page_title: Cooum River
section_title: Origin and course
hierarchical_section_title: Cooum River / Origin and course
caption_attribution_description: English: Cooum Delta with sand dunes and tidal barrier, taken on 2-Feb-2013 at 5:20 pm
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 originates in a village of the same name in Tiruvallur district, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) from Chennai, although starting its main course at Sattarai village, around 65 kilometres (40 mi) from Chennai. Flowing through Poonamallee, it enters the Chennai District at Arumbakkam after meandering for about 54 kilometres (34 mi). It then passes through some of the oldest residential areas for another 18 kilometres (11 mi) such as Choolaimedu, Chetpet, Egmore and Chintadripet, where the river channel is about 30 metres (98 ft) wide. Close to Egmore, the river forks into two—the northern and the southern arms—both of which join again near the Napier bridge, thus forming an island, known as the Island Grounds. The northern part of the Buckingham Canal joins the Cooum near the old Central Jail while the southern part of the same canal emerges from the river, just behind the University of Madras campus. The river finally joins the Bay of Bengal south of the Fort St George, just below the Napier Bridge. Once a fresh water source, it is today a drainage course inside the city of Chennai, collecting surpluses of 75 small tanks of a minor basin. The total length of the river is about 65 kilometres (40 mi). The river flows to a length of 40 kilometres (25 mi) in the Chennai Metropolitan Area, of which 16 kilometres (10 mi) fall within the Chennai district limits. The total catchment area of the river is about 400 square kilometres (150 sq mi), and the bed width ranges from 40 to 120 metres (130 to 390 ft). The capacity of the river is 19,500 cubic metres per second (690,000 cu ft/s), and the anticipated flood discharge is around 22,000 cubic metres per second (780,000 cu ft/s). Once a fishing river, 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 used for the supply of drinking water to the city of Chennai. Thereafter, the flow of water in the river is much reduced.
  Three ancient Shiva temples are located at the source of the river. The first is Tiruvirkolam, in Cooum village, and the other is at Ilambaiyankottur. The third is Thiruverkadu Shiva temple. Koyambedu temple is also in its banks. These temples have been featured in the Thevaram sung by the Saivite saint Thirugnana Sambandar. There is one more temple called the Veerebathrasami temple. The god in the temple is otherwise known as "Akoramoorthy". This temple is at Pillayarkuppam, 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Cooum village. In ancient Tamil Nadu, under the Chola Empire, the river Cooum was referred to as Kashtabudhyotpathihi. They all form a group of villages called "padhinaru nattham". The river drains into the Bay of Bengal at Chepauk in Chennai marking the northernmost boundary of the Marina Beach. The delta also marks the southern boundary of the Port of Chennai.
  The width of the river course varies all along from 35 to 150 metres (115 to 492 ft), which includes the area occupied by the slums.
caption: Tidal barriers at the Cooum Delta
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