A Yatri Nivas built on the banks of the Coleroon at Srirangam was declared open by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday. She also commissioned a check-dam across the Cauvery and other development projects executed at a total investment of Rs.193.14 crore in her constituency.
The Chief Minister announced the establishment of a centralised commercial complex for fruits and flowers at Kallikudi because of the space constraints and traffic congestion at Gandhi Market in the city.
The complex would house a 2,000-tonne-capacity cold storage, a processing area and 1,000 shops. She laid the foundation for the complex and kick-started 1,654 other works in the Srirangam constituency, sanctioned at a total cost of Rs.171.27 crore.
The Yatri Nivas, built at a cost of Rs.47.09 crore on 6.40 acres at Panchakarai behind the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, can accommodate 1,000 devotees. “It will benefit devotees visiting not only the Srirangam temple but also the Thiruvanaikovil and Samayapuram temples. It has all modern amenities,” Ms. Jayalalithaa said.
The check-dam at Kambarasampettai, constructed at a cost of Rs.32 crore, would help to improve the groundwater table at and around Srirangam, she said. New buildings for the Horticultural College and Research Institute for Women at Navalur Kuttapattu, an integrated banana commercial complex with cold storage at Thiruchendurai, a 110/11-KV power sub-station at Thiruvanaikovil and an upgraded Primary Health Centre at Pettavaithalai were among the other major projects inaugurated by Ms. Jayalalithaa. Modern surgical and diagnostic equipment installed at the Srirangam Government Hospital were also dedicated to the people.
The Chief Minister laid the foundation for a combined drinking water supply scheme for 212 rural habitations in the Andhanallur, Manikandam and Manapparai unions, sanctioned at a cost of Rs.48.67 crore. The scheme, to be commissioned by March next, will supply 6.80 million litres of water a day to a population of 1.37 lakhs.
She distributed welfare assistance worth Rs.63.49 lakhs to 25,875 beneficiaries.
Ms. Jayalalithaa said she had laid the foundation for 5,200 works, worth Rs.2,185 crore, in the Srirangam constituency during her previous four visits.
