‘Project Marina’ takes off to clean beach
Chennai Corporation's three huge beach cleaning machines to be pressed into the work
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-11-02 04:56 GMT
Chennai: ‘Project Marina’, an ambitious initiative by the Youth Exnora International and Chennai Corporation to clean up the beach began in right earnest with a meeting of most of the ‘stake holders’ here on Saturday. “It was a very successful meeting, where officers of the Corporation, the representatives of the beach traders and fishermen, besides our partners HCL, Mindtree, Deccan Chronicle and Banyan participated. The police officials gave us huge encouragement”, said Ms Nisha Thota, general secretary, Youth Exnora International (YEI) said at the end of the two-hour session at the office of the deputy commissioner of police (Mylapore), Mr V. Balakrishnan.
She said the Chennai Corporation got repaired its three huge beach cleaning machines to be pressed into the work that would start on Wednesday. “We will take up cleaning the beach from the Labour Statue near the MGR memorial to the Light House, a distance of almost three kms. It will include the sand area, the service roads, the gallery of statues, the two waterfalls and the jogging area”, Ms Thota said, adding that about 100 workers would be involved in the cleaning up, including 30 transgenders wearing uniforms and identity cards.
Addressing the beach vendors and fishermen representatives, Mr Balakrishnan said: “This is your project. If Marina is clean, you will benefit. We must prevent littering and also ensure that the beach stays clean of all the plastics and food items of your customers and others. We must also prevent consumption of alcohol by anti-socials. Feel free to call the police if you are unable to handle any person or situation”.
Mr Balakrishnan recalled that when he was SP in Madurai, he got several students to take up the cleaning up of water tanks. “We could involve the youth in similar fashion to clean up our beach here as well. Every citizen of Chennai must take this project as his/her own”, the DC said.