Destruction of Elliots beach in the name of beautification

As a resident of Besant Nagar for over 35 years and as a regular walker in Besant Nagar beach almost every day, I feel extremely concerned and disturbed about the proposed so called beautification project of Elliots beach and the ill advised move to convert it into a tourist spot.

I have visited several beaches around the world and I am absolutely convinced that Elliots beach is one of the best in the world from every point of view. While all the governments around the world take great care to preserve the natural beauty of the beaches to the extent possible, though many of them are not bestowed with the level of natural beauty that would equal Elliots beach, the government of Tamil Nadu and Chennai Corporation seem to think that they can beautify the beach surpassing the level of its natural beauty .

All over the world, all governments and civic bodies consider the beach sand as the most precious wealth that the region has and preserve it as such and leave the beach to the natural state undisturbed . They have realized that leaving the beach sand undisturbed and keeping it clean is the best and most appropriate way of preserving this natural wealth. As far as I have seen , no administration anywhere in the world has thought of constructing concrete tracks , play area, water fountain and gym on the beach sands and planting Banyan trees on the beach.

There is really no need to elaborate the dis approval of the unimaginative scheme and misconception of those in the Chennai Corporation and Tamil Nadu government whoever have mooted this idea. Many strong justifiable points can be raised against this move from various view point but it is not really necessary., as anyone with good understanding can see this so called beautification project as ill advised, which would ultimately amount to destruction of Elliots beach.
Once the Chennai Corporation and the Tamil Nadu government implement this ill advised scheme, the beauty of Elliots beach would be lost for ever and the so called beautification scheme would remain as a standing monument for the thoughtless planning exercise of bureaucracy.

Many people have expressed their unhappiness about this scheme and have written to the authorities but it seems that the authorities have virtually ignored them, as they are going ahead with the project.

Finally, I cannot but point out the fact that the Chennai Corporation is not even able to maintain the beach at the minimum level of cleanliness at present, with the hawkers spreading themselves on the sand with their food stalls and atleast one hundred stray dogs staying and loitering permanently on the beach and with several tiles on the walk way broken. It appears that the concerned officials are closing their eyes to the present conditions in the beach and want to keep the eyes open for a future vision that is obviously misconstrued.

What can a helpless and concerned citizen like me do other than expressing my anguish in the columns of the media.
But, will such anguish make the concerned officials reconsider their plans ?

It is said that the Central government has granted the funds for the so called beautification project. When allotting the funds, does not Central government have the responsibility to ensure that the funds would not be used for upsetting the beauty and ecology of a natural beach which is a priceless possession for Chennai.

If Chennai Corporation would fail to give up it’s plans to tamper with the Elliots beach as per it’s whims and pleasure, I appeal to Government of India to look into the matter urgently before the damage is done, since once the natural beauty of the beach is destroyed by artificial and whimsical constructions, the Elliots beach can never be restored to it’s original beauty.

N.S.Venkataraman
Nandini Voice For The Deprived
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