: East Zone in Coimbatore Corporation has the same number of wards – 20 – as the other four zones but is the biggest in terms of area – spread over 68.54 sq.km. The Zone shares its border with Sarcar Samakulamand Kallipalayam in the north, Mayilampatti, Neelambur and Irugur in the east and Pattanam and Vellalore in the south.
The wards in the Zone comprise areas that were once under the then Vilankurichi and Kalapatti town panchayats and Singanallur municipality. The areas under the first two local bodies merged with the Corporation in 2011 and the Singanallur municipal areas in 1981.
The 30 years difference in merger with the Coimbatore Corporation roughly gives an idea of how many years of infrastructure has to be developed in those wards to bring them on a par with the old city, said a former Corporation councillor on condition of anonymity.
In Wards 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 22, 23, 25 the residents demand is for better road connectivity, storm water drain and underground sewerage and also common facilities such as parks, libraries.
Swachh Bharat ambassador and resident of Cheran Managar Jaya Neil said the layouts near the area developed in the last 10 – 15 years after the TIDEL Park came into existence. The real estate boom had brought with it a set of challenges that were not confined to just roads, street light, drinking water and drainage facilities but extended to civic amenities like libraries, parks, etc.
As someone who had moved to the locality a few years ago from R.S. Puram, what she missed the most were parks and play fields.
It was only after the Corporation developed a few that the communities there became socially active.
In the old town area of the East Zone – Singanallur, Ondipudur, Sowripalayam, Udayampalayam and a few others, the residents said the Corporation’s immediate priority should be to complete the underground sewerage scheme, pending for over 10 years and quick completion of the 24x7 drinking water supply scheme so that it could restore roads.
S. Venkateswaran, a resident of Kothari Nagar, said the roads are in bad condition. But for the Corporation to repair the roads, it must complete the water supply improvement project. The residents’ other concern is the fate of the underground sewer lines laid over 10 years ago.
The residents had reasons to believe that the many sewer lines were damaged. The Corporation should identify and repair such damaged lines before giving house service connection.
In areas north of River Noyyal inundation during rainy season was a problem because they were low-lying and the storm water drains constructed several years ago did not have the right gradient to drain out water, said S.M. Samy, a former councillor from Singanallur.
Given the development that the East Zone was seeing, the Corporation would do well to develop scheme roads to reduce congestion, said Geetha Cheralathan, a contestant in Ward 50. The Corporation should develop the Udayampalayam road, Puliakulam-Varadharajapuram Road and the Sowripalayam-Peelamedu Road, she added.
Former Deputy Mayor and Singanallur MLA N. Karthik said development of the aforementioned scheme roads and the Saramedu-Nanjundapuram Road would result traffic de-congestion in the East Zone.
