(The River Cooum originates in a village of the same name, about 70 km away from Chennai. Once a fresh water source is today a drainage course inside Chennai, collecting surpluses of 75 small tanks of a minor basin. The length of the river is about 65 km, of which 18 km fall within the Chennai city limits. 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.)
The Cooum is mostly associated with its stench. No one who has ever visited Chennai could have missed the Cooum River. Polluted by industrial effluents and drainage from the hundreds of hutments along its banks, its strong odour pervades the city making its presence undeniable. It’s now actually become a part of Chennai life…Chennai without Cooum nah…
Cooum River was the pride of Madras with its clean watercourse, once upon a time According to Wikipedia “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 hydrology. ” It is likely, that the River Cooum might have derived its name from such a usage. According to one estimate 158 sewage canals are let into the Cooum. According to a report , Central Environmental Ministry under the National River Water Protection Scheme had sanctioned Rs 325.25 crore to Tamilnadu Government for cleaning them (where has the money gone?) Though a tidy sum appear to be allotted for cleaning the rivers at Chennai, there does not seem to be any visible activity towards beautifying the Cooum. Will Cooum becomes Chennai pride again? It’s gonna be a long process of wait and watch!
It’s known to be the city’s smelly eyesore, so it should hardly come as a surprise that the Cooum river is a killer water body with high toxic content. It is even estimated that, when flowing within city limits, has more toxins than even a sewer. A 72-km-long channel, the Cooum originates in the neighbouring Tiruvallur district and winds its way through Chennai before flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Tests undertaken to gauge the extent of pollution downstream showed fish could survive for only three to five hours in water near the mouth of the river in Chepauk even after the samples were diluted up to 50% (without aeration). The water has almost no dissolved oxygen, and instead there are traces of heavy metals like copper, besides sewage and sludge.
So why am I saying all this?
Well to the very simple fact that, ma old office was on the banks of Cooum. We loved the view of Cooum, cos it was a vast open space, with fresh air (now I cant really cocmment on how fresh), jusst thinking of it as fresh water way used to give us kicks. We had lot of arguments on the WHY ON EARTH WAS THE GOVT. ACTING IMMUNE TO THE COOUM? The stinking river of today once used to be a fresh water way, with boats on it? Where and when did the change happen? Aren’t there laws which prohibit the pollution of water bodies? Who actually looks into all this? I don’t know how long am gonna be in Chennai, but still I wish to see the Cooum river clean, the black mark in the heart of the city to go.
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fOsSiL…the heart has its reasons that reason cannot know!!!
