Smart projects in slow lane

Chennai: Over the past few years, the Chennai corporation has, in its annual budgets, promised several beautification projects, like the enhancement of the beach, construction of walkways, new bridges and multi-storey parking lots. All these remain only on paper.

Multi storey parking lots were proposed in 2009 to decongest traffic in T Nagar, Thousand Lights and Flower Bazaar, but these have not seen the light of day. Similarly, the Corporation’s idea of beautification of the Kottivakkam-Neelangarai beach has earned the wrath of environmentalists and local fishermen.

The beauty of a beach lies in its sand and shoreline. Construction activities on a beach constitute not only coastal regulation zone (CRZ) violation, but a means of benefiting contractors.

If the Corporation is so keen on beautifying its beaches, the earmarked money can be spent on clearing encroachments and arresting the factors that pollute beaches, according to environment activist Nithayanand Jayaram.

“For the past three years, the city corporation has been announcing new bridges and subways at various junctions; nearly a dozen projects were announced, but more than 80 per cent of work on the bridges is pending,” alleged DMK floor leader in the city corporation Subash Chandra Bose.

The corporation also promised a walkway in congested T Nagar and the extension of the Usman Road bridge, but there is no progress with these projects. The City Corporation is focusing only on freebies and popular schemes and has ignored issues, like traffic, development and public health, Mr Bose added.

Corporation field officials in charge of the projects passed the buck, citing litigation and public protests as the major reason hindering project execution.