Never before has Coimbatore city witnessed such a wide variety of development works being simultaneously carried out by various agencies of the government.
Soon after the State government decided to hold the World Classical Tamil Conference in the city, the district administration, the Coimbatore City Corporation, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, the State Highways Department and the National Highways Authority of India swung into action to provide facilities ranging from the basic to the ambitious. The government sanctioned Rs.26 crore to improve 76 roads, over a stretch of 71 km.
The most elementary requirement – pavements for pedestrians – was provided on major thoroughfares. At the same time, a much more complex exercise of taking all overhead electricity cables underground was carried out on the arterial Avanashi Road and Tiruchi Road (N.H. 67).
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Three road projects pending for long were taken up. Two of these involved linking Avanashi Road with Tiruchi Road. The third connected Avanashi Road with 100-Feet Road at Avarampalayam.
“We took up works pending for the last 15 years,” says the Chairman of the City Development Committee for the conference and Mayor R. Venkatachalam. “These may have taken another 15 years to complete if the Corporation had to mobilise funds.”
At a special Corporation Council meeting on works relating to the conference, Commissioner Anshul Mishra said: “The conference is a boon to Coimbatore. It has enabled the implementation of a number of development works, especially roads.”
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Long-pending schemes in and around the city were put on the fast track. These included the four-laning of Tiruchi Road, a bus terminus on Mettupalayam Road and a drinking water scheme for Kavundampalayam Municipality and Vadavalli Town Panchayat .
The Corporation spent Rs.4.8 crore to install 275 lamp-posts with two bulbs of 250 watts each on Avanashi Road and 151 posts on Tiruchi Road. High-mast lamps were installed at 19 places at a cost of Rs.96.4 lakh.
To provide water supply to the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex and surrounding areas, Rs.90.3 crore was spent. A project to create a botanical garden on 160 acres has been initiated. Roadside parks and greenery along footpaths were developed on public-private partnership basis at a cost of around Rs.8 crore.
Asserting that the development work is not merely oriented to the holding of the Conference, the Corporation Commissioner says: “The parks, the new bus stand and other amenities will be long-term measures.”