Coimbatore: The Minister for Public Works-Buildings, Highways and Minor Ports, E V Velu visited Coimbatore recently.
Coimbatore: The Minister for Public Works-Buildings, Highways and Minor Ports, E V Velu visited Coimbatore recently.
During his visit to the textile city, the President of CODISSIA, M V Ramesh Babu submitted a memorandum requesting for various schemes for the development of industries in this region.
“Coimbatore city is the second largest and second most important city of Tamil Nadu and this is a manufacturing hub powered by MSMEs and caters to textiles, Information Technology (IT), manufacturing of pumps, motors, compressors and many other products in addition to being in valves and automobiles sector. The MSME sector is a dynamic and vibrant sector that nurtures entrepreneurial talent, besides meeting social objectives including that of providing employment to millions of people across the country,” stated the memorandum.
A request was made for the formation of Coimbatore Development Authority similar to Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority for the development of the city so that growth is made much faster for overall development. It was also requested that a master plan of Coimbatore be revised which is pending since 1994. The release of the new master plan to be speeded up considering the present and future needs was highlighted as the need of the hour. In terms of on-going projects, it was requested that such projects are fast-tracked.
"Flyovers, upgradation of stations, modernizing goods terminals and handling is urgently required. Revamping of city roads which are in a pathetic condition should be relaid. Patchwork repairs should be done immediately since driving is not at all comfortable with heavy vehicular traffic. Speed up the on-going underground drainage work and the Suez project for 24x7 drinking water supply which has been going on since the last three years. This has to be taken as a priority. Pits which are dug for the project should be relaid immediately and it should not be a hindrance for free traffic movement," read the memorandum.
On roads that connect important regions, the memorandum mentioned that:
• Cochin Frontier Road-Palladam to Madukkarai Road needs to be widened and formed as a four-lane road.
• Palladam to Chinthamanipudur road to be widened and formed as a four lane road.
• Express Highway from Coimbatore to Karur to be initiated.
• Six lane road to be done from Chengapalli to Krishnagiri due to heavy traffic congestion.
• Sathyamangalam Road (NH 948) - An elevated road from Ganapathy (Textool) to Saravanampatti is very much essential. There is a proposal for new alignment of a single road from Saravanampatti to Bannari, which should be a four lane road up to Bannari which will be much useful for easy movement of vehicles going into Karnataka State.
• Formation of Western Bye-pass Road/Ring Road
• L&T Bypass road from Nilambur to Madukkarai (NH 544) six lane work to be initiated immediately.
• Bus port project to be initiated on priority basis to reduce the road traffic inside the city limits.
Through the memorandum, construction of flyovers in City limits was also requested for. Construction of flyovers between Singanallur and Trichy road, NH 81, Sundarapuram and Pollachi road, NH 83, Saravanampatti and Sathyamangalam road, NH 948 and Thudiyalur and Mettupalayam road, NH 181 were requested for.
In terms of connectivity, through railways in and around Coimbatore, it was requested that Coimbatore CTC network around the city must be started with the existing available infrastructure from Irugur, Coimbatore Junction, Podanur and back to Irugur with the MEMU units by the Ministry of Railways which will decongest the roads in Coimbatore. In addition to this, suburban train connectivity for 100 kms from Coimbatore connecting Erode, Palani and Shoranur with MEMU train will be very useful for the people in this region was requested.
It is predicted that the usage of e-vehicles will be high in the future. Keeping this in mind, a request for having charging port stations set up in many places was made.
Throwing light on the expansion of the Coimbatore International Airport, the memorandum mentioned that CIA is ranked the 22nd busiest airport in 2019 – 2020 and it is among the top 20 busiest airports in India as on March 2020. A good airport infrastructure can be created only with sufficient land availability. Coimbatore requires about 650 acres of land for airport expansion.
Through the memorandum, CODISSIA members under the leadership of its President requested the Tamil Nadu Government to speed up the land acquisition and expansion process on a war footing. “A majority of the operators like Indigo, Spice Jet, Singapore Airlines, Air Lanka, Air Arabia and Emirates are ready to operate to various international destinations. Once our Coimbatore Airport runway is expanded, wide-bodied international operational aircraft can land and take off.
There will be a huge revenue if Coimbatore Airport is getting expanded soon,” read the memorandum. It was also suggested that the Government forms a Special Purpose Vehicle to plan a state-of-the-art international airport in an area of 4000 acres, which should have facilities to cater to 2 crore passengers, cargo complex, aircraft maintenance hangers, aerospace parks and air defence manufacturing industries that will bring development to the business people in this part of the country as most of the people travelling to US and Europe take their flight services from Kochi.
Lastly, on recycling of foundry sand for road construction works, the memorandum suggested that since the foundry sand is non-hazardous and required tests and trials were conducted successfully for recycling the same for road construction and making of solid block and pavers, CODISSIA members requested the support of Tamil Nadu Government to promote the same.
The memorandum ended on a positive note requesting the Minister to consider implementing the suggested points that will go a long way in contributing towards the development of industries in this region.