Chennai, Sept 22: As part of Tamil Nadu government's efforts to beautify the Marina Beach and make it one of the best in the world, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today commissioned a project to clean the sands using a 'beach cleaning machine.' As soon as Jayalalithaa waved the green flag, the equipment, attached to a tractor, began cleaning operations.

The process involves removal of a layer of sand and sifting it to remove pebbles and other objects, including glass pieces, strewn on the sands. The unwanted material, which was spoiling the second largest natural beach in the world, would then be collected in a lorry and taken to a dump outside the city. The "Beach 2000 Machine", which cost the Chennai metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) Rs 32 lakh, would be used daily to clean the beach, vice chairperson of the authority, Jayanthi, told reporters after the inauguration.

The German equipment, supplied by a Mumbai based firm which has been given the contract, is capable of cleaning an area of 20,000 sq metres an hour, which would otherwise require about 50 labourers to do such a job.

The civic authorities had recently dismantled 'Seerani Arangam', an open air gallery used by political parties and others for public meetings, and a swimming pool and structures abutting it in its ongoing efforts at beautifying the Marina Beach. Bureau Report