Buckingham Canal · Lablypedia

Developed in stages under British rule from 1806, the canal became an important coastal transport route during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Competition from rail and road transport later reduced its commercial importance, while sections in Chennai became silted and heavily polluted by sewage and industrial effluents.

The North and South Buckingham canals are constituent sections of National Waterway 4. In February 2026, the Inland Waterways Authority of India had completed feasibility studies for Tamil Nadu's declared waterways and sanctioned ₹5.23 crore to update the detailed project report for NW-4, including the Buckingham Canal.

Construction

The first segment of the canal was a saltwater navigation canal completed in 1806 from Madras to Ennore, a distance of 18 km (11 mi). It was officially called Lord Clive's Canal after the then Governor, but was more commonly known as Cochrane's Canal after Basil Cochrane, who financed and carried out the work. The canal was soon extended north to Pulicat Lake, about 40 km (25 mi) north of Madras. It was taken over by the government in 1837 and progressively extended in both directions. By 1857 it reached Dugarazapatam, 69 mi (111 km) north of Madras, and had become known as the East Coast Canal; by 1876 it had reached Krishnapatnam, 92 mi (148 km) north of Madras. By 1882, the southern extension linked Marakkanam with the northern canal system through Madras, forming a continuous coastal navigation route for regional trade and transport. Further improvements between 1892 and 1897 included new locks and openings to the sea.

During the Great Famine of 1876–78, the Madras Presidency was severely affected. As part of famine-relief works in 1877–78, an 8 km (5 mi) section linking the Adyar and Cooum rivers was excavated at a cost of nearly ₹3 million, much of it spent on labour. In 1878, the East Coast Canal was renamed the Buckingham Canal after the then Governor of Madras, the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos.

The canal lost much of its importance with the growth of railway transport, but its traffic revived during the Second World War, when railways and motor lorries were heavily used for war supplies. Under the Second Five Year Plan, development of the Buckingham Canal, including a link with Madras harbour, was undertaken with a Central Government contribution of Rs. 115 lakhs. The Estimates Committee described the work as necessary to conserve an inter-state waterway that supplemented railway capacity and provided a means of carrying large quantities of goods between the States of Andhra and Madras.

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Course of the canal

The canal runs approximately 1 km (0.62 mi) back from the coastline. It joins up a series of natural backwaters, and fed by tidal waters from the sea through rivers and creeks. The Cooum River connects the canal to the Bay of Bengal in the center of Chennai. The portion north of the Cooum is known as the North Buckingham Canal, and the portion south of the Cooum as the South Buckingham Canal. 257 km (160 mi) of the canal is in Andhra Pradesh, and 163 km (101 mi) is in Tamil Nadu. Approximately 31 km (19 mi) is within the city limits of Chennai. In Andhra Pradesh it joins the Cammamar Canal at the Krishna delta, just north of Pallipalem which in turn is connected with the canals of the Godavari delta. The complete inter-connected system presents a continuous 400 miles of navigable channel along the coast.

Decline in usage

The canal was used to convey goods up and down the coast from Vijayawada to Madras (now Chennai). The cyclones of 1965/1966 and 1976 damaged the canal, and it is little used and no longer well maintained. Within the city of Chennai the canal is badly polluted from sewage and industrial effluents, and the silting up of the canal has left the water stagnant, creating an attractive habitat for malaria-spreading mosquitoes. The North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTP) discharges hot water and fly ash into the canal. In agricultural areas south of Chennai, the former towpath along the scenic areas is used for light motorcycle and bicycle traffic. On 1 January 2001 the Government of India launched a project to prevent sewage discharge into the canal and Chennai's other waterways, and to dredge the canal to remove accumulated sediment and improve water flow.

Within the city limits of Chennai much of the canal has been used as the route of the elevated Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). MRTS stations such as Kotturpuram, Kasturba Nagar and Indira Nagar have encroached on the canal and narrowed the width of the canal to less than 50 meters in a few places.

Buckingham Canal is the most polluted of the three major waterways in the city with nearly 60 per cent of the estimated 55 million litres of untreated sewage being let into it daily, including by Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

Effect of the 2004 tsunami

Dr. B. Ramalingeswara Rao first identified the buffer zone action of the Buckingham Canal when he visited the coastal areas of 300 kilometres (186.4 mi). He recommended to the Government to renovate it to mitigate tsunami hazards in the future. Further, he reported in 2005, during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami or also known as the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, the Buckingham Canal acted as a buffer zone and regulated the tsunami waves on the coastal region over nearly 310 kilometres (192.6 mi) from Pedda Ganjam to Chennai. The canal all along the coast was filled with tsunami water, which overflowed at a few places and receded back to sea within 10-15 min. This helped save the lives of several fishermen, especially in coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of Chennai city and also helped in clearing of the aquaculture debris. The natural growth of vegetation on either side of the canal, has had an effect in tsunami mitigation; for example in Vakadu Mandal at villages like Pudikappam, Srinivasapuram and Tudipalem, the damage was minimal.

Dr. B. R. Rao further stressed on the extension of the Buckingham Canal up to Vedaranyam in order to protect the Tamil Nadu coast from the fury of tsunamis in future.

Cause of 2015 floods

Buckingham canal drains water from south Chennai. A 2014 CAG report revealed that a diversion channel from Buckingham canal near Okkiyum Maduvu to the sea (drain project under JNNURM scheme) could have saved south Chennai from flooding. But the government dropped the 100 crore JNNURM scheme, which if completed, would have drained flood water at 3,500 cubic feet per second from southern neighborhoods. The 2014 CAG report said defective planning of flood control projects caused delay and increased cost, defeating the objective of the scheme. "The fact is that alleviation of inundation of flood water in Chennai city remains largely un-achieved," it said.

Revamp of the canal

Revival of Buckingham Canal took shape by government's National Waterway 4 (NW-4) declaration in November 2008. Both North Buckingham (Peddaganjam, Ongole-Chennai) and south Buckingham (basin bridge, Chennai - Marakkanam) canal will be developed under the proposed National Waterway 4 by Inland Waterways Authority of India. Periodically, government of Tamil Nadu also takes up dredging and widening of the canal through Water Resources Department, Public Works Department (PWD). With the provisions of State-Center shared Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), PWD has started widening the South Buckingham Canal from Okkiyam Madu to Muttukadu for a stretch of 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) About ₹1,447.91 crore (US$150 million) has been allocated under the JNNURM for integrated development of waterways and macro drainages like Buckingham canal, Otteri Nullah, Virugambakkam – Arumbakkam drain, Cooum and Adyar river. Despite the development, the central section of the canal running through the most congested areas of Chennai, a length of 7.1 kilometres (4.4 mi) will remain unnavigable due to severe encroachments and construction of the Chennai Mass Rapid Transport System.

On 22 January 2010, Government of Tamil Nadu has reconstituted the Adayar Poonga Trust as Chennai River Restoration Trust for restoration of Chennai rivers (Adayar river, Cooum river) including the Buckingham Canal.

In 2011 improvements were being undertaken on the 13 km (8.1 mi) stretch between Okkiyam Madu and Muttukadu under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The canal was being widened to 100 m (330 ft) and a U.S.A.-built dredge was being used to deepen the canal to 2.4 m (8 ft). Also under this project, six small causeways across the canal would be reconstructed into single-lane bridges.

Bridges connecting ECR and OMR

In 2018, the Chennai Corporation proposed to construct six bridges across the canal, linking East Coast Road and Old Mahabalipuram Road, along a length of 4.5 kilometers of the canal. They include Venkatesapuram–Elango Nagar (costing ₹46.3 million), Venkatesapuram–Gandhi Road (costing ₹46.2 million), Kamarajar Salai–Veeramani Salai (costing ₹60 million), Maniammai Street–Dr. Ambedkar Salai (costing ₹96.6 million), Pandian Street–Anna Nagar (costing ₹62.1 million), and Gandhi Nagar–Pandian Nagar (costing ₹52.9 million).

Other sources

"Buckingham canal buffered tsunami fury". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 11 August 2005. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2006.
"The desecrated link". The Hindu Sep 23, 2002. Hindu Group. Archived from the original on 7 May 2005. Retrieved 15 May 2006.
B. Ramalingeswara Rao (2005). Buckingham Canal saved people in Andhra Pradesh (India) from the tsunami of 26 December 2004. Current Science vol. 89, pp. 12–13.