Marina’s disability-friendly walkway falls into despair, becomes risky

Chennai: The disability-friendly ramp on the Marina Beach no longer serves the purpose. Envisioned to make watching the sea upfront accessible and safe for persons with disabilities (PwD), uneven and damaged surface worn out by wear and tear, missing railings, discourages visitors rather than welcome them.

The CCTV cameras installed on the poles along the stretch are broken and dangling overhead.

“We need the ramp. It requires maintenance every two months,” said Sreenivasan R, a subject matter expert. “There is a lack of awareness among the public. The ramp is meant for PwD, but people who are lazy to walk on the sand use the ramp now,” he said.

An auto driver, Karthick S, who has been in the locality for 12 years, said, “people jump over the railings, stand on it to take videos and click selfies and broke it at least six months ago. The civic body has not replaced it.”

The ramp is accessed by more than a thousand specially abled persons as well as the public, with footfall increasing during the weekends. Broken tiles, exposed nails, and slabs jutting out have made the walkway risky.

“There was a watchman who ensured that priority is given for specially abled. He is missing now and says that the contract has ended,” Karthick said. A signboard put up by Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) states that the walkway is meant exclusively for PwDs, warns the public against jumping onto the stretch and 24/7 CCTV surveillance. However, none of them appear to exist on the ground.

A wheelchair used K Gurusamy said, “uneven and bumpy surfaces are a nightmare for people with spinal cord injury. Public amenities for PwD are grossly overlooked. A lot of stress on their back can even be fatal for those with spinal cord injury,” he said adding that the walkway must be maintained well.

Phase II of the Blue Flag beach has installed mats for differently abled members. It was sought as an alternative to wooden ramps. GCC executive engineer M Muthiah said: “We sent a letter to special projects a week ago to float new tenders for the maintenance of the ramp. The repair work of the ramp and CCTV cameras will be done soon after.” A decision will be taken on whether the wooden walkway must be continued or replace it with a different material.

“The wooden ramps can be continued as they are easy to replace. If a tile is damaged, it can be changed quickly, unlike other materials where even a small hole or damage could require larger repair work or demand that a section be replaced,” Sreenivasan said.

The project was announced in the 2022-23 financial budget at Rs 1.14 crore. It was inaugurated by the then chief minister M K Stalin in Nov 2022. Deputy mayor Mahesh Kumar said he will inspect the ramp on Monday and instruct officials to address the concerns.