Several industrial and voluntary organisations in the city have jointly said that candidates in Coimbatore for the Lok Sabha elections should focus on infrastructure development.
Representatives of these associations released the “Vision Kovai Mission 10” on Saturday and said they will invite the candidates for an interactive meeting here on April 4. Better air, rail and road connectivity are the main demands, the representatives of the associations told presspersons.
The document is an initiative of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, and the Residents’ Awareness Association of Coimbatore. It has listed 10 major projects as the immediate needs of the city and these will need an investment of about Rs. 10,000 crore.
The associations had prepared a similar vision document for the previous Lok Sabha elections too. “We had 10 major demands then and action has been initiated for about 10 per cent of the projects we asked,” according to R. R. Balasundharam, president of the chamber. Apart from strengthening the infrastructure, implementation of Goods and Services Tax and Direct Tax Code and development of a manufacturing zone are the major demands of the industries here, he said.
“To some extent we are successful in making the candidates focus on the bread-and-butter issues of the city during the last five years,” D. Balasundaram, former president of the chamber, said.
“We want the parties to nominate candidates from the city,” the chamber president said. “We are also going to ask the elected MP to update us regularly on the actions taken for development of the city,” he said.
The district’s infrastructure is under severe stress as it has not been strengthened or expanded much in the last three decades. The document has listed 10 major projects as the immediate need of the city. The 10 projects that have been identified by the industry could be completed in five years and Coimbatore deserves the investment in these, considering its contribution to the Centre and the State, according to the vision.
The projects that Coimbatore needs are: more roads, Coimbatore Urban Development Authority and Master Plan, housing for slum dwellers and improvement in water supply, better rail connectivity, Coimbatore area rapid transport, improvement in power supply, a logistic hub with agri export complex, focus on water bodies, development of sports, tourism and heritage, and airport expansion.
