Close on the heels of a recent Bill passed in the State Assembly for the constitution of a delimitation commission for delimitation of wards of local bodies based on the 2011 census, the Tiruchi City Corporation has begun a survey on identifying urbanised suburbs, which fall in the neighbouring municipal, town panchayats and village panchayat limits.
It is being carried out based on the direction of the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration. Data on households, profile of villages and town panchayats, distance from Tiruchi city, percentage of agricultural activities, industrial activities and existing basic amenities in the local bodies are among the data being collected by the Corporation.
While a team of officials have been deputed to make personal visit to the local bodies to collect data, efforts have been taken to collect data from various government sources. Besides this, the Corporation has asked the Assistant Directors of Panchayats and Town Panchayats, Tiruchi, to furnish data on panchayats and town panchayats around Tiruchi city.
Meanwhile, a team of Tiruchi Corporation led by N. Ravichandran, Special Officer-cum- Commissioner, visited Chennai on Wednesday and participated in a discussion with the senior officials of Commissionerate of Municipal Administration. The meeting was said to have discussed on the ways and means to implement the delimitation plan.
Speaking to The Hindu over phone, Mr. Ravichandran said that it was only a preliminary meeting. The survey, being undertaken in Tiruchi, would focus on identifying urbanised areas around the city.
On opposition by the villagers of Vengur, Keezha Mullaikudi, Kuvalaikudi and Panayakurichi for the merger plan with Tiruchi Corporation, Mr. Ravichandran said the villages had not been brought under the ambit of the delimitation survey. The villages that had the highest percentage of agricultural activities would be excluded from the survey.
The Tiruchi Corporation limits was extended in 2011 by merging Tiruverumbur town panchayat, Pappakurichi, Ellakudi, Keezha Kalkandarkottai and Alathur village panchayats after the delimitation process. The city is spread over 167.23 sq.km. and has a population of about 10.27 lakh. With the delimitation of local bodies in 2011, the total wards went up to 65 from 60.
