SPONGE COLLABORATIVE +
WEAVING WITH WATER Team
MULLASSERY CANAL FRAMEWORK AND CANAL EDGE MASTERPLAN
Stretch F - Karunakaran Lane, Outside Jewish Cemetery
Figure 66: Canal section near Karunakaran Lane (Image Credit: Weaving with Water team)
At this stretch, towards the mouth of the canal, various public and institutional spaces are adjacent to the canal, highlighting a need for the canal to function as a safe and lively public space. Multi-use floodable landscapes are proposed to act as catchment areas during high-rainfall and flash flood periods, and revert back to more civic uses during dry spells for the adjoining communities. Where possible, the canal edge will also be naturalised and widened. Karunakaran Lane is reimagined as a shared zone - an extension of the St. Theresa’s College and the Jewish Cemetery. The design proposes a green street, with tree pits and bioswales to ‘hold and delay’ the flow of water into the canal, along with street lights and seating to provide safe spaces for the community. Opportunities - This stretch has the potential to serve as a pause point amidst the heavy traffic corridors of Park Avenue and Market Road. St. Teresa College, Jewish Cemetery, and Esplanade mall being the prominent land properties along this street has unique potential to activate the canal edge through temporal transformation. The before and after-college activities of St. Teresa college can spill over to the street for students to spend their evenings. It can also serve as an extended activity / exhibition space. Jewish cemetery when redeveloped as an open air museum will serve as a major tourist magnet and has the potential to activate the canal edge with high footfall. The frontage of Esplanade mall can open up a vending zone along the street to capitalize on the footfall. Constraints - While the street has the maximum opportunity to work as a connector across social (KMC public plaza), ecological (Canal mouth), and cultural (Jewish open air museum) nodes, the holistic transformation is a long-term process. As a pilot street level intervention, the actual impact of the intervention cannot be observed instantly.
