12°59′06″N 80°15′10″E / 12.98490°N 80.25270°E
The Buckingham Canal is a 796 kilometres (494.6 mi)-long fresh water navigation canal, that parallels the Coromandel Coast of South India from Kakinada of Andhra Pradesh to Parangipettai near Chidambaram of Tamil Nadu. The canal connects most of the natural backwaters along the coast to Chennai (Madras) port.
The canal was constructed during British rule, and was an important waterway during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Competition from rail and later road transport diminished its importance, and during the 20th century portions became unusable and badly polluted. More recently there is increased interest in the canal's potential to protect coastal communities from flooding by tsunamis and cyclones as well as provide a navigable waterway, and projects have been undertaken to restore and improve the canal.
In the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party's 2021 election manifesto, the party promised that the canal will be rehabilitated.[1]
- ^ DMK manifesto 2021. DMK. p. 4.