A division bench of the Madras High Court including Justices N Kirubakaran and TV Thamilselvi posed queries related to the maintenance of Marina Beach, which dealt with the amount of garbage generated there, and how it was collected and disposed of. The questions came up at a time when the judges were entertaining pleas involving the allotment of shops to ice cream vendors at Marina. 

A state with the longest natural urban beach in India, that borders a 13 km long stretch of coastline, should be offering its citizens a free, natural recreational zone, with ample amenities for unwinding, that is preferably maintained well. What we have instead is a beach maligned by human activity, remnants of which are strewn about, posing risk to fellow citizens, and the rich marine ecosystem here. A pertinent question raised by the MHC was whether the Corporation imposed any penalties on those who littered the beach. 

The MHC has also sought details of the revenue generated by the beach, the availability of restrooms, apart from the plans undertaken by the Corporation to beautify it and promote it as one of the crowning glories of tourism in Tamil Nadu. As part of the Chennai Corporation’s Singara Chennai 2.0 vision, the city’s beaches are slated to get a makeover, thanks to Project Blue. Elliot’s, Marina, Neelankarai and Thiruvanmiyur beaches are up for a facelift once this project gets under way. The Singara Chennai programme was introduced by Chief Minister MK Stalin during his tenure as Mayor between 1996-2001. 

The Project Blue proposal entailed the introduction of beach vending carts and the creation of a pathway along the service road aimed at joggers. The project will be inclusive since a long-standing complaint about the beaches was that they were not accessible to Persons with Disabilities. Now, viewing decks, as well as access to the shore for the differently-abled, are in the pipeline. Of course, the idea has its critics. A week into the floating of the proposal, a representation put up by 65 social activists, raised objections regarding the project. Highlighting that beaches were a means of livelihood and the habitat for thousands of fisherman families, the activists mentioned how similar urban beautification projects undertaken in the past have been a cause of concern for citizens. One of the examples cited was the effort made to evict fish vendors from the Marina Loop Road. The activists added that self-employed women involved in the vending of fish, who received no support from the government during the pandemic, should not be ignored when it comes to such crucial decisions impacting their livelihood – such as the transformation of prime vending spaces on the beach into exclusive recreational zones. 

The aforementioned MHC bench had also suggested that TN constitutes a team chaired by an IAS officer and aided by environmental experts who could look into the upkeep of Marina Beach. It recommended that a fish market be constructed adjacent to the Loop Road – to prevent the public and vendors from encroaching upon the road. There are tourism advocates who have spoken about utilising Marina’s shoreline to set up seaside shacks as seen in Goa as a means to boost revenue by introducing pubs on the promenade. But as we have all seen in the example of Goa’s beaches, that has only led to trashing up of the coastline. Many others are content leaving the beach as it is and concentrating on improving the existing public amenities there. The Chennai Corporation has a major task ahead of it – striking a balance between making the beach profitable and retaining the existing coastal ecosystem without harming the denizens both human and otherwise.