At the centre of an ongoing beautification drive, Marine Drive is now drawing attention for the wrong reasons. Tetrapods, those cylindrical structures lining the wall on the sea side to act as a buffer to the waves, are either developing cracks or breaking.

Local residents fear continuing neglect of the damaged tetrapods could result in sea water seeping in.

Among the first to spot the damaged pods about four months ago was Chandresh Shah, President of the Marine Drive Residents’ Association. “During one of my routine morning walks, I found some tetrapods broken into pieces. I immediately took up the issue with the PWD, which is responsible for laying them,” he said. Shah estimated at least 20 to 25 tetrapods were broken or damaged or chipped and eroded in Nariman Point and Marine Drive.

However, Sanjay Ubale, secretary (special projects), Maharashtra, allayed residents’ fears by clarifying that the purpose of the pods was to break the force of the tide and the damaged ones were still good enough for that.

“My engineer and I have visited the site and found that some old tetrapods installed way back in 1958 have broken during reshuffling. While new pods have been installed, we don’t plan to replace the broken ones, “ he said.