The above image was sent to us by someone who surfs the Internet regularly. Just seeing it sent a pang through our system – in just over 60 years we have managed to reduce a thriving waterway into a gutter! The Buckingham Canal in 1965 may not have been the sylvan waterway that is depicted in this late 19th/early 20th century postcard, but it was still functional. Today it is beyond redemption. But that is no excuse for the tonnes of garbage deposited in it each day! Not having water in a canal is one thing but to treat it as a dump yard is another matter altogether.
Our second view of the canal is as it was once seen near Central Station. Now, even this view is not possible for the waterway has gone underground, buried beneath huge ‘development’ projects.
Madras Basin, an 1898 view.(Picture courtesy: From our archives – Vol. XXIII No. 16, December 1-15, 2013).