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Following A River

This (10 Dec 2008) morning, when I was travelling from our house to Arun's, when I saw the river Adyar in full flow after the recent inletting of the rain water, my thoughts started wandering - I thought, "if only this was a sweet-water river ! if only it was a clean river !!", "if only .. ... ..."

And when I reached Arun's house, I read in the TOI that dredging and cleaning work of the waterway has been sanctioned by the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and the waterway would be made navigable. A good news that should hearten every Chennaiwasi.

But, Buckingham Canal of which Adyar river is but a part, was not always like this "stinking stretch of stagnant water". The canal opened in 1806 as Cochrane canal excavated by Basil Cochrane. It was over 400 km long, from Kakinada in AP.

In 1875, the canal was renamed as the Buckingham Canal after the then Governor of Madras 0 the Duke of Buckingham. A worst famine struck South India and Madras that year, and the Governor started the "work-to-food" relief work of constructing an 8-km long canal that would link the Adyar river with the Coouam to the Cochrane canal, thus connecting Marakkanam in TN to Kakinada in AP by a waterway!

The waterway offered a clean and cheap mode of transport. Hundreds of boats used the canal and would ply on the canal stretch between Mamallapuram and Mylapore. Passengers and cargo, particularly vegetables, were daily ferried by boats those days. Adyar (near Kotturpuram bridge now) used to be the Terminus for passengers, and Mylapore used to get fresh vegetables daily at its Thannithurai market. (read about this market here)

Those were the days of clean and sweet Adyar and Cooum rivers ! Now this news of the first phase of dredging work to commence in Jan/Feb 2009 brings cheers to one and all. The waterway would be revived to its past full glory at an estimated cost of Rs 450-500 crores.

I am awaiting for that day with bated breath !

rajappa
12:15 noon on 10 Dec 2008

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