Debris dumping along Srinivasapuram beach irks activists

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on January 6, 2011:

CHENNAI: In yet another serious violation of the coastal regulations, the Chennai Corporation has dumped a large quantity of debris — mainly bitumen scraped out of the road in front of Adyar Poonga — along the Srinivasapuram beach in Pattinapakkam (Foreshore Estate).

Dumping debris is prohibited under a notification of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).

The debris was milled out of Greenways Road before the stretch was re-laid to welcome PM Manmohan Singh for the now-deferred opening of the eco park on January 3. The work was done on war-footing, and the civic body dumped the bitumen on the beach barely 10 metres away from the sea.

Local residents say the first violation happened three years ago when the government allowed dumping of debris on the sandy area to enable it to withstand the weight of heavy cranes used during Vinayaka idol immersion. This, when the ceremony takes place on just one day of a year. Else, the spot is largely misused as a parking lot for vehicles.

While, earlier, the civic body mostly dumped construction debris, this time it was the more hazardous bitumen. The mixing of bitumen with seawater, say environmentalists, can lead to severe biological degradation.

Notes independent researcher-activist Nityanand Jayaraman: “The beach area where debris were dumped is very much the inter-tidal zone (also known as the foreshore and sometimes referred to as the littoral zone).”

Given the deleterious impact it has on coastal ecology, hydrology and erosion patterns, such actions on CRZ’s no-development zone by a government agency deserves condemnation, he adds.

A senior Corporation official, when contacted by Express, admitted that the debris was dumped inadvertently at the beach during the night. He assured the bitumen would be removed soon.