page_title: Cooum River
hierarchical_section_title: Cooum River
caption_attribution_description: English: Cooum River in Chennai
context_page_description: The Cooum river is one of the shortest classified rivers draining into the Bay of Bengal. This river is about 72 km in length, flowing 32 km in the Urban part and the rest in rural part. The river is highly polluted in the urban area. Along with the Adyar River running parallel to the south, the river trifurcates the city and separates Northern Chennai from Central Chennai.
  Its source is in a place by the 'kesavaram anaicut built across Kallar river in Vellore district adjoining Chennai district. From its origin in the kesavaram Village to Thandurai Anaikat, the river remains unpolluted. Beyond this, the river is highly polluted till its mouth in the Bay of Bengal. In Chennai district, the river flows through three corporation zones—Kilpauk, Nungambakkam and Triplicane—for a total length of 16 kilometres.
  Owing to intensive use of surface water upstream for agriculture, indiscriminate pumping of groundwater leading to reduced base flow in the river, formation of sand bar at the mouth of the river, discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents and encroachment along the banks, the river, especially the downstream, has been highly polluted.
context_section_description: The Cooum river (also known as Thiruvallikenni river) is one of the shortest classified rivers draining into the Bay of Bengal. This river is about 72 km in length, flowing 32 km in the Urban part and the rest in rural part. The river is highly polluted in the urban area (Chennai). Along with the Adyar River running parallel to the south, the river trifurcates the city and separates Northern Chennai from Central Chennai.
  Its source is in a place by the   'kesavaram anaicut built across Kallar river in Vellore district adjoining Chennai district. From its origin in the kesavaram Village to Thandurai(Pattabiram) Anaikat, the river remains unpolluted. Beyond this, the river is highly polluted till its mouth in the Bay of Bengal. In Chennai district, the river flows through three corporation zones—Kilpauk, Nungambakkam and Triplicane—for a total length of 16 kilometres (10 mi).
  Owing to intensive use of surface water upstream for agriculture, indiscriminate pumping of groundwater leading to reduced base flow in the river, formation of sand bar at the mouth of the river, discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents and encroachment along the banks, the river, especially the downstream, has been highly polluted. In 2018 alone, about 21,665 tonnes of waste was removed from the river.
caption: Cooum River in Chennai.
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