Deccan Chronicle 20.02.2010
Coast cries for facelift beyond Marina
Chennai, Feb. 19: On Independence Day the Marina was declared plastic-free. No longer are disposable cups, plates, bags or even water sachets allowed on the 4.5 km long stretch from Light house to Anna memorial. But, the ban on plastics along the beaches alone cannot work, for the litter strewn along the coastline on the day of Kannum Pongal was close to 60 tonnes.
The entire 12km stretch of beach that runs from opposite the Fort St George to Besant Nagar is considered to be a zero litter zone. “The corporation has banned use of plastic along the Marina. But it has to be banned all along the coast right from Marina to Kottivakkam. The Valmiki nagar beach is a mess actually. The Corporation has not installed enough bins along the coast for the people to dispose of garbage thoughtfully. All the shops along the beach should ban plastics and not the hawkers alone. We will have to penalise people. The corporation vehicles do not turn up everyday to collect the garbage,” says Sharadha Shankar of Save Chennai Beaches campaign (SCBC), a social network group formed by residents of Besant Nagar.
Where the Adyar river meets the ocean near the broken bridge, a lot of Styrofoam, Thermocole pieces and hand bags are strewn causing danger to the environment. “There are also a lot of used of syringes. On a single day we collected around 90 tonnes of garbage near this area,” says Sharadha.
In a recent survey carried out by Reclaim Chennai Beaches Campaign (RCBC) found a total of 20,000 pieces of trash, including 8,500 plastic cups, water sachets and disposable spoons, 1,735 pieces of broken glass and bits of balloons strewn along the 800-metre long Besant Nagar beach. RCBC is a social movement formed by a group of like-minded youth in Besant nagar, which is working along with SCBC,
According to the environmentalists, there is no social responsibility. “It is not just awareness. Beyond that there is no momentum to do anything right. The lack of awareness and lack of political will to run concerted public campaigns to hold the manufacturers accountable for the problematic materials they make like like Styrofoam or plastic that can’t be reused,” says Nityanand Jeyaraman, senior journalist and environmentalist. He says the ban on plastics should be extended to the other beaches also as it is most logical.
According to Ocean Conservancy, which is on a global mission to save global beaches, the garbage along the coast kills more than one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and turtles each year. Only awareness among the people and the social responsibility to protect the environment can save the beaches.
