Six of us walked the stretch on a Sunday morning to log every change since March. Each monsoon reshapes the beach, and we have to relearn it.
What we logged
- New floodlights. Two new apartment blocks between Neelankarai and Injambakkam have sea-facing security lights on all night. We noted the blocks and will write to them in September.
- Compound walls onto the beach. Three homes have built walls further out than last season. One cuts off the patrol line at high tide. We have shared this with the Forest Department.
- Harder sand near Panaiyur. Vehicles driven up the beach over the summer have compacted it. We need to know this before walking newcomers through it in the dark.
What we did not do
We did not touch likely nesting sand, fly a drone, or test any lights. A recce is a walk, not an intervention.
Next
- Lighting letters: first week of September.
- Beach changes to the Forest Department: mid-September.
- First walk schedule fixed: late October.
None of this guarantees a fix by December.
