The first Mayor of Sivakasi, I. Sangeetha, has her task cut out - re-laying dug-up roads, providing drinking water at least twice a week and desilting drainage channels.
“Ensuring basic facilities is my priority, and we have already set a target of desilting the choked-up drainage channels in the next three months,” she said.
Negligence had led to almost all the drainage channels accumulating silt, leading to stagnation, she said. “They are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which pose a danger to the health of the residents. The larvae are in the tens of hundreds,” said Ms. Sangeetha, who has entered politics for the first time.
Another priority is re-laying the roads that had been dug up for laying drinking water pipelines. “For almost a year, the residents have put up with the bad condition of the roads. This is the case in most areas,” she said.
Noting that drinking water was being supplied only once a week, she said efforts were being made to supply water at least twice a week, in the first phase. “Wherever I go, people complain about the shortage of drinking water,” she said.
Besides, a lot of work needed to be done to prevent sewage water from getting mixed with drinking water. “We should plug the leak so that people get safe drinking water,” she added.
The Mayor said she also aimed to build a “safe and green” walkers’ park in the city. “We plan to strengthen the bund around Chinnakulam and set up a walkers’ pathway. Stone benches will help aged people to relax while taking a break from walking,” she said.
Currently, people are forced to walk on pothole-ridden roads. The new initiative would be the first step towards making Sivakasi a clean city, she said.
The biggest task would be to construct two road overbridges on the Virudhunagar-Srivilliputtur highway at Tiruthangal and Satchiyapuram, she said. “The closure of railway gates during peak hours leads to anxiety among school- and office-goers. They try to speed up, resulting in accidents,” she said.
Pointing to the new bus stand constructed at Tiruthangal lying idle for months, she said the Corporation could use the facility for some other purpose.
“We are considering restricting truck movement on the arterial roads during peak hours. To make that happen, this facility can be used as a terminal where heavy vehicles can halt,” she said.
Other major development works can wait till the pressing needs of the residents are taken care of, on a war-footing, she added.
