Information-Singapore River

Singapore River

History ~.~!

The mouth of the Singapore River was the old Port of Singapore, being naturally sheltered by the southern islands. Historically, the city of Singapore initially grew around the port so the river mouth became the centre of trade, commerce and finance. To this day, area around the old Singapore River mouth, the Downtown Core, remains the most expensive and economically important piece of land in Singapore.
Ethnicity coming to Singapore river to be traders .

Pollution and cleanups
    Starting in the 1880s, there was heavy traffic on the Singapore River due to rapid urbanization and expanding trade. At the same time, it brought in water pollution caused by the disposal of garbage, sewage and other by-products of industries located along the river's banks. The sources of water pollution into the Singapore River and Kallang Basin included pig wastes from pig and duck farms, unsewered premises, street hawkers and vegetable wholesaling. Riverine activities such as transport, boat building and repairs were also found along the Singapore River. Some 750 lighters plied along the Singapore River and Kallang Basin in 1977. Waste, oil spills and waste water from these boats and lighters added to the pollution of the rivers.                               
Ten years later in 1987, the clean-up of the Singapore River and Kallang Basin was completed. In September 1987, the Ministry of the Environment together with other government ministries and statutory boards celebrated the success of the clean-up with an event called the "Clean Rivers Commemoration". After the massive clean-up, people can now engage in activities such as wayang performances on a bumboat, variety shows staged on pontoons anchored in the river, and boat races. Today, speedboats, dragon boats, pedal-boats and sampans can be seen plying on the clean waterways of the Singapore River.

Singapore River today

The river is now part of the Marina Reservoir after damming the Singapore River at its outlet to the sea to create a new reservoir of freshwater. While damming this area would create a valuable source of fresh water for the tiny city-state , it would have prevented the docking of ocean-going ships at the Singapore River which was arguably the original reason Singapore came into existence. The dam is known as Marina Barrage.