Tamil Nadu - Erode   

Erode hails decision on Corporation

ERODE: The town’s reaction to the Chief Minister’s announcement on upgrading Erode Municipality to a Corporation has been widely welcomed. Many said it would give a boost to infrastructure development.

Head of Makkal Sindhanai Peravai T. Stalin Gunasekaran said projects like the two proposed flyovers - one at Government Hospital junction and other at Paneerselvam Park junction - that hitherto remained on paper would have greater chances of implementation.

There would be benefits on the policing front as well, he added. “With the town becoming a police commissionerate and getting additional force, traffic can be better managed.”One obvious fallout of the announcement is the escalation of land prices. But will that lead to a boom in housing or construction industry? C. Devarajan of URC Constructions said there would be a lot of cement and brick work, say a new Corporation stadium.

While welcoming the decision, Mr. Devarajan said the announcement should be leveraged to the best by local leaders who should really rise up to the occasion.

As for the benefits the industry would draw out of the decision, R. Mylsami, vice-president, Erode District Small Industries Association, said though there might not be direct benefits, the infrastructure development might help the industry grow.

He also pointed to the increased city compensatory allowance and house rent allowance to employees would receive as one of the benefits. Along with the benefits come a few important issues. Sources in the Erode Municipality said it remained to be seen how the town would be upgraded.

For, integration of the Municipality with neighbouring civic bodies would raise issues like size of wards, creation of zones, status of councillors of integrated civic bodies vis-a-vis Erode Municipality, etc. The sources added that the one of the problems might be the timing of upgrade to a Corporation.

With elected bodies around, it remains to be when the actual upgrade takes place, for dissolving the elected bodies, which have a fixed term, may not be that easy.

As for the benefits for the local bodies, the sources added that the financially weak ones would stand to benefit the most, as after upgrade to a corporation the areas that hitherto remained neglected would see development works.

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