Madras High Court has taken up the task of cleaning up and beautifying the city’s iconic Marina beach.
Justices Vineet Kothari and Anita Sumanth told Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner D. Karthikeyan that they want a comprehensive action plan on cleaning the beach with the assistance of non-governmental organisations and students.
Mr. Justice Kothari, who hails from Rajasthan and now the second judge in seniority after Chief Justice Vijaya Kamlesh Tahilramani, said he was appalled to see the poor condition of the beach right on his first visit after his recent transfer from the High Court of Karnataka.
“We will not permit this beach to go to the dogs. Take my word. The New Year should not begin with a dirty Marina beach. Please be prepared and come with a concrete plan. It is a very beautiful beach and it has to remain beautiful. My first visit has given a very bad impression,” the judge told the corporation commissioner, who was summoned to the court for another case.
Citing news reports of hundreds of unauthorised hawkers all over the beach, the judge asked: “Why can’t you streamline these hawkers. No beach anywhere in the world is in such a bad shape. Why are these people there? Why don’t you licence them?”
Unable to comprehend how come officials were so indifferent to the state of affairs, the judge said: “You are all citizens of this State. When you are living here, why don’t you live properly? We are not here to punish you. We are here to make you work, monitor and make sure that things happen.”
‘Files won’t convince us’
Not happy with bulky status reports filed by the government officials in courts in every other case, especially those related to public interest, with tall claims of having done a great deal of things, the senior judge said: “If your action speaks, we will know it for sure. These papers will not convince us.”
Mr. Justice Kothari went a step ahead and told the commissioner: “If you need anyone’s help. Please tell us. Whether it is the Principal Secretary to the Municipal Administration department or the Health Secretary, we will get them here and make them co-operate with you. We want to see a clean beach.”
The Commissioner had been summoned to the court to explain the action taken on the issue of a fire accident that took place in an unauthorised multi-storey building at Vadapalani here on May 8, 2017. In so far as that case was concerned, the judges directed him to file a detailed report on action taken against the builder and the erring officials.
They wanted to know the means through which the families of four persons who had died and those injured could claim more compensation than a total amount of ₹9 lakh paid so far.