Ward 23 that comprises the northern part of R.S. Puram is the Corporation Corporation’s face, for it gets projected every time the civic body showcases its good work. The ward that stretches from Cowley Brown Road in the north to Ramachandra Road in the south also gets highlighted because it is home to the Coimbatore Mayor, Corporation Commissioner and also the affluent section.
Named after the first Chairman of the then Coimbatore Municipality, Rathinasabapathi Mudaliar, this area is well-developed with broad roads and a number of cross roads as opposed to the old town comprising areas south of the Sukhrawarpet.
Plus, the ward also houses well-known retail outlets, restaurants, cultural centres, hospitals, diagnostic labs and what not. It was in this ward that the Coimbatore Corporation along with non-Government organisation ICLEI successfully implemented the zero waste management project that won national appreciation, says councillor S. Manimeghalai.
This waste management project has resulted in the civic body completely removing bins from all the streets in the ward. The ward had 89 bins of various sizes.
The high-development, though enviable, has its advantages such as high tax collection (97.86 per cent) but comes with its own problems, Ms. Manimeghalai says and points to the absence of a good park. The reserve sites have been taken up for officials’ housing or other purposes and there is no space left to develop a park.
The Corporation had said that it would develop D.B. Road into a world class road, providing adequate space for motorists, pedestrians and also vendors. As of March 2015, it remains just a promise.
Geetha Sridhar, a resident of Periasamy Road East, says that the Corporation should solve the parking problems on D.B. Road and the streets that branch off from it, improve platforms and manage space efficiently so as to make it safe for pedestrians. She also wants the civic body to re-lay roads.
The list of damaged roads includes Ramachandra Road, Ponnurangam Road and Venkatachalam Road. But these roads will be re-laid soon, says Ms. Manimeghalai, adding that funds for the same have been sanctioned.
Underground drainage in this ward is not a recent addition as it has been having once since the civic body was a municipality. Storm water drainage, though, is a problem. The Corporation has just begun constructing the drains and only a few roads have been covered, say residents.
As for street lights, the civic body has recently improved lighting by replacing 75 watt bulbs with 250 watt bulbs, they add.
