State CRZ gives nod for PwD walkway in Elliott's Beach

CHENNAI: As the Greater Chennai Corporation has proposed a walkway on the sands of Elliott’s Beach in Besant Nagar for the use of persons with disabilities, the state coastal zone management authority has approved the project with a condition of setting up a mechanism to prevent ordinary public using the walkway.

The technical expert committee of the authority that met a few days ago also remarked that no permanent structure should be constructed and temporary structures should be raised by 0.5m above ground level considering the turtle nesting area.

The civic body would spend Rs 1 crore to construct the walkway for a length of 190 metres and width of 2.8 meters. The 181 metres of the walkway falls under CRZ-1A and 3.28 metres falls under CRZ-2 zone.

The walkway will be created without the use of any kind of foundation and designed as a grid-type, timber structure with decking material on top. To ensure stability for the timber framework which supports the decking, wooden sleepers will be placed in a parallel manner on the sand with 1m spacing between each sleeper. The civic body will submit the proposal to the central coastal zone management authority for approval before commencing the work.

The civic body has constructed a similar walkway on the sands on Marina Beach.