Coimbatore Corporation is executing over 40 projects for more than ₹ 1,100 crore under the Central Government’s Smart Cities Mission projects. But, the civic body is implementing almost all of these projects in 60 out of the 100 wards that makes the city, leaving out the 40 wards in added areas that are in dire need of even basic amenities.
Be it the 24x7 drinking water supply project or the over ₹ 500 crore lake development project or the model road development works, all these are concentrated within the core city area – the 60 wards.
That the corporation has nearly excluded the added areas has come in for criticism.
“The corporation will do well to rename the Coimbatore Smart City as Coimbatore Smart Old City,” quips Coimbatore Consumer Cause secretary K. Kathirmathiyon.
The corporation is implementing the 24x7 drinking water supply project to the old city (60 wards) when residents in added areas are getting water only once in 10 – 15 days. The corporation should ensure equitable distribution of available water to all the residents and that it is not doing so and only looking at improving distribution in a part of the city is nothing short of discrimination, he says.
The same is true of the lake development project. “This project is purely ornamental is nature, aimed at improving the city’s optics. This should take a back seat as the corporation should prioritise providing basic amenities like underground drainage, storm water drains to added areas,” according to him.
Two categories
The corporation is implementing the Smart Cities Mission projects under two categories – ‘pan city’ projects that cover the entire city and ‘area based development’, where the needs of the specific area is addressed.
The civic body has taken up conversion of non-LED street lights for about ₹ 70 crore under the ‘pan city’ category, again only for the 60 wards.
Under the ‘area based development’ component, it has taken up lake development project, covering 22 of the 100 wards in the city. The 22 wards are, again, part of the old city area.
Most of the other works with smaller budget like park development, micro compost centres, underground drainage system for areas that were left out during the implementation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission or hockey ground are also concentrated only in the old city area.
An urban planning expert, on condition of anonymity, says that the corporation must have looked at implementing a few projects in the 40 wards that it calls added areas or taken up projects that will benefit all the city’s residents like developing scheme roads mentioned in various detailed development plans.
This would have helped decongest the city.
The corporation officials, however, disagree.
Looking at the Smart Cities Mission projects as old city versus added areas is not right for works like development of the smart city mobile application, establishment of an integrated command and control centre, or two solar energy parks of 1MW each as these will help the entire city.
Even the lake development projects will. Though the lakes may be within the old city, they benefit the entire city.
When developed as recreation spots it will be open for all residents, including those from added areas.
For the development of the basic infrastructure in added areas, the corporation under the AMRUT scheme is improving water supply for around ₹ 400 crore and providing underground drainage system.
In fact, the underground drainage work has started in Kurichi and Kuniamuthur, the officials point out.
