The Hindu : Front Page : Is Coimbatore set for an expansion?

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Friday, Jul 28, 2006

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Is Coimbatore set for an expansion?

K.V. Prasad

COIMBATORE: After the previous expansion in 1981, the Coimbatore Corporation seems to be thinking of stretching its boundaries further to bring the peripheral areas under its control.

The aim is to provide these areas with better services in view of the projected growth, to be spurred by an information technology park. The present increase of housing colonies in the suburbs has also set the Corporation mulling an expansion.

"Maybe, such an expansion will help in the creation of the much-demanded Coimbatore Metropolitan Development Authority," says the Corporation Commissioner, P. Muthuveeran. "An authority of such stature will require a large city area." It is now 105.6 sq.km. with a population of 13 lakhs.

But the plan is at a very preliminary stage, Mr Muthuveeran says. Views of stakeholders ( people in the peripheral areas), experts in town planning and also the industrial associations will have to be obtained before venturing into it.

Planners in the Corporation appear to be contemplating an expansion because residents in the suburbs such as Kurichi, Kuniamuthur, Kavundampalayam, Vadavalli, Chinniampalayam and Kalapatti identify themselves more with the city.

Given the hectic growth in these areas, the Corporation feels it may be able to serve them better with its greater financial strength. With huge funds coming from the Union Urban Development Ministry for infrastructure schemes in big cities, Coimbatore city and its outlying areas will only benefit from an expansion. Property tax, water charges and other non-tax revenue contribute revenue to local bodies that in turn can be used for development activities. But such resources are not enough to meet big infrastructure needs of these areas that almost match the city in the pace of growth. The Coimbatore Airport is located on the city border but under the control of a panchayat. Even garbage clearance is poor on the approach road to the airport. "If it is under the Corporation, there can be greater focus on maintenance," says Mr. Muthuveeran.

The fresh plan seems to have arisen out of a need for the maintenance of every infrastructure by one agency, even in the fringes whose boundaries with the city are becoming blurred.

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