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Back into the boulevard history

Cours Chabrol, the last boulevard of the town, was first suggested by engineer Spinasse in 1820

PHOTO: T. SINGARAVELOU

PAST REVISITED The Beach Road then (above) and now (below) in Puducherry

The Cours Chabrol was the last and most important of all the boulevards in Pondicherry. In 1827, Governor Desbassyns of Richemont was given the credit for it. In fact, the idea of opening "a beautiful promenade on the sea" belongs to the engineer Spinasse. In 1820, he proposed that the town be surrounded by boulevards, which would be built on the location of the fortifications, earlier destroyed by the British.

The city was surrounded by mounds of rubble, and the sand was carried into the streets by the wind. On the seafront, these ruins prevented the fresh air from blowing onto the land. Moreover, during the 25 years of British occupation, these open spaces were occupied by entire villages of outcasts, which moved closer to other dwellings in the town. The settlers on the seaside illegally built gardens and godowns they needed. The construction of the boulevards and The Cours Chabrol was a symbol: with the return of the French, the town was going to be redefined clearly.

As early as 1822, the first section of the boulevards was constructed till the François Martin Street. But soon the construction was stopped because of lack of funds. And between 1824 and 1825, it was resumed and went up to the Nehru Street. In 1826, it reached up to the Botanical Gardens and in 1827, as far as the Roman Rolland Street. The main construction was yet to take place. The young governor Desbassyns was so impatient that he declared to the ministry that the works had begun even before engineer Rabourdin could complete the plan. It is necessary to mention here that the promenade similar "to the one opened in Madras" bore the prestigious name of the naval minister himself. The work on the Cours Chabrol was moving at a slower pace than that of the surrounding boulevards because the settlers had to be removed. The construction work continued from the end of 1827 to the beginning of 1829.

Engineer Rabourdin planned, for the seaside, a road nine metres wide with two six-and-a-half metre-wide lanes. Casuarinas and coconut trees were planned to be planted. In the beginning, only the central avenue was paved with bricks, but the engineer found sufficient material in the former bastions to have the lanes paved too. On the other hand, no construction was planned in front of the sea. Right from the beginning, everybody wanted to know if the waters were moving towards the town. The engineer and the governor maintained that they weren't, while it was a known fact that the sea undermined the coast every monsoon.

There was nothing to protect the town from the sea. The Cours Chabrol was devastated three times: in 1830, in 1842 and then in 1853. There was a plan to construct a wall as early as 1836; but it's only after the cyclone of 1853 that the construction of a wall on the sea front began. Engineer Louis Guerre started it with four "wedges", and finished it in 1860. The wall that protected the town for more than a hundred years is now used as a public bench.

The Cours Chabrol was a success in the beginning, but mainly for the European officials. The Creoles and the Indians did not seem too drawn by the proximity to the sea. Little by little, the administration itself shifted here. But with the growth of the maritime activity and the development of the industry (in 1879, rails were placed and a train unloaded sacks of groundnuts on the boulevard), the Cours Chabrol was less visited. It is only recently that the idea of engineer Spinasse became a success.

RAPHAEL MALANGIN (INTACH)

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