With over 20,000 residents, Ward 97 is one of the most thickly populated wards in the South Zone of Coimbatore Corporation. It is also one of the wards that form the civic body’s southern boundary.
The Ward extends from Sundarapuram Junction in the north to Naicker Thottam in the south to border the Madukkarai Town Panchayat; and, it extends from MGR Nagar-Saravanan Nagar in the west to Pollachi Road in the east.
The ward houses people mostly from the middle and low income groups and also industries.
Supply of drinking water and borewell water is a problem as they get potable water only once in 25 days and the latter only once in 15 - 20 days, say residents. The worst affected are the Pillaiyarpuram residents, who live on a hillock.
S. Manjula, a Pillaiyarpuram resident, says that the water supply (both potable and non-potable) is so poor that the residents are forced to beg for water from neighbours who live down hill. They had taken up the issue with the former ward councillor and now officials, but were yet to get relief.
On days the Corporation supplied water, the quantity is so inadequate that each residents will get a pot of water and at the maximum two pots, she rues.
Condition of roads is very poor. Nethaji Nagar has not seen a road for over two decades now. The undulating stretch of earth that they call road will turn difficult to drive during rains, complains resident R. Bharat Kumar.
The Corporation should rebuild roads across the Ward. And, it should also rebuild the causeway across the Channel on Sugunapuram Road, says resident R. Krishnamurthi. The causeway is too low that it often came under sheet of water during rains. The Corporation should built a bridge, just as it did at Puttuvikki. It would help the residents easily reach the Palakkad Road.
Likewise, the Corporation should also widen the Palaniappa Theatre Road, for it is one of the important roads that connects Palakkad Road. At present the road is too narrow, with a width of 15 feet or so. If the Corporation were to widen it to 40 feet, it will lead to development of Sundarapuram, says resident ‘Vanavil’ G. Kanagaraj.
Inadequate toilets
Inadequate toilets for residents from low income groups is another issue, the residents say and point out that the worst affected are those from Kurinji Nagar, Kamarajar Nagar, Kondi Colony, Nagarajapuram and Pillaiyarpuram. The Corporation’s efficiency in waste collection and disposal is also questionable, the residents say. Their other demands include a burial ground for people from Schedule Caste communities as the present one at Kamarajar Nagar is under encroachment and more bins to dispose off waste.
