Coimbatore's ₹200-Crore River Rejuvenation Plan Faces Environmentalist Backlash

As of November 1st, 2025, the Coimbatore Corporation has unveiled a ₹200-crore plan to rejuvenate the Noyyal River within the city limits. The project, spanning an 18.5-km stretch, includes desilting, strengthening of bunds, and the construction of two sewage treatment plants. It also proposes riverfront development with a 4.5-km road, four parks, and other beautification works.

However, local environmentalists have raised concerns that the plan emphasizes aesthetics over tackling the root cause of pollution. They argue the city's large population and water consumption generate significant domestic wastewater, which, along with industrial discharge, continues to pollute the river. Activists urge the Corporation to first expand existing sewage treatment facilities and build new ones to ensure untreated waste does not reach water bodies.

The proposed four MLD (million liters per day) treatment plants are deemed inadequate by experts, who predict the facilities will fall short of requirements in the coming years as the city grows. Environmentalists also caution against the use of exotic plant species, which they say do not support local biodiversity, and call for the use of native vegetation to restore the river's ecological balance.