Reduce number of shops on Marina Beach, HC tells Corporation

Expressing shock over 1,400 shops having been put up on the Marina beach, the Madras High Court on Friday suggested the number could be brought down considerably by permitting sale of only eatables, toys, fancy goods and souvenirs and not any other item.

A Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and A.D. Jagadish Chandira granted time till January 8 for the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to submit a revised draft plan with respect to the number and the nature of shops that could be permitted on the beach.

After taking note that the GCC had proposed to create three blue flag areas on the entire stretch of the beach and prevent hawkers in those areas, the judges suggested that one more blue flag area could be created on a huge extent of approximately 35 acres where stray cattle were found to be grazing behind the mausoleums of various leaders.

The judges recorded that GCC Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran had readily accepted their suggestion for creation of another blue flag area during a personal inspection conducted by them on December 22 and also informed them that one of the blue flag areas had already been established by providing facilities such as play area for children, seats and recliners for the elderly and by creating a bamboo fencing around the place.

During the inspection, the judges had expressed concern over a huge number of shops having been permitted on the beach behind the labour statue for a length of about 280 metres from the service road towards the high tide zone. In a report submitted before the court on Friday, the GCC said, a shop count map created through drone survey had identified 1,980 shops located on the beach. However, Advocate General P.S. Raman told the court that the actual number of shops were only 1,417.

The judges said the nature of the shops that could be permitted on the Marina beach could be restricted since the beach was not a shopping mall or shopping bazaar but only a recreational area.