Cooum ‘Nature Trail’ a cruel joke

It is with mixed emotions, of anguish and amusement, I read the news that the Corporation of Chennai is seriously planning to develop a ‘nature trail’ along the Cooum at an estimated cost of Rs. 8 crore, no meagre sum.

Anguish at the fact that, instead of tackling the fundamental issue of restoring the Cooum to good health and making the water flow, the authorities are engaged in wasteful peripheral and non-essential activities like creating ‘nature trails’. Amusement arises at the total ignorance and limited understanding of the authorities of the concept of a ‘nature trail’.

I wonder what the teams comprising officials and non-officials learnt on their junkets not too far back, at public expense, to San Antonio and Singapore. Did they see ‘nature trails’ along banks of rivers and water bodies filled with untreated sewage, filth, garbage and stinking? Mention must be made here of the ‘ostrich’-like behaviour of the authorities in raising the side walls of bridges across the Cooum, obviously to prevent us from seeing the ugly sights of the river. What about the stench and stink?

A play-back of the efforts to restore the Cooum is necessary to understand how the present situation has come to pass. The Cooum has been a victim of neglect and political foot-balling. Around the 1970s the then Government planned to make the Cooum navigable, and even today unused structures for boat landing and pick-up sites can be seen. With the change of government, this laudable project became ‘untouchable’ for close to two decades. You can imagine the disastrous consequences of such neglect.

In the mid-1980s, the Government of the UK, through its aid wing, provided a grant to the Government of Tamil Nadu, through which a team of consultants from the UK, experienced in managing water bodies, analysing water quality and recommending mitigation strategies, was deployed. A counterpart multidisciplinary team of officials was identified to work alongside the UK consultants. The Indian team was also given training in UK in various aspects of managing water bodies. (It should be remembered that the river Thames, which was once the most polluted river in Europe, has been restored, and today you can see salmon flourishing in its waters, which are also put to a variety of uses, including floating restaurants, enriching the London experience.) By the 1990s, the UK consultants completed their work and submitted a practical, time-based strategy for restoring the Cooum. Till today, no meaningful follow-up action has been taken on most of the recommendations in the report.

A revealing sidelight which needs mention is the fact that attempts were being made to sell these reports as wastepaper! The author had the unenviable task of mentioning this at a public function in the presence of an Honourable Minister, in the hope that the sale would be stopped.

Another thoughtless project that, fortunately, has been stalled by the present State Government for the time being is to provide connectivity from Chennai Port for container movement. This was to be done using a road elevated on huge solid pillars erected in the bed of the Cooum, on which the containers would trundle through the heart of the city. The clearance of this multi-crore project does not appear to have been subject to public hearing. In addition to restricting flow of water in the Cooum, the only carrier of storm and flood waters, the associated impacts on security, noise, air quality, and the huge inconvenience in case any of these monster containers falls, do not appear to have been studied adequately and presented to communities living alongside the Cooum. With the large outlay provided for this project, it would have been possible to identify an alternative solution, if necessary, by providing larger outlays. The present proposal that  compromises quality of life in the city for all time to come is very short-sighted. The project deserves to be shelved permanently.

Spending on peripheral issues only wastes scarce public money and will not solve the basic issue of cleaning and restoring the Cooum. The ‘nature trail’ is one such. The money identified for this purpose can be better spent on providing well-managed toilets for the public, improving the roads, and stormwater drains.

The issues involved in cleaning the Cooum do not require rocket science. The following only need to be done:

1. Plug all outfalls of untreated sewage. Many government and public bodies along the banks are also guilty.

2. Relocate all encroachers and unauthorised settlers along the banks. This will be the biggest challenge. But, with calibrated handling and assistance from credible NGOs, this will not be insurmountable. A proposal to construct a 23 km wall after removing the encroachments is a good idea.

3. Dredge the river to remove the deposits/sludge of decades. The selective testing of the inherent quality of the deposits is necessary to determine their toxicity and selection of suitable dumpyards. Disposal into the sea is not an acceptable option.

4. The possibility of using seawater to flush the river and return it, as is done in Dubai and some Gulf States, is worthy of consideration.

5. The above actions require large financial outlays. With India’s present financial credibility, thrust towards national cleanliness, and concept of smart cities, institutions like the World Bank or Asian Development Bank should have no hesitation in coming forward to support this initiative. India is no stranger to these institutions.

Finally, without strong commitment, sustained unbiased political will, and a designated multidisciplinary team of officials, not susceptible to transfers, supported by reputable NGOs, nothing will change and the Cooum in its present state will continue to remain a blight on Chennai’s face, as it seeks to project itself as an inviting and favourable destination for global investors.

A ‘nature trail’ along Cooum will not add value to the city.

P.M. Belliappa, ias (retd.)
Former Chairman, Tamil Nadu
Pollution Control Board
sonnabel@gmail.com