'Can you consider Chennai a city, sir?'
'Can people live in Chennai?'
'Rain drizzling for no reason at all'
'No sense in the way the sun scorches us'
'Cyclone out of the blue People being bribed to vote'
'Jam-packed crowd Garbage and filth all over'
'Is this a city to be proud of, sir?'
'If an out-of-towner ever asks this...!'
'Ola share in the morning'
'24 hours in cool comfort in an office'
'Night outs Sleep overs'
'ECR and Pondicherry during the weekends'
'Lounge in Sathyam theater gorging on popcorn'
'Leading a capitalist's life of being least interested in others'
'Shame on you, R.K.Nagar'
'If he tells this to a daily wager'
Why the hell is he in this city? Won't our blood boil or not?
Hey! Do you have any idea about Chennai's glory?
'Be it a cyclone, heat stroke, flood, tsunami'
'...this city braves it all in unity'
'Massive crowd, muck, mugging, mishap'
'Come what may the lives of people here brim with hope, belief and a zest for life'
'Even if they come here empty handed and not even liking this city'
'...this city showers blessings to one and all'
'Amongst people who can guess your caste by the first few words uttered'
'...by turning a deaf ear to your caste and religion'
'...you can live here as a 'Madrasi' happily'
'This city has been facing a problem for decades despite its charm and character'
'Actually a huge health hazard'
'No one wants to discuss it or focus on it'
What is Cooum?
Waste water with people's excreta
Stinky area
Wastage
Slum
- Mosquitoes - Stink
The moment you say the word 'cooum' it brings a distaste at once
'Central, Mount road, Adyar'
'If you travel beyond the city limits to its suburbs like Maduravoyal'
'...Cooum will follow you'
'You would have walked gazing at Cooum'
'You might have dumped trash there or complied to an urgent nature's call'
'Have you ever wondered how such a gutter can run through 'Singara' Chennai?'
'Under the shelter of its bridge were you aware of an entire world?'
Sing that lovely song "Don't you remember me?"
Even if it had touched a chord
'Headphones clamped tight on our ears and the dark window panes of the car'
'...ensure we are the least bit affected by it, right?'
'From the moment you wake up in Chennai'
'Relieve yourself, poop and pee'
'Until you wash your hands after a sumptuous dinner'
'Have you wondered where the waste water flows'
Neither have I
'Until we know more about Cooum'
'Source and destination of this beautiful river Cooum'
I spent my college days in Trichy 25 km from the main city
I was the only boy from Chennai My classmates were from down south
They picked on me only on this count
'Hey! All said and done, you hail from the city where the Cooum flows'
That was when it hit me first
Cooum is the reason for Madras
Cooum river
Flows through Chennai for almost 72 km
Excess water from Palar in those days flowed and formed the Cooum river
I think no other city in India has 3 rivers flowing through it
2 rivers and this canal were the main source of water for entire Chennai
Catholics were divided into 2 in Madras by the Vatican
Diocese
The division was based on domination
The demarcation being north of Cooum is Madras
South of Cooum is Mylapore
Churches were exchanged
So Cooum river features in the Vatican records
A Madras merchant and philanthropist Pachaiyappa Mudaliar lived in Chintadripet
He built his house specifically on its banks
...so he can get down to the Cooum river and bathe every morning
His house still exists today
After praying to Lord Komaleeswara
...he would go to his office This was his daily routine
Chindadripet was a peninsula surrounded by Cooum river on 3 sides
Weavers settled down from all over around the Cooum
Naturally people would form their habitats on river banks
This river is unpolluted till Paruthipet
Only in Maduravoyal, waste and excreta mix in large quantities into this river
It turns into a filthy gutter only within the city limits
Due to solid and liquid wastage mixing into the river
...we witness its change from a clean water source to a gutter
Cooum is a boon to Chennai We have converted it into a bane
'When you relax with a soothing cup of coffee'
'Or when you read your favorite book'
'...if 100 cars honk at the same time'
'Stink from the gutter wafts in the air you breathe, can you live there?'
The land belonged to the Govt
People used to grow crops and indulge in other agricultural activities
This was the lifestyle then
When land changed into a commodity of sale and was documented, registered
...the residents were not used to this new form of trade
The people here were pushed from the city into the banks of the Cooum gradually
Govt is now accusing them of encroaching
And plans to evict them from their humble habitats
1st it was a clean river
We used the water to cook food
During the water scarcity period at one point of time
Corpses from the Govt hospital were dumped here, unbearable stench
That's what we were discussing now
When will the skies darken so we can relieve ourselves?
Our whole house is just 1 small room
We have no proper facilities if our daughters attain puberty
They use only that cotton as padding
That English word you said
The girls use that pad
They will stuff the used pads into a cover and trash it in a corner
The cleaners from the Corporation will collect it in their dump trucks
We don't want to advertise it We try to shield it from the men's eyes
That's what we do, no other go We dump it in the river
And we throw it into the river
That's the main reason we get infected
We feel shy and awkward not knowing how to dispose it
Due to lack of basic privacy it is a huge problem for us
We can't talk about it openly either
People from the banks of Cooum and Adyar river are being shifted...
...to Kannagi Nagar, Ezhil Nagar and Perumbakkam
Those areas are not fit for human habitation
We have been living here all these years
We work nearby, our children study in schools close by
We can't shift because everything is within a short radius from here
You've transferred their residence to Kannagi Nagar in OMR
Are they working in software firms?
Where will I go from here? I will end up as 'c/o road'!
'Cooum river and the people on its banks'
'...in the beginning was a clean environment'
'Knowingly or unknowingly'
'...Cooum, the people and their lives got polluted'
'And we are the sole reason'
During the shoot of 'Kaakha Kaakha'
...we came to know, only when we went to see if the location would suit our needs
How this has magnified into a mammoth problem
Why this area is not being cleaned
We could use this area in a more beneficial way
When I looked into a script in 1925-1935
...I found out Cooum connected the canals and was a functional waterway then
Boats were plying in the Cooum river at that time
We took this reference for my film 'Vaaranam Aayiram'
When we discussed the possibility of shooting an action sequence in this river
...only then we realized if we had treated it beautifully as a river
...how Chennai will now be a jewel in our crown
After intensive research in Anna University Cooum was declared as a dead river
A river is said to be alive only if it is flowing
The famous Thames was declared a dead river too
But the Govt and the people put in a lot of effort
Today it is streaming with life
It has secured the pride of place among other important rivers
Thames has even bagged prizes
Way back the British started the cleaning process
They bulldozed the mounds
Inundated the area with sea water Removed the waste waters
This was the plan which never saw the light of day
The garbage can be cleaned once
And sewage water can be treated
But the dirt will remain and continue to be a drainage ditch
This is a curse for many rivers in the world
But those rivers escaped this tragic end because they are perennial
Even chief minister Arignar Anna in 1967
...tried to dredge and clean this river
Work commenced but nothing came out of it
In 2015, the AIADMK Govt set aside a fund of...
...Rs 19.35 billion for this sole purpose
Through Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust work has recommenced
That stage is continuing at the moment
A delegation went to Singapore 2-3 times and once to Seoul to inspect and analyse
Once in every 5 years they clean the huts and tenements
No sign of drainage from these huts
Drainage is coming from the entire city
The main issue is depositing daily excreta on the banks
We have constructed dams in 2 places in this 70 km stretch
And extract the good water right to the last drop
4 or 5 glasses of water we drink in our daily requirement of 8 is from Cooum
Not many are aware of this
Before cleaning the river the Govt should question the companies that pollute the river
Only then move to the next step
We casually blame the poor people for no fault of theirs
The point is all others have the same notion
We don't want to clear the river
Just create an illusion of this notion
The Press swallows it
Politicians and people swallow it
One of the biggest eyewashes I have ever seen
'Cooum was a clean river flowing when my dad was studying in a college here'
'I am discussing this with you today'
'Tomorrow...?'
'Nothing has been achieved without enquiring here'
'Nor has anything not been achieved without setting an inquiry'
'With no pangs of guilt even after being aware of this'
'…will we eat and drink coffee in the cafes in Madras carefree?'
'Tweet with a hash tag #ProudChennaite'
'And every time we cross the Cooum'
'...will we hold our breath and indifferently walk on?'
'Or open our minds and mouth to ask pertinent questions?"
I make fish gravy I cook day and night
My husband will get piss-drunk and pick up a brawl
I would rather die than live alone without you
He eloped with me
I earn only Rs 4000 per month
My husband is a painter
He will be jobless during the monsoons
He earns weekly wages
May be Rs 1000 a week, that's all
We manage to run our family with this money
Many people look at us strangely if we say we live in this area
Many like you have come here and interviewed us
They promise to write about our plight Even politicans visit us here
Nothing has come out of all this
subtitled by rekhs
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