Major infrastructure projects still in limbo in Tiruchi in The Hindu Trichy S.Ganesan on 2.1 2020 with Comment of M.A.Aleem Neurologist Member Tiruchirappalli District Welfare Fund Committee

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TIRUCHI

 Major infrastructure projects still in limbo in Tiruchi

 

S.Ganesan

TIRUCHI, 

 JANUARY 02, 2020 00:00 IST

UPDATED: JANUARY 02, 2020 05:50 IST

Residents hope at least 2020 will be a better year for development of the city

The year that has passed by has been a mixed bag for city residents in terms of infrastructure development.

Although the Tiruchi Corporation has been able to initiate some projects under the Smart City Mission, it has not been able to make much headway on certain long-pending proposals including establishment of an integrated bus stand. Given the stiff resistance from traders, it has not been able to get the wholesale traders of Gandhi Market shifted to the city outskirts either.

The proposal of establishing an integrated bus stand in the city has failed to make any tangible progress even after Chief Minister Edappadi K.Palaniswami made a commitment that the city would get the facility soon. In October 2017, Mr. Palaniswami announced in the city that the bus stand would be established at Kottapattu. But the suitability of the location was questioned by many and apparently the site was rejected.

Subsequently, the corporation pushed for the establishment of a bus port with assistance from the Union government and sent request through the State government to include Tiruchi under the list of cities where bus ports are planned to be established by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways but this proposal too has failed to take off.

Meanwhile, the corporation decided to redevelop and remodel the Central Bus Stand even while making some noise on initiating steps to get the Defence land at Mannarpuram for establishing the integrated bus stand. A proposal would be forwarded to the State government through the district administration, the previous Commissioner N.Ravichandran had said. But since then there has been no word on the matter.

The proposal, many city residents point out, had been pending for more than two decades now. The corporation had mooted the proposal in the mid-1990 and initially identified a site Devadhanam, which was later rejected on the ground it was flood prone. Since then various sites had been considered but none was finalised.

“The city sorely misses an integrated bus stand. We hope steps will be initiated to establish one in 2020,” observed M.A.Aleem, senior neurologist in the city and member of Tiruchi District Welfare Committee. He lists the expansion of the Tiruchi airport runway, better air and rail connectivity, new tourism attraction such as a theme park and winch for the Rockfort and an air ambulance service among major expectations of residents.

Several other residents are sore over the delay in completing the multi-level road overbridge near the Railway Junction as the Defence Ministry is get to give its nod for transfer of a small piece of land. “We hope at least 2020 will be a better year for Tiruchi’s development; the city has long been neglected. The few Smart City projects, which have taken off, should be given a push and completed quickly. Roads across the city need to be re-laid and sanitation should be improved on priority,” observed R.Gopal, a resident of K.K.Nagar.