Chennai: Marina, Elliot's to get Rs 19 crore facelift

Chennai: After being in a state of hibernation for more than two years on the ongoing beach beautification project along the coastline of Chennai, the cash-starved Chennai corporation has successfully bagged the financial sanction for a tune of Rs 19 crore to spruce up Marina and Elliot’s beaches. However, the administrators at Ripon Buildings, the city civic headquarters have failed to get funds and sanction for the beautification of Neelangarai and Kottivakkam beach, pending since 2014.

According to a senior corporation official, the state has cleared the beach beautification on two stretches covering Marina and Elliot’s beaches where public access and sanitation are to be improvised. “Tenders are ready and the works to beautify the beaches would start shortly and we are focusing on improving the beach access to public and the maintenance of shoreline,” the official said, adding that ramps for differently abled, more beach cleaning machines and enhancement of greenery will be the focus under the facelift project, he said. When asked about the delay in beautifying the Neelangarai and Kottivakkam beach stretches the official said that the proposal was still in the pipeline.

Beaches are a natural gift of Chennai and the entire coastline from Chennai to Kancheepuram needs regular beach cleaning mechanism. The beaches are not only a tourist destination, but they also serve as a habitat for nestling Olive Ridley Turtles and small marine species, so the state should periodically address the sanitation issues and conserve the ecological value of Chennai beach, said avid bird watcher N. Balaji of The Nature Trust.

“During the DMK regime beach beautification was given maximum attention and more than Rs 25 crore was spent to spruce Marina and Elliot’s, but the second and third phase of the project was shelved since 2013,” said former Chennai Mayor M. Subramanian. Further the beach serves as a face of Chennai and it needs periodical maintenance and regular beautification without concretisation, the MLA from south Chennai added.