Pictures seen were taken of Marina Beach and nearby streets, during my morning walk today (10th Dec 2022, 9 AM). This was the morning following the cyclone Mandous crossing over the shore near Mamallapuram (50 km from Chennai), the midnight before. Yesterday night, There were fewer showers of heavy rain and little waterlogging. From 12 AM to 2 AM, there were heavy winds like the ones I have never seen sustained like this before. Thankfully, electricity was available throughout the cyclone, with a few minutes of interruption in the morning now.
Seen above is one of the streets off Radhakrishnan salai leading to the marina beach
What I observed during the short walk:
1) Chennai Police personnel placed at every entry point to the beach sands were stopping people beyond the blacktop inner road, as there is a warning in place. I saw a few people with kids in hand, arguing with the police to allow them to the sand, but the police refused!
2) Because Dr Radhakrishnan Salai is a route taken by VVIPs to reach the Tamil Nadu state secretariat, there were police in smart raincoats lined up every 100 metres. Corporation of Chennai’s cleaning truck was diligently cleaning the road, and Urbaser Sumeet’s sweepers at every intersecting street corner were busy removing fallen leaves and small tree twigs to make the road spotless.
3) Due to the Chennai Metro train Phase 2 boring work, the iconic Gandhi statue on the marina beach was fenced with metal sheets in blue and all-around heavy construction machinery at work. It felt odd to see this familiar place in this state. Hopefully, this will be temporary and its glory will be restored.
Gandhi statue on Marina Beach
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