THOOTHUKUDI
The port town that craves badly for basic civic infrastructure for a few decades and indefinitely grappling with those civic issues throughout the year goes into the Assembly polls once again even as the candidates in the fray are giving tall promises as usual of alleviating all these issues with the magic wand.
The dusty, basic infrastructure-starved and seriously polluted Thoothukudi Assembly segment is once again going into Assembly polls – the 15th election - but without any desirable change to make this coastal town a place for peaceful living.
After the Congress won the first two Assembly polls in 1957 and 1962, the Dravidian party candidates are getting elected to the Assembly from Thoothukudi.
While the seaport and the heavy industries, especially the coal-based thermal power plants that have taken roots around Thoothukudi indeed catalyzed the development of the town, environmental pollution being caused by these units is a major problem here. Consequently, the middle class working with the Central and the State government offices have started moving to places like well-connected Palayamkottai outskirts as they can reach their workplace within an hour from their home.
And the annoyed residents’ concern over environmental pollution overflowed onto the streets in the form of protest against Sterlite Copper that led to police firing in which13 persons were killed on May 22, 2018 to haunt the ruling partymen here. Though the gruesome killing of trader P. Jayaraj of Sattankulam and his son J. Benicks due to suspected torture in police custody is not from this segment, the spine-chilling murder has sent the ruling party men and their allies to search for covers even as the DMK, the main opponent, makes it a poll issue after making it the police firing issue louder during the Lok Sabha polls in May 2019.
“Since these incidents, both orchestrated by the police, shook the conscience of the entire nation, the outcome of the poll of this Assembly segment is closely monitored by everyone. In a sense, it’s a referendum on these gruesome incidents,” says a professor working with a government-aided college here.
As the Thoothukudi Corporation, the urban civic body taking care of the development of civic infrastructure of this port town, miserably failed over the past few decades to check the encroachments cropping up along all already narrow main roads, traffic snarl is an inseparable part of this town. To add more miseries to this irritating issue, the frequently closed manned level crossings at First, Second and the Fourth Gate areas make things worse as the railway track passes through the town.
Though there was widespread appeal from the people that the Thoothukudi railway station might be shifted to nearby Meelavittaan when the gauge conversion was taken-up, the people’s request was trashed, and the traffic woes continue.
The encroachments and clogged drainage channels cause flooding in almost all residential areas of the town during monsoon and dealing with water logging for the residents is a major headache every year as they spend a lot on pumping out the stagnant water from their premises continuously for a couple of weeks. Though the rain stopped completely in mid-January, stagnant water can be seen in the vacant housing plots in affluent areas like State Bank Colony even now.
“The prime reason behind this problem is undue delay in completing the storm water drain construction. After being started in 2018, the construction is yet to be completed to cause untold hardship to the residents,” says Maria Doss, a resident of State Bank Colony.
The roads that were dug to drain the stagnant rainwater give nightmarish experience to the road-users, particularly during nights. And the ongoing smart city project works have made the roads unmotorable. The roads dug for the smart city projects make things worse further.
DMK candidate for the upcoming Assembly polls, Geetha Jeevan, who managed to get elected from this constituency by defeating AIADMK’s S.T. Chellapandian, former minister, with the promise of ensuring regular supply of drinking water is yet to fulfill the promise even after 5 years. The Tamil Maanila Congress, an ally of the AIADMK-led electoral alliance, has fielded S.D.R. Vijayaseelan, a young businessman after the ruling party allotted the seat to the G.K. Vasan-led party in an apparent bid to avoid embarrassment caused by the police excess.
