Chennai: The Bougainvillea Park at Anna Nagar East, once a vibrant green space, remains dug up for nearly three months — its walkways broken, benches removed, and greenery completely cleared as renovation work has stalled. Spread across 2.7acres along Sixth Avenue, the park has been a focal point for residents for nearly two decades. More than 10,000 people live in the surrounding neighbourhood. It was taken up for renovation in Nov 2025 after years of complaints over poor maintenance and water stagnation. Greater Chennai Corporation undertook the 3-crore project to revamp the park with proper drainage, improved lighting, new seating, toilets, and compound walls, in addition to pickleball and badminton courts, fountains, a gymnasium, and a children’s play area.While excavation began in Jan this year, progress has been minimal since. Visitors said only a handful of workers have been seen at the site over the past few months, leaving the park unusable. “They said the renovation would be completed in June, but it doesn’t look like it,” said V S Mahesh, a regular visitor.Piles of excavated soil, rusted playground structures, and heaps of debris lie scattered across the premises. The rubble, left unattended, has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, residents said. “They took up the renovation after repeated complaints about maintenance, but now the delay has made things worse. The project must be fast-tracked,” said V Sandhya, a resident of M Block.Anna Nagar zonal chairman K P Jain blamed the contractor for the slow pace of work. “I have inspected the site several times and asked for deploying more workers, but it hasn’t done it. Corporation should penalise the contractor,” he said. Regional deputy commissioner (central) H R Koushik said the project would be completed by the first week of April. “We have asked the contractor to speed up the work,” he said.
