Coimbatore Corporation will soon build 89 roads measuring 17.87 km at ₹ 10 crore, Minister for Electricity, Prohibition and Excise V. Senthilbalaji said here on Monday after participating in ground-breaking ceremony.
In the first phase, the Corporation would construct 54 roads measuring 14.85km for ₹ 6 crore. The civic body building damaged roads was consequent upon Chief Minister M.K. Stalin giving ₹ 200 crore to the Corporation.
The ₹6 crore work that the Corporation had taken up first was from the funds given by the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Fund, Mr. Senthilbalaji said and added that he had instructed the Corporation to complete the works at the earliest.
In the past, the then government had failed to repair damaged roads or build roads in the city. This was obvious when the Chief Minister heard grievances from the public at Gram Sabha meetings. Top most among the grievances that the public aired was damaged roads, particularly those roads that the Corporation had dug for laying underground sewer lines.
It was based on the Chief Minister’s advice that the State Government had sanctioned ₹ 200 crore to the Corporation.
There were several bridge works that were incomplete in Coimbatore because of litigations and objections from the public. This was because the previous government failed to take public into confidence before starting bridge projects.
Mr. Senthilbalaji said he had asked the district administration to talk to the litigants, the public who had expressed reservations to hear their grievances so as to arrive at consensus to resume the stalled bridge works.
He also said that the Corporation would soon start work on the Semmozhi Poonga project. The Corporation was also working out a solution to ensure equitable water distribution as irregular and insufficient water supply was one of the grievances that public had raised when he interacted with them during his ward visits.
Coimbatore found a special place in the Chief Minister’s scheme of things and very soon the district would get many more projects for development, he added.
He also gave identity cards to 350 persons selected under the Livelihood Improvement of Urban Poor Communities project. District Collector G.S. Sameeran, Corporation Commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara and other senior officials were present at the ground-breaking ceremony.
