Express News Service
CHENNAI: Unprecedented scenes can be witnessed on the Muttukadu-Kovalam beach along East Coast Road. Large quantities of garbage including discarded fishing nets and plastic bottles have washed up on the beach, giving an ugly look to what is otherwise a pristine coastline. In fact, the Tamil Nadu government is pushing hard to get international Blue Flag Certification for Kovalam beach. This is also a notified nesting ground for endangered Olive Ridley turtles.
With Chennai and Chengalpet districts receiving above normal rains, the water level in the Buckingham Canal has increased, taking all the heaps of garbage dumped in it and flushing them into the Bay of Bengal through Muttukadu estuary bar mouth.