A bridge across River Adyar in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
On Friday, Chennai celebrates its 375th birthday as Madras Day, the city's former name, which is itself a reminder of its past. For the first time, the celebration has prompted people to demand the restoration of the city's infamous dirty rivers to their glorious past.
"While many things from the old Madras have turned better, the water bodies have become the Madras eye sore. A real clean-up of these would be the best Madras Day gift for Chennaites," said Mathias, a resident.
For 80-year-old Jagannatha Rao, walking with a stick in hand and escorted by his friend, it was a trip down memory lane as he came to an old broken bridge across River Adyar.
For Mr Rao, it brings back memories of his good old Madras days. With a radiant smile, he compares the contrast in quality of the river, now and then.
"We used to have diving boards, the Theosophical Society President used to dive, that's the kind of cleanliness we had, now it is all sewage," said Mr Rao.
Madras had largely developed along the banks of its other river, Cooum. But over the years, pollution has turned it into a cesspool. The flow finally stopped after its water was diverted to a dam to supply the city with drinking water.
The 400-kilometer long Buckingham Canal, built by the British for navigation, is another excellent example of waterways-turned-drains. The government's attempts to clean up the water bodies have turned largely futile.
"If there is no water to flush the river, no amount of cleaning up will work. Both dams do not release any water, we would have to think about releasing the water," said R Venkatesh, a historian and novelist.
However, residents have high hopes for these water bodies if treated the right way.
"Definitely the Cooum or any other water body is not a pride of Chennai but it can be made the pride of Chennai, just like the Thames in London," said Sreedhar, a resident.