A popular joke, when I was a boy, was that no one really knew which was the "longest" beach in the world, while school textbooks listed Chennai's Marina as the second longest beach in the world. Longest or not, the beach has many lovely memories for me as well as for most people who remember it before the shores became littered with sewage from the Cooum and the sands covered with litter. When I was a boy, my father owned a Triumph convertible and we would drive along the almost empty road at night past Fort St George and all the way upto the Gandhi statue before turning back homewards to Broadway where we then lived in George Town. The "new" lighthouse that is across the road from the All India Radio station didn;t exist back then, and the old lighthouse which is inside the High Court compound, was a beautiful sight to look at at night. As children, we would stand up inside the running car to imitate politicians who stood up in bigger convertibles to wave to their audiences before we fell back laughing at our little humor onto the seats - yes, those were times when no one had even heard of seatbelts and cars didn;t even have radios, the latest innovation in home entertainment was the then new spool recorders, and there was no television in India.
But you could see the stars in the sky at night back then, and as children, we would look up and try to identify the various constellations in the days before light pollution blanked them out altogether. And the air had a salty smell to it from the sea breeze which set in every evening. There was no pollution rendering the whole place stinking of rotting sewage and untreated vehicle exhausts. When we walked on the sand, there were always shells that we could pick. There was sea life in the waters of the Bay of Bengal before the sewage killed it all off. Which brings me to the dirty mess that the place was, seven years ago when I last left India and since when I have not returned - Beach Road now resembles any other overcrowded road anywhere else in India.
But there is worse to come and I have a couple of e-mails from Ms Kamla Ravikumar, a Chennai based environmental activist, which I would like to reproduce ad verbatim:
Hi Mehul,
Just to keep you posted about a new problem facing citizens of Chennai.The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authorities(CMDA) have proposed a new Elevated Expressway which will start at the Marina beach ( near the light house) and go all along the shores ... via the Adyar Estuary, Theosophical society, Besant nagar beach and other beaches.
This expressway has been proposed to ease traffic and enable vehicles to move faster.
ABOUT THE ELEVATED EXPRESSWAY
1. The Highway runs through and disrupts fishing habitation and livelihood. upon completion, it will have run through 14 fishing villages. Like the Ramanathapuram Pamban bridge, which drastically impeded fisheries by restricting space for beaching of fishing craft, and taking over beach space, the elevated highway too will impede fishing.
2. The project is being slipped in through subterfuge, as it does not find mention in any of the draft masterplans circulated for consultation.
3. The project runs through ecologically sensitive areas -- Adyar Estuary, sandy beaches and the nesting habitat of Olive Ridley turtles. Adyar Estuary is critically polluted, and is desperately needing restoration. The degraded mangroves of the estuary have a chance of surviving if care is taken. The estuary is an important bird feeding ground, and was even declared a bird sanctuary by the Tamilnadu Government. The Estuary ought to have been classified as CRZ 1 by the GoTN. It has been classified as CRZ 3 despite concerns raised by the Ministry of Environment & Forests. Olive Ridleys are a species included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act and deserve the kind of attention that tigers get. The Ridleys will be affected by the construction, and permanently thereafter by the light pollution from the highway. Ridley hatchlings are highly light sensitive and get disoriented with light pollution, resulting in mass mortalities as they head confusedly away from the sea following the lights.
4. Construction debris will be dumped -- even temporarily -- on CRZ 1 areas. Construction workers' colonies will be constructed in this area. As is the practice when housing migrant workers, no facilities for hygiene and sanitation will be made available leading to more pollution.
1. The Highway runs through and disrupts fishing habitation and livelihood. upon completion, it will have run through 14 fishing villages. Like the Ramanathapuram Pamban bridge, which drastically impeded fisheries by restricting space for beaching of fishing craft, and taking over beach space, the elevated highway too will impede fishing.
2. The project is being slipped in through subterfuge, as it does not find mention in any of the draft masterplans circulated for consultation.
3. The project runs through ecologically sensitive areas -- Adyar Estuary, sandy beaches and the nesting habitat of Olive Ridley turtles. Adyar Estuary is critically polluted, and is desperately needing restoration. The degraded mangroves of the estuary have a chance of surviving if care is taken. The estuary is an important bird feeding ground, and was even declared a bird sanctuary by the Tamilnadu Government. The Estuary ought to have been classified as CRZ 1 by the GoTN. It has been classified as CRZ 3 despite concerns raised by the Ministry of Environment & Forests. Olive Ridleys are a species included in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act and deserve the kind of attention that tigers get. The Ridleys will be affected by the construction, and permanently thereafter by the light pollution from the highway. Ridley hatchlings are highly light sensitive and get disoriented with light pollution, resulting in mass mortalities as they head confusedly away from the sea following the lights.
4. Construction debris will be dumped -- even temporarily -- on CRZ 1 areas. Construction workers' colonies will be constructed in this area. As is the practice when housing migrant workers, no facilities for hygiene and sanitation will be made available leading to more pollution.
A lot of citizens have raised their voice against this elevated expressway.A major seminar has been planned on 30th August at the Kalakshetra auditorium.
I am attaching a poster that is being circulated for this meeting.
As a resident of Besant nagar I am actively involved and deeply concerned.
Kamla
And:
And:
A lot of activity is going on in Besant nagar.One resident has donated his compond wall for publicty...we are getting all the children together to write messages on the wall against this elevated highway.
Their generation will have no beach front if the highway comes up....so the awareness campaign starts with them.I will send you images of the kids and their writings on the wall.
Kamla
Please be in touch with this group and help them in whatever way you can. I shall regularly post whatever information that I receive from them. They need all the publicity to fight the very powerful and wealthy vested interests that have a stake in building this new expressway.
Please be in touch with this group and help them in whatever way you can. I shall regularly post whatever information that I receive from them. They need all the publicity to fight the very powerful and wealthy vested interests that have a stake in building this new expressway.
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