BEACH DEVELOPMENT (Originally written 21st Aug. 2006).

The recent action by the city authorities at Juhu Main Beach reminds me of an email I had sent to interested persons and city civic blogs on 25^th December 2004. The effort needed to raise the benchmark for quality of Mumbai city life defies belief. It is therefore pertinent to review what other global cities have done in this regard. I invite you to visit Laguna Beach which is located some 25 kilometres by road, south of Irvine (near Los Angeles, California, USA). With modern technology, one need not undertake the actual journey of some 14,000 kilometres as the crow flies over the North Pole. All one has to do is use broadband internet on your desktop computer with Google Earth and one is there in two minutes. I have attached a satellite picture of a representative area of this beach.

I had an opportunity to actually visit this place with my wife Sandhya in the autumn of 2004. We had a wonderful day at the beach. I could not help comparing it with our beaches at: Bordi-Gundlav (Umergaon, Gujarat), Juhu-Girgaum (Mumbai), Alibaug, Ganpatipule, Bogmalo-Margao-etc. (Goa), Kovalam (Trivandrum, Kerala), Marina (Chennai) and you will know many others.

From the super white sands of Kovalam to the black sands of Bordi, it’s all fun and joy. However, we all know something is lacking in our beaches. Are our beaches all inclusive, meaning do they meet the requirements of all 'grades' of our citizens? Can all types have their expectations fulfilled and can all go back home happy with fond memories? We all know the answer is no to both the above questions.

At Laguna Beach, I found that the actual beach is looong, I mean many kilometres of open space. The well populated areas (meaning areas with more shopping and entertainment), have FIVE different zones for relaxation and enjoyment.

1. Open sea, clean transparent water in which you can swim safely (in most places), with lifeguards on duty. Unusual birds and fish frequent the water. One can see three different colorations in the water as well as the white surf.
2. The open sand with no obstruction or intrusion of any kind, wide belts from 20 to 200 meters wide.
3. A board walk, that is a wooden platform about 30 cm above the sand, about 2 meters wide running along the beach.
4. A slightly raised (above the boardwalk) concrete walk with green turf areas. This also has shady trees, open air water showers for washing off the sea water and the sand. Wooden benches and children play areas. Toilet blocks every 300 meters. Every about 300 meters, is a 6 meter round wooden hut with a conical roof and benches lining the inner walls (which have open windows). Here, musicians, poetry readers, artists and spiritual healers, hold forth.
5. Then there is the concrete footpath with angular parking and parking meters on the wide 20 meters wide road (with divider). Waste baskets every 50 meters with cleaning staff going about their jobs. On the other side of the road are all kinds of shops, food stalls, artist’s galleries, knick-knacks stores, music shops, liquor bars, clothing stores, etc. Open air flea markets are also found in the compounds of some shops, these not blocking the road or access. The main highway is easily accessible to this shore drive. Car horns are not used.

The tourists or visitors just drive up, park, puts in a few 'quarters' for parking cost, and take out their beach towels and umbrellas and rush off to the beach. No urchins or beggars or vendors to disturb him and his family. The small kids go to their play machines or sand pits, the younger people rush to the sea and beach, the old ones sit on the benches or under the trees or in the grass sunbathing / reading / chatting. The middle aged ones take off shopping after a while, which is just across the street (where cars stop at lights and for pedestrians, and where no horns are used). As you can imagine, all will be smiling. The hungry ones make a beeline to the numerous food stalls/shops where theme meals are available as well as fast food. Unfortunately, I did not notice any public transport at Laguna Beach. People do not hesitate to drive 100 Kms to spend a day at the beach and then go home smiling and rested. This is the cheapest relaxation there too.

Now when we compare with our beaches, all kinds ... under developed, city beaches, misused types or re-developed beaches, there is no comparison at all with Laguna Beach. There are other similar beaches along the California coast too. Why can't we have the equivalent of Laguna Beach in spite of having thousands of kilometres of shore line? Why do we boast so much of 'goa beaches' where one is hassled, pushed, rushed, robbed, drugged, whatever? Most of our beach areas have no infrastructure whatsoever. When can we change this? How do we raise our benchmarks?