CHENNAI: Elliot’s beach in Besant Nagar has been ranked as the cleanest beach in the city by an analysis carried out by the Greater Chennai Corporation. Marina was ranked second while Neelangarai was ranked last on the list.
Thiruvanmiyur beach was ranked third and was followed by Thiruvottiyur, Palavakkam, Akkarai and Neelankarai beaches. The analysis, initiated by corporation commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi, was based on parameters such as the percentage of shops with two bins, number of sand cleaning machines, fortnightly mass cleaning, backlog in garbage collection, door-to-door waste collection in areas near the beaches, status of the service road and the cleanliness of public toilets.
“The audit and subsequent ranking were carried out by a team of independent engineers on behalf of the corporation to monitor the quality of conservancy operations including that of private firms,” said a corporation official. During the analysis, Palavakkam beach was found to have accumulated garbage that has not been cleared.
As for the two-bin system that was mandated for shops for segregating biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste, 2,300 of the 2,500 shops in Marina were found to be using the system whereas all 336 shops in Besant Nagar have two bins. Mass cleaning is also organised every fortnight to keep the beaches clean.
“The beach is cleaned regularly but doesn’t mean people are not littering, especially during weekends. We remove the waste on Mondays and conservancy workers collect it. The public and shop vendors should also take responsibility to keep the beaches clean,” said Sekaran K, a beach vendor who organises weekly cleaning drives in Marina beach.