Articles by Aravind Chandramohan

Aravind is a Product and Strategy Consultant at a leading MNC and a resident of Tiruvallur. Living along the Cooum river basin, he witnesses firsthand the alarming rise of pollution, environmental degradation, and increasing health risks. Driven by a passion for civic advocacy and nature conservation, Aravind combines his professional discipline with a commitment to the environment, striving to empower local communities and inspire collective action for a greener, healthier future for the Cooum river basin and beyond.

Reviving the Cooum: Need for innovation, enforcement and shared responsibility

by , , , , , , and December 4, 2025

The Cooum River, once a sacred river that shaped the history of Madras, has now become a sad sign of urban degradation. For the millions of residents in Chennai, it has transformed into a malodorous, polluted, and stagnant channel, burdened with solid waste accumulation and extensive encroachments along its banks. During a recent datajam organised by Oorvani Foundation and OpenCity, we used Geographical Information System (GIS) datasets and population analytics to investigate the underlying causes contributing to this crisis. The results show that rapid urbanisation, inadequate provision of essential civic infrastructure, and the absence of coherent policy frameworks, along with…

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