It was high drama at the special Municipal council meeting convened to deliberate over a resolution tabled for purchase of land for shifting the Dharmapuri bus stand to the outskirts of the town, here on Thursday.
The resolution tabled by the Municipal Chairperson J.Sumathi however had few takers, who wanted the Municpality to first see through the extension of its jurisdiction before taking up land acquisition process.
The bus stand set up in 1980, has been functioning for over 35 years. However with the increase in population, and the proposed extension of the Municipal jurisdiction to include eight more village Panchayats, it is believed that the present bus stand may not serve the purpose, say proponents of the resolution.
At present, two bus stands, one at the outer limit and another inside the town - together accommodate 120 private buses and 420 government express buses daily.
The Dharmapuri Municipality with 33 wards hosts a population of over 68,595 people as per the 2011 census. However, the proposal to bring under its jurisdiction eight more village Panchayats of Ilakyampatti, Adhyamankottai, Thadangam, Sogathur, Old Dharmapuri, Chettikarai, A.Kollahalli, and A.Jettyhalli has triggered the proposal to set up an integrated bus stand to accommodate an increased population.
However, the resolution for acquisition of land, prior to the including the village Panchayats within the Municipality raised serious objections from many councillors.
The resolution was defeated on the ground that it was a premature move and would end up draining Muncipality’s revenue into Panchayat’s coffers. On the other hand, scenting the tentative proposal for land acquisition to shift the bus stand, the commercial establishment of Dharmapuri town took to the street protesting against any such move to shift the bus stand even in the long run.
Representatives of the Dharmapuri Chamber of Commerce staged a protest and also petitioned the Municipality against any such move.
