Coimbatore was a beautiful city once upon a time. All the lakes in and around the city were full. You could see young boys and girls climbing the nearby trees and diving into the Valankuklam lake and swimming around. Then they built the electricity office, then the Ukkadam bus stand and a police station and successfully killed a lake, at least fatally maimed it. The Noyyal used to be flowing majestically, touching both the banks and during the rainy seasons, it was a pleasure to watch the cascading waves and swirls, standing on the banks near Athupalam. Now it is a proper drainage, pigs wallowing in the dirty water and a series of slums dotting the banks.
Coimbatore was a beautiful city once upon a time. All the lakes in and around the city were full. You could see young boys and girls climbing the nearby trees and diving into the Valankuklam lake and swimming around. Then they built the electricity office, then the Ukkadam bus stand and a police station and successfully killed a lake, at least fatally maimed it. The Noyyal used to be flowing majestically, touching both the banks and during the rainy seasons, it was a pleasure to watch the cascading waves and swirls, standing on the banks near Athupalam. Now it is a proper drainage, pigs wallowing in the dirty water and a series of slums dotting the banks.
In Perur, in the old days, quite often the water level rose to touch the temple doors, and announcements were made warning people not to go near the water. We killed the river by blocking it at the source and laying roads, and erecting buildings, concrete walls across and to crown it all, allowing the drainage to low into it.
The road from Mettupalayam to North Coimbatore had been concretised, the only road to get the honor at that time and it was broad and smooth, canopied by tall, large and bushy tamarind trees all through. Where are they now ? To drive along this stretch used to be a great experience, and it was said that tourists heading towards Ooty wrongly imagined that the hill station started from North Coimbatore itself. Now it is a nightmare driving through the erratic signals, the missing traffic constables and a populace that has discovered that observing road rules is a nuisance.
The road where the Agricultural college is located and the Lawley Road and the Thadagam Road had trees, large, old and lovely trees on both sides; actually the area looked like a rural paradise. From there pilgrims used bullock carts or horse-drawn carts to plod through to Velliangiri and Marudamalai temples as there were no well-defined roads; you had to negotiate the village roads to reach the temples, Now we have unplanned slums on both sides, all roads made narrow by greedy shopkeepers and a corrupt bureaucracy.
The monsoons used to be regular and the rains arrived as they were scheduled to arrive. The gods were kindly and they blessed Coimbatore with a salubrious climate. We had water sources which supplied sweet drinking water to the citizens. The rural population, the natives of Coimbatore, all coming from the nearby villages had by birth a sweet nature like its drinking water. They had polite manners and their language was friendly and polite too.
Because the city was beautiful, compact and clean and the natives were friendly, outsiders flocked to it, population increased, the number of vehicles increased, roads had to be widened, lush green roadside trees had to be rooted out and the net result is that the salubrious climate has disappeared. Because its citizens are good-mannered, friendly and helpful, decency-loving people from other parts of the State have moved in large numbers and spoiled the natives.
On their way to Ooty. tourists from other parts of the State and other parts of the country find Coimbatore modern, compact, salubrious clean (though the natives will dispute it) and decide to settle in. Coimbatore is Tamil Nadu’s Bengaluru without its IT hubs.
The founding fathers of Coimbatore were enterprising, charitable and generous. They started industries, earned money, built colleges, paved broad roads, ensured supply of drinking water, etc., and started charitable institutions which again attracted beggars and villains. The manufacturing industries provided jobs and products but have polluted the atmosphere.
The founding fathers spent their time and money in keeping Coimbatore clean and rich. Now the political class, and the corrupt bureaucracy, intent on filling their pockets, have allowed Coimbatore grow into a city of unclean and pot-holed roads, garbage and plastic waste filling the roadsides.
The industrialization of Coimbatore has made it rich, but it has spoiled its beautiful water bodies. It has attracted people from the nearby and far off villages to the city. On lake bunds in the heart of the city, slums began to appear with migrant labour, and with the support of the political parties, whose aim is only to humor voters, our beautiful lakes have grown into large grotesque drainages.
There are experts who have studied the city in and out, and who can do proper town planning keeping in mind the requirements of the city thirty years hence, But they have been sidelined; the stooges and the bureaucrats, whose aim is only to cater to the whims and fancies of the political brass and rich businessmen, have messed up meaningful planning. They have messed up even the Smart City development program. The State level planning is without vision and without allotment of funds,
Do we have any significant long time planning for Coimbatore? For its roads, water supply and cleanliness? Water supply is erratic and cleanliness has been sadly neglected. The main arteries of the city are clogged with traffic snarls; without bypasses, all vehicles coming from the east, west, north and south pass through the city roads, making them a nightmare. We will kill more people in the road accidents in and around Coimbatore in a year than what Europe lost during the Second World War.
Let one more year pass, you will take two hours to reach Athupalam from Ukkadam; three hours from North Coimbatore to Town Hall; four hours to reach Gandhipuram from Railway station; several hours to reach the airport from Ganapathy; you may require helicopter shuttle service to reach the airport from the city. This Orwellian nightmare is the result of the inaction, lack of vision and social irresponsibility of the rulers and the administrators.
They say sufferings purify one’s soul; if it is true, the souls of all the citizens of Coimbatore ought to be the purest. Any way, you cannot negotiate the rush hour traffic on Trichy Road with a pure soul.