Kallang River: A History

Kallang River: History

Kallang River (Source: Otterman.wordpress.com)

The Kallang River is the longest river in Singapore at 10km long flowing from the Lower Peirce Reservoir to Nicoll Highway. The river’s place in Singapore’s history is well varied as a source of fresh water for early settlers in Singapore; means of transportation for traders and recreation.

Today, the river is largely reserved for recreation and as a source of water. Numerous recreational facilities can be found along the river with many concentrated at its mouth near Kallang Basin.

1977- 1987: Cleaning Up

Kallang River Bank (Source: PICAS)

Unlike its modern day iteration, the Kallang River was said to have been filled with debris and waste in the early 1970s.

The river banks were overcrowded with squatters and industry then with the vast majority releasing various forms of discharge into the river. Amongst the industries were pig farms, duck farms and hawkers all releasing a mix of waste into the river. As you can imagine, the river was hardly fit for human activities then due to its severe pollution.

It wasn’t until 1977 that the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew launched a clarion call for the clean-up of Singapore’s rivers (Choo, 2014). As a result, the Ministry of Environment placed a target; that the river be fit for fishing within 10 years.

There were a few issues that had to be tackled before the clean-up could actually really shift in to high gear. First, the human population around the river bank was significant. Housing had to be found for these persons before they could be moved away from the river before clean up could commence. Second, the river was still a transportation route then with hundreds of boats such as bumboats plying the river. The cleaning up of the river meant that all of this commerce had to be shifted elsewhere.

Kallang River Clean Up (Source: The Straits Times)

The clean-up team led by then Environment Ministry Permanent Secretary Lee Ek Tieng resolved the two problems by shifting all of the riverside population to public housing further inland and building a new anchorage point at Pasir Panjang to deal with all the commerce that would have come to the river. The industries were either relocated to industrial estates or totally phased out in the case of farms.As such, the crew could focus their efforts on the clean up on the river which eventually took 10 years and cost S$170 million.

1987: Clean Rivers Education Programme

But just cleaning up the river isn’t enough. Improper dumping of waste can still cause the river to revert back to its pre-clean up days. To prevent the river from regressing, the Singapore government launched the Clean Rivers Education Programme in 1987 to raise awareness of the negative effects of releasing waste into Singapore’s waterways and to encourage people to keep the waterways pollution-free (National Libary Board, 2004).

The programme released videos on keeping the rivers clean to the public with large emphasis on students to call upon them to participate in keeping the rivers clean.

Beyond 1987: Reshaping the River

The Kallang River has changed significantly since then with the return of aquatic life and increase in recreational activities in the River. The river has also become an attraction with river cruise boats offering tourists a chance to travel along its length. It’s also become an integral part of the Marina Reservoir water catchment area with the addition of the Marina Barrage Dam in 2008.

Bibliography

Choo, F. (5 Jul, 2014). 5 Interesting Facts about the Singapore River Clean Up. Retrieved from The Straits Times: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/5-interesting-facts-about-the-singapore-river-clean-up

National Libary Board. (2004). Clean Rivers Education Programme and Clean River Commemoration. Retrieved from Singapore Infopedia: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_398__2008-12-02.html