Cyclone Mandous is several hours away from making landfall but its impact is already being felt in Tamil Nadu. Heavy rains and strong tides, brought on by the cyclonic storm, have partially damaged the wooden pathway for persons with disability at the Marina Beach in Chennai. Several of the wooden planks along the ramp have come apart due to the strong winds and tidal surge caused by Cyclonic Mandous.
The pathway for persons with disabilities was inaugurated recently amid much fanfare by Udhayanidhi Stalin, the DMK MLA of the Chepakkam-Thiruvallikeni Assembly constituency on his birthday on November 27. But within a fortnight, the planks and base of the ramp have been damaged.
"Chennai Corporation officials told us that they will fix the ramp after the cyclone," said Smitha Sadasivan, a member of the Disability Rights Alliance of Tamil Nadu (DRA). She said the existing ramp is strong but collapsed due to the nature of the landscape and the severity of the cyclone. "The materials used for the ramp were chosen to withstand the usual amount of rain and sunlight," she said, adding that the architects were not sure about its survival during the severe cyclones and natural calamities. This is the first time in India, we happen to see such infrastructure for PwDs, she said.
"Corporation officials promised us that they will study how to make the infrastructure stronger and better in the future. This will also be applied at the ramp that is to be set up at Elliot’s Beach in Besant Nagar", she added. DRA is one of the organisations in Tamil Nadu which fought for beach access to persons with disabilities and held discussions with the Chennai Corporation since 2016. The ramp was made out of wood keeping in mind that the construction was in a Coastal Regulation Zone.
Damaged wooden ramp at Marina Beach, Chennai
S Nambu Rajan, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers said, "The Department of Environment suggested going for a wooden structure instead of using cement, and bricks to construct this ramp". Rajan said that they could have chosen high-quality materials to construct the ramp. "We agree that the cyclone brought heavy wind and waves. But it is not like some high-intensity cyclones that we witnessed in the past. The materials they used did not withstand even a small level impact of the cyclone" he pointed out.
The access ramp for persons with disabilities has been a long standing demand. Built at a cost of Rs 1.14 crore, the pathway is 263 meters long and 3 meters metres wide. The pathway was built using babool, red maranthi, and Brazilian wood.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Cyclone Mandous will cross the coasts between Puducherry and Sriharikota around Mahabalipuram between midnight of December 9 and the early hours of December 10.