Cooum River
Encyclopedia
The Cooum River is an urban river which ends in the city of Chennai
(formerly Madras) draining into the Bay of Bengal
. Along with the Adyar River
running parallel to the south, the river trifurcates the city and separates Northern Chennai from Central Chennai.
The name of Cooum appears to be derived from Tamil literature. The word "coovalan" denotes a person who is well versed in the science of ground water, well water and stagnant water. The river is also considered to be the shortest classified river draining into the Bay of Bengal
and is only about 65 km (40.4 mi) long. Its source is in a place by the same name 'Cooum' or 'Koovam' in Tiruvallur district
adjoining Chennai district
. In Chennai district, the river flows through three corporation zones – Kilpauk, Nungambakkam and Triplicane – for a total length of 16 km.
. The total length of the river is about 65 km (40.4 mi). The river flows to a length of 40 km (24.9 mi) in the Chennai Metropolitan Area, of which 16 km (9.9 mi) fall within the Chennai district limits. The total catchment area of the river is about 400 km2 and the bed width ranges from 40 to 120 m. The capacity of the river is 19,500 m3/s, and the anticipated flood discharge is around 22,000 m3/s. Once a fishing river and boat racing ground, it has borne the brunt of the city's unplanned explosion. The Kesavaram dam diverts the river into the Chembarambakkam Lake
from which water is utilized for the supply of drinking water to the city of Chennai. Thereafter, the flow of water in the river is much reduced.
Two ancient Shiva
temples are located at the source of the river. The first is Tiruvirkolam
, in Cooum village, and the other is at Ilambaiyankottur. These temples have been featured in the Thevaram
sung by the Saivite saint Thirugnanasambandar. There is one more temple called the Veerebathrasami temple. The god in the temple is otherwise known as "Akoramoorthy". This temple is at Pillayarkuppam, 2 km (1.2 mi) from Cooum village. In ancient Tamil Nadu, under the Chola Empire, the river Cooum was referred to as Kashtabudhyotpathihi. They all form a group of villages called"padhinaru nattham". The river drains into the Bay of Bengal at Chepauk
in Chennai marking the northernmost boundary of the famous Marina Beach
. The delta also marks the southern boundary of the Port of Chennai.
in Chennai less than a kilometre before the mouth of the river. The river splits into two near Chinthadripet and encircles a piece of land isolating it from the surrounding land before draining into the eastern sea. However, the mouth of the river is not too wide and do not have any islet.
The river is narrow, placid, slow and meandering. The study of the river was undertaken as part of a World Bank
-funded project and shows that it is 80% more polluted than treated sewer. Public Works Department sources said government agencies like Chennai Corporation
and Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board and business units and retail outlets on the banks of the Cooum were responsible for the pollution. The water has almost no dissolved oxygen, and instead there are traces of heavy metals like copper, besides sewage and sludge. Due to its narrowness and about 3,500 illegal hutments along its banks, it has not been recently desilted
, which has closed it to river traffic.
Nearly 30 per cent of the estimated 55 million litres of untreated sewage being let into the waterways of Chennai daily, including by Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, gets into the Cooum river. About 60 per cent of the untreated sewage gets into the Buckingham Canal
and the Adyar River
takes the rest. In 2010, about 340 sewage outfalls into the waterways were identified. Of them, more than 130 sewage outfalls were in the Cooum River and a majority of them were between Aminjikarai and Nungambakkam.
In 2010, the Tamil Nadu government signed an MoU with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SEC), a Singapore agency for the restoration project. The agency prepared a preliminary report after discussions with various stake holders of the project including Chennai Corporation, municipal administrations, Metrowater, Pollution Controld Board, Slum Clearance Board and the public works department.
There is currently a project funded by World Bank to clean up this river. The World Bank has approved Rs 22.41 crore for the Cooum restoration project towards development of its irrigation potential. Improving the irrigation efficiency of Cooum upstream is one of the main objectives of the project. The upper region of the Cooum, mainly Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts, will be benefiting from this special fund.
A team from Chennai has visited San Antonio in Texas
to see how they successfully did the cleanup of a polluted river. The team comprised former Deputy Chief Minister M.K.Stalin,former Chennai Mayor M. Subramaniam
and other senior officers. One of the city's dream projects is to clean up this river on or before 2020. The initiative has been taken up by the Central and State governments to clean up the river and rediscover the pleasures of traditional boat racing. The Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT) has asked the Chennai Corporation to chalk out an action plan to remove construction debris dumped on the banks of the Cooum River.
The Water Resources Department (WRD) started flushing a 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) stretch of the Cooum in December 2010, initially discharging about 200 cuft/s of surplus water from the Poondi reservoir into the river.
In September, the WRD began cleaning the river at a cost of 10.2 million and the work is expected to be completed within a fortnight.
, similar to the Marina Barrage
Visitor Centre in Singapore
and San Antonio Visitor Center in the United States
, has been planned as part of an initiative to create awareness of the need for clean waterways.
In 2011, the Tamil Nadu Sailing Association planned to build a marina at the mouth of the Cooum river along the southern bank, where yachts and pleasure boats could dock. The 300-million project involves first building a breakwater in the sea so that the waters at the marina are placid and the boats do not keep bobbing up and down with the incursion of waves. However, the by-catch is a more important function—the breakwater will prevent silting and clogging of the mouth of the river, resulting in the waters flowing into the sea. The project is yet to get the approval of the State Government. The docking facilities will come on the river, but the other features of the project, such as a boat repair facility, a base for the Tamil Nadu Coastal Police, and sailing academy, will be put up on the bank.
A nature trail along the river has been proposed for which a draft ecological plan has been prepared by the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure and Financial Services Limited (TNUIFSL). The project is planned from College Road bridge to Chetpet bridge by the Chennai River Restoration Trust in view of the biological diversity of the area which was undisturbed for decades. According to the draft ecological plan, floral species such as Indian almond, black wattle
, sacred fig
, madras thorn, Indian mulberry
, neem
, banyan
, magizham, Indian cork tree, punnai, sirukkambil, karumugai, shenbagam, bayur tree, kadamba, pavazha malli, vettiver grass, palmorasa, agave
, lemon grass and subabul would be part of species along the nature trail which would play a role in erosion management. The nature trail would be based on an "elevated boardwalk" model with "uncompressed natural wood" and "fibre reinforced plastic". The entry and exit would be on College Road near the DPI complex. Apart from the parking facilities on the DPI premises, a stretch along the road between the entry point and the College Road Bridge would be demarcated for additional parking. Five points located at 200 m intervals along the trail have been selected for erecting breakout areas including one for a canopy walk. The facility has been planned without electrical fittings and has been designed as a "day trail".
of 2004, the empty waterway enabled it to take in much of the incoming ocean
water. Some say this would not have been possible had the river been in full flow.
In November 2005, three days of torrential rains flushed out the waste and cleaned up the river, and the river looked clear for a brief period. Egrets and cormorants too were cited flocking the river to feast on fish. The river discharged the floodwater at a rate of about 21,500 m3/s.
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
(formerly Madras) draining into the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
. Along with the Adyar River
Adyar River
Adyar or Adayar, originating near the Chembarambakkam Lake in Chengalpattu district, is one of the two rivers which winds through Chennai , South India, and joins the Bay of Bengal at the Adyar Estuary. The 42.5 km-long river contributes to the estuarine ecosystem of Chennai. Despite the high...
running parallel to the south, the river trifurcates the city and separates Northern Chennai from Central Chennai.
The name of Cooum appears to be derived from Tamil literature. The word "coovalan" denotes a person who is well versed in the science of ground water, well water and stagnant water. The river is also considered to be the shortest classified river draining into the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
and is only about 65 km (40.4 mi) long. Its source is in a place by the same name 'Cooum' or 'Koovam' in Tiruvallur district
Tiruvallur District
Tiruvallur district is an administrative district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The town of Thiruvallur is the district headquarters. The district has a mixture of urban and rural characteristics...
adjoining Chennai district
Chennai district
The Chennai District is a district in the state of Tamil nadu, in India. It is the smallest of all the districts in the state, but has the highest population. The district is a city district which means that it does not have a district headquarters. Most of the city region of Chennai comes under...
. In Chennai district, the river flows through three corporation zones – Kilpauk, Nungambakkam and Triplicane – for a total length of 16 km.
Origin
The Cooum River originates in a village of the same name, about 70 km (43.5 mi) away from Chennai. Once a fresh water source, it is today a drainage course inside the city of Chennai, collecting surpluses of 75 small tanks of a minor basinDrainage basin
A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...
. The total length of the river is about 65 km (40.4 mi). The river flows to a length of 40 km (24.9 mi) in the Chennai Metropolitan Area, of which 16 km (9.9 mi) fall within the Chennai district limits. The total catchment area of the river is about 400 km2 and the bed width ranges from 40 to 120 m. The capacity of the river is 19,500 m3/s, and the anticipated flood discharge is around 22,000 m3/s. Once a fishing river and boat racing ground, it has borne the brunt of the city's unplanned explosion. The Kesavaram dam diverts the river into the Chembarambakkam Lake
Chembarambakkam Lake
Chembarambakkam lake is a lake located in the Kanchipuram district of India, about 40 km from Chennai, South India. It is one of the two rain-fed reservoirs from where water is drawn for supply to Chennai City, the other one being the Puzhal Lake. The Adyar River originates from this lake...
from which water is utilized for the supply of drinking water to the city of Chennai. Thereafter, the flow of water in the river is much reduced.
Two ancient Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
temples are located at the source of the river. The first is Tiruvirkolam
Tiruvirkolam
Tiruvirkolam is an ancient temple town on the banks of the Koovam River in Tamil Nadu, India. It is located about 70 km from Chennai. The water, though sparkling clear over here, becomes polluted on the way and reaches the Bay of Bengal....
, in Cooum village, and the other is at Ilambaiyankottur. These temples have been featured in the Thevaram
Thevaram
Thevaram is a panchayat town in Theni district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.Thevaram located in the border of Kerala separated by western ghats-Demographics:...
sung by the Saivite saint Thirugnanasambandar. There is one more temple called the Veerebathrasami temple. The god in the temple is otherwise known as "Akoramoorthy". This temple is at Pillayarkuppam, 2 km (1.2 mi) from Cooum village. In ancient Tamil Nadu, under the Chola Empire, the river Cooum was referred to as Kashtabudhyotpathihi. They all form a group of villages called"padhinaru nattham". The river drains into the Bay of Bengal at Chepauk
Chepauk
Chepauk is a locality in Chennai , in India. The name Chepauk is popularly used to refer to the M. A. Chidambaram International Cricket Stadium also known as Chepauk Stadium. It is also home to the Chepauk palace, built in the Indo-Saracenic style...
in Chennai marking the northernmost boundary of the famous Marina Beach
Marina Beach
Marina Beach is a beach in the city of Chennai , India, along the Bay of Bengal, part of the Indian Ocean. The beach runs from near Fort St. George in the north to Besant Nagar in the south, a distance of , making it the longest urban beach in the country and the world's second longest...
. The delta also marks the southern boundary of the Port of Chennai.
History
Once this river was said to have its origin in Dharmapuri district, but now due to some earth table changes, it has shortened its course to Thiruvallur district. As recent as thirty years ago, recreational boats were available for leisure boating. The annual tourism exhibition used to take tourists in the waterways until 1985. Ancient documents from the nearby temples states about one 'reaching salvation' on having a dip in the Cooum. The Cooum river was then clean and unpolluted. Cooum is presently a river spoiled by filth and pollution, and the water quality is considered to be highly toxic and completely non-potable. The 2004 tsunami cleaned the mouth of the river; however, the river returned to its usual polluted self within a short period.Islands
The major island in the course of the river is the Island GroundsThe Island, Chennai
The Island is a river island situated on the Coovum River in the northern part of the Indian city of Chennai. The island was created artificially in the early 19th century by merging the Coovum River with the then Elambore River. An equestrian statue of Sir Thomas Munro, popularly known as "His...
in Chennai less than a kilometre before the mouth of the river. The river splits into two near Chinthadripet and encircles a piece of land isolating it from the surrounding land before draining into the eastern sea. However, the mouth of the river is not too wide and do not have any islet.
Pollution
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
-funded project and shows that it is 80% more polluted than treated sewer. Public Works Department sources said government agencies like Chennai Corporation
Chennai Corporation
Chennai Corporation , formerly known as Madras Corporation, is the civic body that governs the city of Chennai , India. The Chennai Corporation is the oldest municipal body of the Commonwealth of Nations outside the United Kingdom and the oldest corporation in India...
and Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board and business units and retail outlets on the banks of the Cooum were responsible for the pollution. The water has almost no dissolved oxygen, and instead there are traces of heavy metals like copper, besides sewage and sludge. Due to its narrowness and about 3,500 illegal hutments along its banks, it has not been recently desilted
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
, which has closed it to river traffic.
Nearly 30 per cent of the estimated 55 million litres of untreated sewage being let into the waterways of Chennai daily, including by Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, gets into the Cooum river. About 60 per cent of the untreated sewage gets into the Buckingham Canal
Buckingham Canal
The Buckingham Canal is a long fresh water navigation canal, running parallel to the Coromandel Coast of South India from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh to Villupuram District in Tamil Nadu. The canal connects most of the natural backwaters along the coast to the port of Chennai...
and the Adyar River
Adyar River
Adyar or Adayar, originating near the Chembarambakkam Lake in Chengalpattu district, is one of the two rivers which winds through Chennai , South India, and joins the Bay of Bengal at the Adyar Estuary. The 42.5 km-long river contributes to the estuarine ecosystem of Chennai. Despite the high...
takes the rest. In 2010, about 340 sewage outfalls into the waterways were identified. Of them, more than 130 sewage outfalls were in the Cooum River and a majority of them were between Aminjikarai and Nungambakkam.
Cleanup
In December 2009, the state government had formed the Chennai River Authority to clean up the 72 kilometres (44.7 mi) stretch of Cooum River within 10 years.In 2010, the Tamil Nadu government signed an MoU with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SEC), a Singapore agency for the restoration project. The agency prepared a preliminary report after discussions with various stake holders of the project including Chennai Corporation, municipal administrations, Metrowater, Pollution Controld Board, Slum Clearance Board and the public works department.
There is currently a project funded by World Bank to clean up this river. The World Bank has approved Rs 22.41 crore for the Cooum restoration project towards development of its irrigation potential. Improving the irrigation efficiency of Cooum upstream is one of the main objectives of the project. The upper region of the Cooum, mainly Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts, will be benefiting from this special fund.
A team from Chennai has visited San Antonio in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to see how they successfully did the cleanup of a polluted river. The team comprised former Deputy Chief Minister M.K.Stalin,former Chennai Mayor M. Subramaniam
M. Subramaniam
M. Subramaniam was a mayor of Chennai from 2006-2011, the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is a member of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party.He again contested for the mayor election in 2011 as DMK candidate,but lost to Saidai Sa Duraisamy...
and other senior officers. One of the city's dream projects is to clean up this river on or before 2020. The initiative has been taken up by the Central and State governments to clean up the river and rediscover the pleasures of traditional boat racing. The Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT) has asked the Chennai Corporation to chalk out an action plan to remove construction debris dumped on the banks of the Cooum River.
The Water Resources Department (WRD) started flushing a 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) stretch of the Cooum in December 2010, initially discharging about 200 cuft/s of surplus water from the Poondi reservoir into the river.
In September, the WRD began cleaning the river at a cost of 10.2 million and the work is expected to be completed within a fortnight.
Other developments
A visitor centre near the mouth of the river on the Marina BeachMarina Beach
Marina Beach is a beach in the city of Chennai , India, along the Bay of Bengal, part of the Indian Ocean. The beach runs from near Fort St. George in the north to Besant Nagar in the south, a distance of , making it the longest urban beach in the country and the world's second longest...
, similar to the Marina Barrage
Marina Barrage
The Marina Barrage is a dam in Singapore built across the mouth of the bay, between Marina East and Marina South. It was officially opened on 1 November 2008[1]...
Visitor Centre in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and San Antonio Visitor Center in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, has been planned as part of an initiative to create awareness of the need for clean waterways.
In 2011, the Tamil Nadu Sailing Association planned to build a marina at the mouth of the Cooum river along the southern bank, where yachts and pleasure boats could dock. The 300-million project involves first building a breakwater in the sea so that the waters at the marina are placid and the boats do not keep bobbing up and down with the incursion of waves. However, the by-catch is a more important function—the breakwater will prevent silting and clogging of the mouth of the river, resulting in the waters flowing into the sea. The project is yet to get the approval of the State Government. The docking facilities will come on the river, but the other features of the project, such as a boat repair facility, a base for the Tamil Nadu Coastal Police, and sailing academy, will be put up on the bank.
A nature trail along the river has been proposed for which a draft ecological plan has been prepared by the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure and Financial Services Limited (TNUIFSL). The project is planned from College Road bridge to Chetpet bridge by the Chennai River Restoration Trust in view of the biological diversity of the area which was undisturbed for decades. According to the draft ecological plan, floral species such as Indian almond, black wattle
Black Wattle
Acacia mearnsii is a fast-growing leguminous tree native to Australia. Common names for it include Black Wattle, Acácia-negra , Australian Acacia, Australische Akazie , Swartwattel , Uwatela...
, sacred fig
Sacred Fig
The Sacred Fig, Ficus religiosa, or Bo-Tree , Peepal is a species of banyan fig native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, southwest China and Indochina...
, madras thorn, Indian mulberry
Indian mulberry
Indian mulberry may refer to:* Morinda citrifolia, widely distributed tropically and may be used as a food source* Morinda tinctoria, native to southern Asia and cultivated as a dye source...
, neem
Neem
Azadirachta indica is a tree in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It is one of two species in the genus Azadirachta, and is native to India growing in tropical and semi-tropical regions. Its fruits and seeds are the source of neem oil...
, banyan
Banyan
A banyan is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree...
, magizham, Indian cork tree, punnai, sirukkambil, karumugai, shenbagam, bayur tree, kadamba, pavazha malli, vettiver grass, palmorasa, agave
Agave
Agave is a genus of monocots. The plants are perennial, but each rosette flowers once and then dies ; they are commonly known as the century plant....
, lemon grass and subabul would be part of species along the nature trail which would play a role in erosion management. The nature trail would be based on an "elevated boardwalk" model with "uncompressed natural wood" and "fibre reinforced plastic". The entry and exit would be on College Road near the DPI complex. Apart from the parking facilities on the DPI premises, a stretch along the road between the entry point and the College Road Bridge would be demarcated for additional parking. Five points located at 200 m intervals along the trail have been selected for erecting breakout areas including one for a canopy walk. The facility has been planned without electrical fittings and has been designed as a "day trail".
Occasional Water Flows
During the Indian Ocean tsunamiEffect of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake on India
In India, 10,136 people, according to official estimates, were killed and hundreds of thousands were rendered homeless when a tsunami triggered by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake near the Indonesian island of Sumatra hit the southern peninsular coast on 26 December 2004. The earthquake registered...
of 2004, the empty waterway enabled it to take in much of the incoming ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
water. Some say this would not have been possible had the river been in full flow.
In November 2005, three days of torrential rains flushed out the waste and cleaned up the river, and the river looked clear for a brief period. Egrets and cormorants too were cited flocking the river to feast on fish. The river discharged the floodwater at a rate of about 21,500 m3/s.