With demands for storm water drains, street lights and good roads remaining unaddressed, Ward 99 is like the other seven wards that merged with the Corporation after being a part of the Kurichi Municipality.
Extending from Arputham Nagar, Vellalore Canal in the north to Vinayagar Kovil Street and P&T Colony in the south and from Church Road to Anbu Nagar in the east, the Ward 99 is spread over both sides of the Chettipalayam Road in Podanur and forms the south-eastern boundary of the Corporation. The 14,000-odd residents live in and around the old town area, Konavaikalpalayam and new localities like Sri Ram Nagar, Arputham Nagar, Anbu Nagar, etc. The ward is also home to Railway Police Quarters and railway establishments in Podanur.
Like the erstwhile Kurichi wards, here too the Coimbatore Corporation’s poor supply of drinking water is one of the foremost complaints of the residents. The drinking water supply varies from once in 20 to 25 days, but it is not uniform within the ward.
The residents’ next big complaint is absence of drainage. In areas where the Corporation had constructed drains, the absence of proper disposal point is the issue, says Periyar Nagar resident P. Muralidharan.
The Corporation had left incomplete the drain work after taking it up in the Appu Layout - G.D. Tank stretch of Chettipalayam Road. It should complete the work by taking it through Periyar Nagar to Vellalore Canal so that a host of residential colonies stand to gain, he suggests. Near Anbu Nagar, on Chettipalayam Road, the Corporation has put into disuse a community hall and is using the premises to park its lorries used for waste collection.
Throwing open the community hall, built with MLA constituency development funds, will help a lot of people from the low income group conduct wedding and social events, says resident Joseph J.S.
Stray dog menace
There is another problem that the Corporation must address on a war footing: stopping people from dumping poultry waste on Sundays on Chettipalayam Road, says Nabi Nagar resident Joe Louis E. The waste attracts dogs and not a Sunday passes off without accidents as dogs cross the busy road.
The ward residents also want the Corporation to control odour from the Vellalore dump yard and improve ground water quality.
