The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Woes of a dying beach

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 06, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Woes of a dying beach

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, JUNE 5. Efforts by the Department of Tourism to make Fort Kochi beach tourist-friendly and clean are not paying off. This is happening when most of the beaches are losing to change in tidal patterns.

The Department of Tourism has employed 10 women through Kudumbasree to collect the garbage from the beach. However, due to the lack of proper mechanism to remove and dispose the waste from the spot of collection, the scheme is not working effectively.

Tourism officials said a proposal was presented to the Kochi Corporation sometime back to provide bins to collect the waste. This was approved after the Mayor was informed about the situation, but the bin was yet to appear, they said.

The Corporation would provide bins in a couple of days. There would be one big bin to be placed at the beach near the RDO Bungalow, and five smaller ones to be put along the walkway for the public to leave used plastic cups, the Corporation councillor, C.G. Rameshan, said. At present, the garbage collected is burnt at the beach itself. With the onset of monsoon, this will have to be stopped and could lead to waste piling up. Even though bins are installed, chances of the garbage problem being solved are minimal as the garbage collection vehicles seldom stick to their schedule.

The Department had asked the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to design dustbins keeping in mind the heritage. Once the design is given, the Department would install bins through the entire heritage zone, the Tourism Regional Director, V.A. Aurangazeb, said.

The INTACH has not received any such request, without which nothing could be done, K.J. Sohan, Corporation councillor and convener of Kerala Chapter of INTACH, said. We were also ready to provide the Department a scheme for landscaping the children's park, but there had been no steps in this direction from the Department, he added.

This lack of synchronisation between agencies involved in the Fort Kochi Heritage Zone project is cited as the main hurdle. The situation is compounded by the lack of comprehensive vision about development. More portions of the beach would be lost as tides pattern would further change when three wharfs at Vypeen side are completed, it is pointed out.

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