Cooum river - Is that Tamil Nadu's Infinite money Glitch?

[Image Source - https:\/\/x.com\/NammaChennai\_\/status\/1877318720407609581 ](https://preview.redd.it/0nhplfv611ce1.png?width=796&format=png&auto=webp&s=d10fe3fae5b04c49bebdfa9c2711a9a568daf3cc) Image Source - [https://x.com/NammaChennai\_/status/1877318720407609581](https://x.com/NammaChennai_/status/1877318720407609581) Since I was a kid, I don't remember one time when the rivers of Chennai felt clean (except during heavy flood). I have also seen clean stretched of Cooum at a Check Dam near Thiruverkadu/Paruthipattu (prallel to Poonamallee - Avadi road). During my college times, I have seen water being collected in the Check dam after rain, and kids would dive in and swim. But as the river reached the city, it just got sewery with horrible stench. Many Govts in the past & present have started some form of Project or Trust or Authority or Commission or Agency to "restore" the river, but as of now the status is like the picture above. During Annadurai times itself, there was this famous interaction between Communists & then PWD minister M Karunanidhi, when they had asked for the accounts & expenses for the money spent (it was muti crore project in 1960s), the minister had replied there were crocodiles in the river and hence the project could not be completed. Later, when he himself became the CM I've read about boat services launched in Cooum, which too didn't last long. During his tenure as CM between 1996-2001, he had launched as 1200 Crore Chennai rivers restoration project, with funding supported from Central Govt. In 2006, while back in power, the DMK Govt launched Cooum eco-restoration project which was spear headed by the then Deputy CM & current CM MK Stalin. In 2009, he had even given a timeline of 10 years by which the river will be restored. In between ADMK Govt under J Jayalalithaa too had launched 2 other projects, one in 2012 under the name Cooum River Authority and another in 2015 under the named - Cooum eco-restoration project billed at close to 2000 Crores. Again, once back in power in 2021, the current DMK government has created a Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT) and I see that 4200 Crores has been allocated for Adyar river. Chennai Mayor had mentioned that Rs.529 Crores had been spent on Cooum river as part of the CRRT projects, and Sivagangai MP Karthi Chidambaram had requested for a White paper on the expenses, which hasn't received any response from the Mayor's office yet. At this point, I'm not sure if anyone knows how much money has been spent in the name of river restoration, with close to 0 results. I'm not sure if we the public have made the politicians accountable as well on this. Source- [https://web.archive.org/web/20091217174740/http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/14/stories/2009121458650300.htm](https://web.archive.org/web/20091217174740/http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/14/stories/2009121458650300.htm) [https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2009/Dec/04/will-cooum-clean-up-finally-take-off-109908.html](https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2009/Dec/04/will-cooum-clean-up-finally-take-off-109908.html) [https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/Cooum-will-be-restored-in-ten-years-Stalin/article16852153.ece](https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/Cooum-will-be-restored-in-ten-years-Stalin/article16852153.ece) (behind paywall) [https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2015/Sep/19/jaya-lays-foundation-for-1st-phase-of-cooum-eco-restoraation-project-816857.html](https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2015/Sep/19/jaya-lays-foundation-for-1st-phase-of-cooum-eco-restoraation-project-816857.html) [https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/karti-chidambaram-demands-white-paper-on-cooum-restoration-projects-writes-to-chennai-mayor/article68590131.ece](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/karti-chidambaram-demands-white-paper-on-cooum-restoration-projects-writes-to-chennai-mayor/article68590131.ece) (behind paywall) [https://thecommunemag.com/congress-mp-karti-chidambaram-demands-white-paper-on-cooum-river-restoration/](https://thecommunemag.com/congress-mp-karti-chidambaram-demands-white-paper-on-cooum-river-restoration/) (Non paywall)