CHENNAI: The work to build a permanent wooden ramp leading up to the sea started at the Marina Beach on Thursday. A long-pending demand of persons with disabilities, the ramp will come up opposite Vivekananda House, and cost over Rs 2.5 crore.
The work will be completed in a month. Soon, the beach will also have beach-view chairs, accessible toilets, better drinking water facilities and other amenities, officials said. The location of the path has been shifted by 300 metres from the place decided earlier to facilitate Metro Rail work, they added.
Corporation officials said they agreed to lay a permanent ramp in 2016 but getting permissions from various departments took a considerable amount of time. Several activists were elated with the Corporation’s move and said discussions on making beaches accessible started in 1998. A temporary 200-metre long wooden path leading to the sea was laid last December to commemorate the International Day of PwDs.