Cooum River

Cooum Triplicane
Cooum River as viewed from the bridge connecting the Island Ground
Location
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
City	Chennai
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Kesavaram Anaicut, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, India
Mouth	Cooum delta
• location	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	40 mi (64 km)
Discharge
• location	Chepauk, Chennai

13°04′05″N 80°17′09″E / 13.068107°N 80.28585°E / 13.068107; 80.28585

The Cooum River, or simply Koovam, is one of the shortest classified rivers draining into the Bay of Bengal. This river is about 72 km (45 mi) in length, flowing 32 km (20 mi) in the city of Chennai (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 and the Kosasthalaiyar River, the river trifurcates the city of Chennai and separates Northern Chennai from Central Chennai. It is also sometimes known as Thiruvallikenni river

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), Avadi, Thiruverkadu Anaikat, the river remains unpolluted. Beyond this point, the river is highly polluted till its mouth on the Bay of Bengal.^[1] In Chennai district, the river flows through three corporation zones—Kilpauk, Nungambakkam and Triplicane—for a total length of 16 kilometres (10 mi).^[2]

Owing to the intensive use of surface water upstream for agriculture, indiscriminate pumping of groundwater leading to reduced base flow in the river, formation of a sand bar at the mouth of the river, discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluents, and encroachment along the banks, the river, especially downstream, has been highly polluted.^[1] In 2018 alone, about 21,665 tonnes of waste were removed from the river.^[3]