enjoy shaded and comfortable walks encouraging them to come outdoors for their daily needs.

“In K.K. Nagar, the prospective residents were not predetermined; meaning their backgrounds, caste, class, occupation were extremely diverse. In an attempt to enhance healthy social relationships, parks were allotted in the geometric centre of every sector, to allow people to congregate and mingle,” the authors note.

Planned on a gridiron network of streets lined with avenue trees, many of them exotic, the area had a significant green cover that reduced following Cyclone Vardah in 2016. Enough measures were not taken after the cyclone to replant trees. Hence, the greenspaces such as Sivan Park are all the more important now for K.K. Nagar residents.

Vimala, a senior citizen and a regular walker at the park, says the tree cover provides a cool shade in the evenings. “It is pleasant to sit here around 5.30 p.m. when our house gets sultry,” she adds.