Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash has denied a request from the Boat Club Resident Welfare Association (RWA) asking that they be allowed to install a drop gate to prevent non-residents from jogging or walking in the area. Speaking to television channel Times Now, the Commissioner said that no special treatment will be given to the residents' association and that the law has no provision for such a demand.

The letter written to the Chennai police commissioner on May 27, stated, "Pursuant to the pandemic and lockdown the non residents/ outsiders are increasingly using the Boat Club area for walking/jogging. We also find unknown cars are parked in odd timings. The outsiders are using the place for walking/jogging in groups and their health background is not known and we don't know whether they come from any isolated area. This is against the principle of social distancing under COVID norms. In the above circumstances we kindly request us to permit the installation of a drop gate and only permit the residents and their men so as to prevent any COVID issue that may arise due to this. Further we also request the same to be monitored. We look forward to receiving your consent on this at the earliest and oblige."

The Boat club area situated in Raja Annamalai Puram in Chennai, is known for its posh houses and influential residents. N Srinivasan, Kalanidhi Maran and Venu Srinivasan are amongst the top businessmen who live in the area.

But the Corporation Commissioner has made it clear that their request cannot be considered.

Greater @chennaicorp Commissioner Prakash IAS says that no 'special treatment' will be given to residents welfare association. Boat club residents demands can't be accepted & there is no provision in law to do something like this... #BoatClubRaj https://t.co/yeHjcKCqgh

— Shabbir Ahmed (@Ahmedshabbir20) June 4, 2020

“Greater @chennaicorp Commissioner Prakash IAS says that no 'special treatment' will be given to residents' welfare association. Boat club residents demands can't be accepted & there is no provision in law to do something like this... #BoatClubRaj,” journalist Shabbir Ahmed tweeted.

The letter was signed by the RWA President Ravi Appasamy and listed other members including C Subbareddy, MV Subbiah, Gopal Sirinvasan, Chitra Srinivasan, Kamy Narayan, ME Shanmugam, Suresh Jagannathan and Maijo.

Chennai reported 1,384 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, while Tamil Nadu's total number of cases rose to 27,256. The total number of samples tested was also the highest this week at 16,447. Twelve deaths were reported in the state, taking the total number of deaths due to COVID-19 to 220.