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Chennai District

CHENNAI DISTRICT

1 DISTRICT

1. Introduction of about 5 km from the coast and attains a depth of about 63’. The two principal ) Geographical location of the currents, one from the north sets in about the district middle of October and continues till Chennai is situated in the North- February and another from the south flows Eastern end of on the coast of parallel to the coast, which starts during the Bay of . It lies between 12 o 9’ and early days of and continues till the 13 o 9’ North and 80 o 12’ and 80 o 19’ East. middle of October. The total area of the district is 178.2 sq.km ii) Administrative profile It is bounded by the in the east and on the remaining three sides by Chennai is one of the oldest Kancheepuram and districts. The of . topography of the district is almost flat and encompasses the entire Chennai Corporation the ground level in the district slightly rises including 19 villages added in the year 1979 up to 22 ft above the mean sea level. from the district. The Following table shows the administrative Chennai has a long beach, which profile of the district. stretches nearly 25.60 km from Thiruvottiyur in the north to in the south and it is sandy for about a km No. of from the shore. The bed of the sea is about Taluk Name Villages 42’ deep and slopes gradually for a distance - 13 - 8 - 15 Fort - 7 - 12 Purasawakkam

ii) Meteorological information

Chennai has a tropical wet and dry . The city lies on the thermal equator and is also on the coast, which prevents extreme variation in seasonal temperature. The weather is hot and humid for most of the year. The hottest part of the year is late May to early June, known

regionally as Agni Nakshatram ("fire star")

2 or as Kathiri Veyyil, with maximum Campus and a number of bungalows and temperatures around 35–40 °C (95–104 °F). newly developed colonies where provisions The coolest part of the year is January, with for public parks, etc. have been made. minimum temperatures around 15–22 °C (59–72 °F).The lowest temperature recorded The indigenous trees found are is 13.8 °C (56.8 °F) and the highest recorded , Mangifera indica , temperature is 45 °C (113 °F). The average Tamarindus indica , Albizia saman , Albizia annual rainfall is about 140 cm (55 inches). lebbeck , benghalensis , Cocos nucifera The city gets most of its seasonal rainfall and Ficus religiosa . Stretches of casuarina during the northeast period from plantations are available on the sea-coast mid–October to mid–December. in beyond the mouth of the in the the Bay of Bengal sometimes hit the city. South and Tondiarpet in the North. The highest annual rainfall recorded is 257 iv) resources cm (101 inches) in 2005. Prevailing winds in

Chennai are usually south-westerly between Chennai district is not endowed with April and October and north-easterly during many forest resources except the Guindy the rest of the year. Historically, Chennai National Park with an area of 270.57 ha has relied on annual monsoon to which is under Reserve Forest category. In replenish water reservoirs, as no major terms of density of vegetation cover, the rivers flow through the area. Chennai has a area falls under sparse category. The Guindy water table at 2 m for 60 % of the year. National Park is classified under tropical dry

evergreen of the Coromandal coast 2. Resources availability and is being used for recreational purposes. i) Land resources However, much of this park area represents dry scrub jungle of the Southern The total geographical area of dry zone interspersed with more than 30 Chennai District is around 17,400 ha The species of trees. The entire vegetation looks urban nature of the district indicates that dry during months, but trees acquire there are no activities being carried out with a verdant look with the onset of . respect to Agriculture and Horticulture. The forests are interspersed with open Therefore, data pertaining to agriculture, grassland, which is the ideal for horticulture practices, soil types, soil black bucks. Besides the terrestrial problems; soil conservation works are not vegetation different water are seen in applicable to Chennai districts. the lakes and ponds inside the park.

iii) Agriculture and horticulture v) Water resources

Chennai city today is devoid of any Rivers typical agriculture areas but can still be proud of some of the well maintained green The city is intersected by two rivers, belts found in the Peoples park, the Napier the Cooum and the Adyar. Cooum runs park, the Horticulture-, My Lady's through the heart of the city and enters the Park, Children’s Park Guindy, Park, sea between the University buildings and the Nehru Park, Nageswara Rao Park, Fort St.George underneath the Napier Independence Park, Anna Square Park, the Bridge, while the latter wends its way , the through the Southern part of the city and enters the sea near Adyar. These two rivers

3 are almost stagnant and do not carry enough principal currents, first from the north and water except during rainy seasons. second from the south flow parallel to the coast. The former sets in about the middle of starts from Kesavaram October and continues till February while Anicut in Kesavaram village built across the latter starts by about August and . The surplus from continues till the burst of the northeast Cooum tank joins this course at about 8 km, monsoon in the middle of October. These lower down and this point is actually the two principal currents are caused by the head of Cooum river which is located 48 winds. km, west of Chennai. The river receives a sizeable quantity of sewage from its vi) Fisheries production neighbourhood. Though the river Adyar can be traced to a point near Chennai has 25.6 km long coastline village, it assumes the appearance of a and is one of the major fishing centres in stream only after it receives the surplus Tamil Nadu with nearly 44 villages engaged in fishing activity in and around the district. water from the Chembarambakkam tank. The river has no commercial importance, a). Total coastal line of the district :19 km but the fishermen in the neighbourhood b).i.Total inland fresh water spread make their living by fishing in the river. area : 240 ha

Canals ii. Estuaries and brackish The which runs water area : 40 ha through the States of Tamil Nadu and c). Marine fishing villages : 44 is a navigation canal. This canal runs almost parallel to the Coromandal Fish Production: Item Quantity Value coast within the limits of 5 km from the (Item) (tonne) (Rs.in ) coast. It joins up a series of natural (1) (2) (3) Inland NIL NIL NIL backwaters and connects all the coastal districts from to . Entering Fisheries Development the city at Tondiarpet in the north and Marine Inland 14031 7576.74 running along the western outskirts of a) Freezing Plants : 1.5 tonnes capacity run George Town, it joins the new canal, south- by T.N.F.D.C. west of General Hospital. The other canal b) Iceplants, Cold storages : 5.0 tonnes worth mentioning in the city is the Capacity Ice Plants run by T.N.F.D.C. Nullah which commences from the village And walk in coolers : -Nil- Mullam, runs eastwards upto and then passes through Buckingham and c) Sea food processing : -Nil- Units in private sector : -Nil- Carnatic Mills and finally joins the Buckingham Canal, north of Basin Bridge d) Fisheries Training centre : Railway Station. i. Marine : -Nil- ii. Inland : -Nil-

Chennai has 25.6 km of sea coast e) Fishing Vessels Mechanised : 1229 which is flat and sandy for about a km from f) Active Marine Fishermen : 16299 the shore. The bed of the sea is about 42' g) Active Marine Fishermen : 4279 deep and slopes further in gradual stages for a distance of about 5 km from the coast attaining a depth of about 63'. The two

4 Export Shrines in Mylapore, Triplicane and Besant

Fish and Fish Products: Nagar, Cholamandal Artist Village and Park. a) Quantity (tonne) : 42246 MTs Valluvarkottam b) Value (Rs.in crore) : 1382. 55 crore

vii) Heritage sites

The protected and conserved monuments in Chennai district include St. George Fort, Egmore Museum, Parthasarathy Temple, Kapaleeswarar Temple, High Court, Madras University, Thousandlight Mosques, St.Thomas Mount, Triplicane Mosque, Theosophical Society, Adyar etc. These monuments are maintained by Archaeological (ASI).

The major tourist area in the district includes Fort St. George, which was built in 1653, as a trading centre by the British . At present a portion of the fort is used to accommodate the Legislature and the Secretariat of the . Within the Fort St. George, St Mary’s church was built in 1680, which is considered as historically the most important building, and Fort Museum, which preserves most remarkable treasures relating to history of in Chennai District.

In addition Valluvarkottam, Marina beach, Guindy Children's park area, Government Museum at Egmore, also attract viii) both domestic and international tourists. Among the many attractions of Chennai, the South of the city, along the East two ancient shrines of Kapaleeswarar Coast Road, is the Madras Crocodile Bank Temple in Mylapore and Sri Parthasarathy Trust, which hosts several fresh-water and Temple in Triplicane also tourist attract. . salt-water , alligators, gharials, and also turtles and . It is considered Maximum numbers of domestic an important institute for herpetological tourists are visit Parthasarathy Temple, research and performs services such as Marina Beach, Valluvarkottam, Guindy snake venom extraction for preparing Park, Crocodile Park and Gandhi antidotes. Mandapam. Maximum number of International tourists visit Marina Beach,

5 (i.e., Banks of the Adyar River, Buckingham Canal, Coovum River and ) and along the roadside.

Madras Crocodile Bank

A large number of cattle egrets, pond herons and other water birds can be seen in the rivers of Cooum and Adyar. In addition, solid waste land fill Tamil Nadu Government classified the Adyar Estuary into a protected eco-system. City’s sewerage system consists of a network of gravity main, force mains and Marshy wetlands such as pumping stations serving the different parts also play host to a number of migratory of the city. The sewage collected from each birds during the monsoon and . It is area is pumped from one pumping station to one of the prioritized wetlands of Tamil another by relay and conveyed to Kasimedu Nadu. Unfortunately, this wetland is being north of the Harbour from where it is degraded by pollution and garbage dumping disposed into the sea. The present system and is converted into housing colonies, covers 85% of the city’s population. railway terminus etc. However, steps are being taken to restore this marshland. Over Solid waste generation in the district 300 species of birds have been recorded in is 2500 tonne / day of which nearly 84% of the city and its neighborhood. the waste is being collected and nearly 8400 workers are engaged in the existing solid 3.Impacts waste collection system either directly or indirectly. Two land fill pits are present at i) Urbanization Kodungaiyur and . With regard to the composition of garbage in the city, it is Chennai is a 100% urbanised district. seen that compostable matter constitutes This has naturally led to an increase in only 16.4% of garbage while ash and fine congestion, overcrowding, steady growth of earth account for nearly 20% of the weight. slums and squatter settlements and heavy strain on the infrastructure and services. ii) Industrial development Moreover, there is the migration from neighbouring and other districts in Tamil Chennai is one of the important Nadu for employment opportunities. industrial centres of Tamil Nadu. As a Increase in population put pressure on district, it ranks third in industrial available land. Most of the slums in the city development after and Salem are of linear type located along waterfront district in Tamil Nadu.

6 The major industries in and around the industrial locations indicate that the Chennai district included concentration of ambient air pollutants are within permissible levels. • Ltd. • T.I. Cycles of India Ltd. In terms of discharge of industrial effluents by the industries, Tamil Nadu • Enfield India Ltd. Pollution Control Board has identified seven major industries in red category, which are • Sundaram Fasterners Ltd. listed below • Parry Confectionery Ltd.

• Wheels India Ltd. • Simpson & Co., • Ltd. • Madras Ltd. • Automobile Products of India • I.C.F. Shell division • ACT India Ltd. • Apollo Cancer Hospital • Amrutanjan Ltd. • Addison & Co. • Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd. India Meters • Southern Railway, Chennai Central

• The .C.P Ltd. These industries are disposing 509.2 Kiloliters (kl) of sewage, 42.3 kl of trade • Madras Refineries Ltd. effluent and 360 kl of wastewater in the city • Manali Petrochemical Ltd. drains every day, and these are treated • before disposal. Tree plantations also help in Ponds India Ltd. reducing the air pollution by the absorption • Rane Brake Linings Ltd., etc. of CO 2 gases for their metabolic activities.

• Ltd. iii) Thermal power generation • TVS – Lucas Ltd. The Thermal power station

To check the air pollution, Tamil and Basin Bridge Thermal power station are Nadu Pollution Control Board has identified the two power plants located in and around 5 places in the district. (, CLRI, Chennai City. The higher percentage of , T.Nagar, ) to electricity consumption is registered in monitor the emission levels of vehicles. domestic sector i.e. 63%, as the district is Moreover, TNPCB lays and modifies the predominantly a settlement area, and the effluent standards for the sewage effluents commercial establishments consume 16%. and for the emission of air pollutants into the The district is electrified 100%. Alternative atmosphere from industrial plants and energy sources such as solar, Bio-gas and automobiles. Though some of the industrial windmills would augment supply and be and urban areas are categorised as air environment-friendly in comparison to fossil pollution stressed, ambient air quality fuel. monitoring in residential, commercial and

7 iv) Natural hazards like plantations and nourishment (dredged soil from Ennore port) is being As a coastal city, Chennai district is carried out. susceptible to erosion particularly on the Northern side.

The river Kosasthalaiyar River v) Natural disaster prone areas discharges into the Bay of Bengal at Ennore. The Ennore port is located on the northern Chennai is subjected to flooding side of the river mouth. during the Northeast monsoon. Catastrophic flooding occurred in 1976 and 1985 causing Ennore to enormous damage to property, infrastructure and the economy. Relief and rehabilitation The stretch of about 15km from measures had to be taken up by the Ennore towards its south upto Royapuram government agencies. Setlments on the comprises a number of fishing hamlets. banks of the waterways and in the flood Most of the beaches have been protected by plains are most vulnerable. a seawall and combination of seawall and groynes. Even though, the beach from Chennai is a low-lying area and the Chinna (about 3 km from South of land surface is almost flat. The damage was Ennore creek mouth) to Ennore mouth has severe during 2004 as been protected by a seawall this stretch is it accounted for thousands of lives liable to be eroded in future. Hence, this and severe material damage. The even should be strengthened by a groynes field, topography of the land throughout the by which additional beach width can be district is prone to floods. It rises slightly as gained, thereby not only stabilizing the the distance from the sea-shore increases but seawall but also to win additional beach. . the average elevation of the city is not more than 22' above mean sea-level, while most Reach between the two groynes fields of the localities are just at sea-level and (Masthan Koil Kuppam to Popular drainage in such areas remains a serious Weigh Bridge) problem.

A portion of this stretch of the coast 4. Government initiatives has been proposed to be protected by two groynes fields in addition to a seawall, out i) Coastal protection initiatives of which one stretch with six groynes is completed and the second stretch is to be Kaatupallikuppam taken up by TNRDC. In between the two groynes fields, industries and fishing This village is situated north of hamlets are located along this stretch. Ennore Port and south of lake. During tsunami, water wall of height 3 m Stretch between Savorit to Northern penetrated to about 300 m into the land. As breakwater of fishing the Ennore port breakwaters are intercepting the net northerly littoral drift, there is slight The existing seawall at this stretch is erosion at this village. This erosion may be in a depleted condition. The stretch of the magnified if not tackled. Hence, measures

8 coast from the North of Northern breakwater • Chennai has a tropical wet and dry upto stretch II of the groynes field is to be climate. The city lies on the thermal constructed by Tamil Nadu Road equator and is also on the coast, Development Corporation. which prevents extreme variation in seasonal temperature. Stretch between to • The urban nature of district indicates that no activities are being carried The Marina beach is World's second out with respect to Agricultural and longest beach formed due to the interception Horticulture. of the long shore sediment transport by the Chennai harbours Southern breakwater. This • Chennai city today is devoid of any has resulted in the sand bar formation at the typical agriculture areas but can still mouth of rivers Cooum and Adyar. Both the be proud of some of the well rivers run within the city of Chennai . maintained green belts. ii) Awareness initiatives • The indigenous trees found are

Azadirachta indica , Mangifera NGOs are mainly dealing with indica , Tamarindus indica , Albizia environmental issues like Environmental saman , Albizia lebbeck , Ficus impact studies, Environmental awareness, benghalensis , Cocos nucifera and Environmental Education etc. Around 45 Ficus religiosa . Stretches of NGOs have been identified in the District. casuarina plantations are available on Various awareness creation activities have the sea-coast beyond the mouth of been conducted among the fisher folk on the Adyar in the South and tsunami and CRZ issues. Tondiarpet in the North.

5. Summary / Conclusion • Chennai district is not endowed with many forest resources except the • Chennai is situated in the North- with an area of Eastern end of Tamil Nadu on the 270.57 ha, which is under Reserve coast of Bay of Bengal. Forest category.

• The total area of the district is 178. 2 • Chennai is a 100% urbanised district. sq.km It is bounded by the Bay of This has naturally led to an increase Bengal in the east and on the in congestion, overcrowding, steady remaining three sides by growth of slums and squatter Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur settlements and heavy strain on the districts. infrastructure and services.

• Chennai City is one of the oldest • No marked resources like , Cities of India with 5 taluks and 55 mangroves and seagrasses have been villages. recorded in this district.

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