Buckingham Canal

                                                     The Canal of Madras

Source: Mr. Hemachandra Rao 

Buckingham canal is a 796 km long canal which stretches from Peddaganjam in Andhra Pradesh to Marakkanam in Tamil Nadu. This canal connects many rivers, like Swarnamukhi, Coovam, Palar, Kosasthalaiyar and Adyar.

Before the canal, there was...

Before the canal was constructed, there was a river called Elambore or ‘the North river’ which was redirected by the British as it divided the fort (St. George fort) unsymmetrically. The course of the river was diverted during the expansion of the fort works which took place in several different decades. The main reason for the deflection of the river, as the British said, was the flood water that entered the households and offices in the fort during the monsoon.

Proposal of the canal:

Stephen Popham, a Police, reformer and an administrator, conceived the idea for the construction of a canal in 1782. Ennore Lake was often visited by the British who picnicked in its bank and fish during their holidays. Stephen Popham was one such visitor. On one such fine day, when he went for fishing  he noticed that the Elambore River was going up to Vyasarpadi and there was a gap of land and another river from Thiruvatriyur was going up to Ennore which is called as Thiruvottiyur River. That was his Eureka moment when he found out that, ‘if we cut a channel connecting all the water bodies, small shallow boats can come to the city’. He then  proposed the idea of constructing a canal to the officials of EIC only to be ignored by them.

 

Stephen Popham’s Proposal:

“Fish might be brought to Madras from Cattavorcum Rivers as well as from the Roads; and if a Navigable Canal was made from Moodu Kistnah’s Choultry to the Black Town, and to be continued on the West side till it meets the two Streams which form the Island on the South of Fort St. George, fish and other articles might be brought from different parts of the Country which are on the borders of Polyacatt Lake at an easy Expense. And was the whole of Fort St. George Islandized by continuing the Back Water, which now runs on the West Side at some little distance from the foot of the Glacis,on in a North Direction, and then Eastward by the China Bazar till it goes into the Sea, ”~Text taken from Vestiges of old Madras by HD Love

 

The second proposal was given in 1797 by Swami Naick and Goldingham who were quick rent collectors of the Black town. They too noticed the geographical advantage of the Elambore River and Thiruvottiyur River and proposed for a canal which, for the second time, got ignored by the British.

In 1800 two salt merchants who were monopolistic in the salt trade, got the same idea and they met the Governor Edward Clive, directly (perks of  being British traders). In December 1801, a gazette notification for the construction of the canal with few ‘terms and conditions’ was published. A few conditions include: 

·         Lease of 45 years from the opening of the canal 

·         Rights to collect Toll on boats with various commodities and passengers.

·         The lease over the canal will be controlled by the Government.

The one and only person to contest for and bid the project was ‘John Ludwik Heefke’ (JL Heefke). His friend Basil Cochrane was a Nobleman and offered to be the guarantor. He gives the guarantee for the tender which says “to build a canal from Ennore to Madras” but instead the canal was built from Madras to Ennore. The project starts from the North West Bastion of the Black town’s wall. The area had the advantage of being wide and big to accommodate a very big basin where boats can come, stay and depart. The works were started in 1802. The canal from the North West Bastion of the Black town wall till Ennore Lake was completed (11 miles). The canal was opened by the Governor Edward Clive from whom it gets its name ‘Clive’s canal’.

JL Heefke requests the Government to allow him to extend the canal further till Pulicat so they can transfer the goods from Pulicat to Madras and this time the second canal was fully funded by his friend Basil Cochrane. He reaches Pulicat from kattupalli (Cautoopulley) which is a natural canal and joins Pulicat via Kosasthalaiyar River and he builds nice wharfs. Now the canal extends from Madras to Pulicat (25 miles) and there is a Milestone saying ‘ECC 25 m’ that stands for East Coast Canal 25 miles. The canal was opened in 1809 and was named Cochrane's Canal. The canal remained the property of Mr.Cochrane till 1837 this is the story of the birth of ‘the canal’. The functioning of the canal depended on the “tide factor”. Ennore’s mouth opens into the sea and so does the pulicat's mouth. When the tide rises water level rises and vice versa. From Pulicat goods were transported like Firewood’s, seashells for Chunnambu, dry fishes and others, via the bats.                              

                                     

The canal was taken over by the Government who paid Mr Cochrane Rs14,061 per year till 1847 until when his lease expired. In 1852, extensive improvement to the existing line of the canal and further expansion towards northwards were undertaken. By the year 1857 the canal had been extended to Durgarajapattinam, 69 miles north of Madras and was known as the East Coast Canal. At the same time a new canal was excavated from Adyar River southwards for a distance of 35 miles from Madras by joining up backwaters along the coast.

 

By the year 1876, the north canal had been extended to Krishnapatnam, 92 miles from Madras. In 1877 a fresh incentive was given to the extension of the canal as a measure of affording relief labor to poor people who suffered from the ravages of a great famine and the canal was thus extended up to Pennar River, 114 miles north of Madras. At the same time, the junction canal (5miles) within Madras city was excavated in order to connect the cooum and adyar, the starting points of the north and the south of the canal respectively. The extension of the canal to the northern limit at Peddaganjam was completed in 1878 and its extension to the southern limit at Markannam was completed in 1882.The canal was then renamed as the

Buckingham canal

After completing the excavation of the entire canal (Junction canal), it was found that it can be used only for navigation, during high tide by small craft. This state of affairs necessitated an entire reconsideration of the design, and during the period 1883 to 1891, the provision of flood gates and diversion canals in some places were steadily proceeded with. By the end of the year 1897, locks had been constructed, along the whole length of the canal, with provision, for passing upland drainages, across the canal, so as to retain a surface water level, approximating to the level of the highest prevailing tide.

 

The Present day canal: 

The present day condition of the canal is in poor condition without any maintenance. The lock gates are removed and all sewage wastes are drained into the canal, which is surrounded by encroachments mainly in the city limits. As we move further from the city limits the canal is clean with a little to no encroachments where men can be found  fishing. Even the outskirts were not that perfect for industries to drain their waste into the canal. Thus, the canal that looks beyond hope can actually be retrieved if we, people and the authorities decide to. We are one decision away from forming a wonderful aquatic ecosystem, bringing back a mini-venice within our city and thousands rare species, home!  

                            

 LOCK GATE

Buckingham canal has 40-45 lock gates in total. Lock gates are used for a variety of purposes ranging from controlling the pressure of water in the canal and the sea, to arresting the water and so on. Water is arrested between two lock gates. The level of water between these two gates is usually higher. Let’s say, there's a ship in a higher water level, between two lock gates. In order to move further, the next lock gate is opened. That's when the ship along with the water (in higher level) moves further. This process is followed to facilitate quick movement of boats and ships. Until 1970, boats carried goods through this canal which was eventually disabled. Some of the lock gates in the canal are: 

North Canal Pulicat lake locks: The construction of the canal, that was started in 1801 continued till 1806 when finally the canal was extended till pulicat upto 25 miles.In the year 1855 the canal was further extended towards Durgarajapattinam in North. Here,two locks were built. The south lock was built in 1887 surrounded by water and the north lock which initially functioned as a flood lock. The north lock has two divisions. North gate which was built in the year 1894 and south gate built in the year 1887.

North Canal Chintamani Locks: In the first phase of construction the canal was extended from the basin till the Ennore lake.Later, Heefke proceeds further North, cutting the canal through Cautoopulli island. It crosses the famous Chinatamany temple from where the  locks get the name Chintamani locks.There are two locks one the flood gate which was built in 1891 and then the  lock gate in the south of the canal for the construction of which no milestone or year were mentioned.

North canal Swarnamukhi River locks: After Durgarajapattinam the canal moves Northwards in a slow phase and has to cross many small and big rivers. Swarnamukhi is the first one it encounters; the south Floodgate is submerged and the North lock gate which was built in 1889 becomes visible only on travelling by boat.

Thus, the canal, which was once rich with aquatic ecosystems and a great tool for water and flood management, can be retrieved if not immediately but eventually. 

 

 

Source: Mr.Hemachandra Rao

Team: Nandhabalan.J.K , Mahesh Boopathi.V, Ashwin.S.S, Rajita.SK , Rudhra Narayanan.S.G, Bhoomika Kabilan,Mahesh Boopathy.V, Kharan P.R, Grithika.S, T.N. Vignesh Sharma

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