The Mylapore legislator R Nataraj of AIADMK visited
the locality to inaugurate a renovated open space reserve (OSR) park and told
that he had helped resolve a “decade old problem of unauthorised occupation of
public space” in the area. However, he seemed not to notice the illegal encroachment
made by one of his party members. A city corporation initiative to reclaim
public spaces discreetly left out a patch of the footpath where an AIADMK
worker had established an illegal car park, showing how the civic body too
cannot wield its powers in certain corners. Street vendors and encroachments
were removed from the pavements of Ratna Nagar, a residential locality off
Cenotaph Road.