The fate of Chennai's Waterways

After yesterday's post about the Adyar estuary project, I decided to follow up on an article that had caught my attention a couple of weeks ago - the Cooum restoration project. A team of officials from the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) had made a presentation to the government on the three phase implementation of the project, with the final master plan to be in place by February 2012.

While it sounded positive, I looked around for other opinions, and came across this article. While the focus of the article is on the displacement of the slum dwellers along the Cooum, I was also horrified by the fact that the elevated traffic 'corridors' are being planned along its banks. I had briefly read about the Chennai 'High Speed Circular Transportation Corridor' while looking for information on the East Coast Expressway, but hadn't grasped the fact that they were being planned along Chennai's waterways - the Adyar and the Cooum.

How is it even logical that they can, on one hand, try to restore the ecology of a river and on the other, build an expressway along its banks? And what saddened me more is that it is the very same Adyar Poonga Trust (now renamed 'Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust') that is implementing the elevated corridor project along the waterways. It makes me question their reason for restoring the rivers and the creek. No longer does it seem like an idea born out of desire to protect nature, but rather a desire to achieve a certain 'image' and enhanced real estate value.

And even so, I think they have got it wrong. Have they even imagined how a three tier, 6 lane expressway will look next to a river? I shudder to imagine it. And even from a traffic planning perspective, is it the right thing to do? I wonder. Will it really solve any issues, or is it just a grandiose gesture?

I've been blogging about Chennai for a month now, and though I've learnt a lot, I still feel extremely ignorant. Sometimes more knowledge only makes me feel more helpless and dispirited. Where is Chennai headed? Is there a long term goal, or are they only looking at quick fix solutions? Each step seem to be towards a polluted, car dominated city rather than a well connected pedestrian friendly one. Why can't we learn from the mistakes the west has made, rather than follow in their footsteps? What do you think? Leave a comment or email me at childofchennai@gmail.com

Jaime Lerner

Today, I've found myself a new hero. Jaime Lerner - architect, urban planner, three times mayor of Curitiba, and governor of Paraná state, Brazil.

As Mayor, he came up with a number of creative solutions to Curitiba's problems, saving the city millions of dollars. He cleaned up the slums by offering bags of groceries in exchange for bags of trash. He cleaned up the nearby bay by offering fishermen payment for every pound of garbage they collected, thus giving them a source of income even in the non-fishing season. He hired 'municipal sheep' to keep the grass in the parks trimmed, instead of buying expensive mowing machines. And the wool from the sheep was used to fund children's programs.

His biggest achievement in Curitiba was probably the BRT or Bus Rapid Transit system. Using a hierarchy of 6 bus sizes that feed one another, (the largest Bi-articulated buses carry nearly 300 people), he achieved what a complete subway system would have done, at almost one hundredth the cost. The city also built attractive transit tubes, with handicapped access and ticket purchasing facilities to improve the speed of transit.

While for most cities the pace of change is measured in years, for Jaime Lerner it is measured in hours. He is known for transforming a gridlocked commercial artery in Curitiba into a spacious pedestrian mall over one long weekend! Apart from his time as mayor and governor, he has used his creativity and expertise to improve cities worldwide, and is a champion for the cause of sustainability.

So that puts him firmly on top of my list of heroes. He says that any city in the world can be transformed in 3 years. I wish we could invite him to Chennai. Don't miss his speech on TED talks, with the little sustainability song at the end :) (it might be worth having the English subtitles on as well).