No merry-go-round at Marina Beach

Chennai: Children visiting the Marina beach will no longer have the fun of having a ride in the merry-go-round (rangarattinams). The Chennai corporation has removed the entertainment from the sands as a safety measure.

Instead, the local body has planned to make a visit to the beach a more pleasant experience, by including new toilets. and new model bins to collect plastic waste. Corporation officials said that 25 rides such as merry-go-round were removed on Tuesday, considering kids' safety.

The iron in these rides was rusted causing scratches on children.“Twenty more rides are yet to be removed. If owners of these games rectify the problem and get license from the Corporation, these rides will be allowed on the beach again.” While owners of some rides were ready to move out,  opposition was there from a few. Only when such drives were conducted, these merry-go-rounds would be rectified and they could be regularised, officials said.

The removal of merry-go-rounds was part of the regularisation of hawkers being done for the past one month. For the convenience of the public, officials of the zone 9  Teynampet office have planned to set up 32 toilets at 14 locations alongside the beach service road. Nearly, '36 lakh has been allocated for this. These readymade toilets will be placed at Anna Square, behind Anna memorial and opposite the PWD Office. Septic tanks will be fixed underground and the collected waste will be pumped out regularly," officials say say and add that four toilets will be open round-the-clock.