Even as the Tourism Department is going ahead with a number of beach beautification projects to improve sightseer flow to the district, the absence of a dedicated surveillance team to safekeep the renovated amenities from miscreants and polluters remains a big challenge.
The unguarded Puthiyappa-South Beach coastline is emerging as the safest dumping zone for non-degradable plastic trash and bundles of biodegradable waste from slaughterhouses and shops.
Though the appointment of guards is highlighted as a priority area for the safekeeping of amenities, shortage of funds continues to hold back the project. Moreover, the services of security guards are available only at a few spots, where vandalism and excess dumping of waste remain under close check. The other important spots remain neglected despite demands raised by MLAs and local representatives.
The latest study report of the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) reveals that uncontrolled waste dumping along the coastline is causing huge damage to the environment and increasing toxic content in water.
To highlight the danger, CWRDM scientists with the support of various organisations had even carried out a mass cleaning drive along the coastline, recovering around 10.5 tonnes of waste including plastic and other non-degradable materials.
CWRDM scientist Madhavan Komath said around 225 sacks of plastic waste had been collected from Kozhikode beach alone during the clean-up drive organised as part of the World Environment Day sensitisation event.
The drive was carried out with the support of around 600 volunteers, including students and members of various residents’ associations, to create public awareness, he said.
Members of a recently constituted volunteers’ team who regularly clean up the beach said that meat traders were behind most large-scale pollution. Organisers of private events too are suspected for the dumping of plastic and other non-degradable materials in the sea, they added.
Though members of some environmental organisations had ventured into night vigil to track polluters, the initiative lost steam midway. Night patrolling by the police, which was stepped up as a temporary solution till the appointment of security guards, too failed to curb the practice.
Meanwhile, Tourism Department officials said efforts were on to introduce better surveillance along beach destinations with multiple development projects. In the first phase, the Kappad beach will be developed as a model destination with the prestigious Blue Flag certification. The same protocol will be adopted for the maintenance of other beach destinations, and it is expected to ensure flawless surveillance of the shore, they said.