Chennai: The moat surrounding the historic 17th century Fort St. George, covered with mud, vegetation, clogged inlets and stagnating drainage water conjures up the image of the cooum river that runs nearby. However, this could soon be a thing of the past. For, the ASI and the Indian army have decided to roll up their sleeves and restore the moat and fill it up with water again.
“We hope to restore the moat completely. Already the Indian army has started clearing the vegetation and in due course both the ASI and army would take concerted steps to revive it,” says G. Maheshwari, Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai circle. Another peculiar problem in the renovation is the drainage water from the quarters inside the fort seeps into the moat. “This will also be addressed,” she said. Originally the moat was connected to the sea.
The moat surrounding Fort St George may not be clearly discerned now but it had served a vital purpose in protecting the fort and also in keeping the ammunition really cool. In the 1990s, during a routine conservation work at the fort, an underground tunnel running parallel to the moat was unearthed and this confirmed the original plan and design of the fort.
The western side the moat is overgrown with algae and wears a decrepit look while the northern side is hardly recognisable due to thick vegetation. "We hope to restore the moat completely. Already the Indian Army has started clearing the vegetation and in due course both the ASI and Army would take concerted steps to revive it," says G. Maheshwari, superintending archaeologist, ASI. Another peculiar problem is rainage water from the quarters inside the fort seeps into the moat. "This will also be addressed," she said. Originally the moat was connected to the sea.
