The Hindu : Front Page : Leading from the front

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 17, 2005

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Leading from the front

K.V. Prasad

COIMBATORE: A common grouse among the people in the city for long is that Coimbatore Corporation officials maintain "a distance" from civic problems: many of them do not enter the flooded areas.

Changing perception

But, since the onset of monsoon last month that perception is changing. Councillors and officials attribute it to the presence of Commissioner Anil Meshram in the affected zones. Not as a top official issuing orders from a safe distance, but as one who rolls up his trouser and wades through muddy water to assess the problem.

A couple of weeks ago, at Thillai Nagar, the Commissioner made an assessment of flooding in the area. Elected representatives in spotless white outfits followed suit. Other officials had a choice: either remove their designer footwear or get into water with it.

"There is no choice for the others when the top official in the civic body gets into action," says north zone chairman P. Rajkumar. The underlying message is: get to experience the problem first hand to find a lasting solution.

The result: the Commissioner has allocated a lorry to each of the four zones to pump out rainwater. Officials have been told not to switch off their mobile phones so that information on flooding reaches them round the clock. The residents can call up 2394376, a dedicated line, rigged up for this purpose.

On night duty

A sanitary inspector and a junior engineer will be on night duty in the main office to receive information and co-ordinate action.

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