Growth worries

OPPOSITION to the destruction of waterbodies such as lakes and ponds in Coimbatore district and to the expansion of the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation are the highlights of a monograph prepared by the Chamber Economic Forum, a think tank of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore.

D. Balasundaram, industrialist and chairman of the Chamber Economic Forum, said an increasing number of waterbodies in the district were being encroached upon. For instance, he said, 50 per cent of the water spread of the Valankulam lake in the heart of the city had disappeared because of structures put up by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (sub-station), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Cheran Transport Corporation Limited (buildings) on the lake.

He also opposed the expansion of the limits of the municipal corporation. Large areas such as Vilankurichi, Nilambur, Kuniamuthur, Koundampalayam and Vadavelli were being brought under the control of the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation, which would make the corporation very unwieldy, Balasundaram said.

The monograph points out that the areas proposed to be brought under the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation are village panchayats with minimal infrastructure and administrative facilities. The additional revenue that will flow to the corporation will be low, while the burden of servicing these areas and creating infrastructure in them will be huge. The government should draw up a special scheme for the upgradation of infrastructure of the areas to be added and fund the cost of the scheme by a special grant, suggests the monograph. The goal should be to make Coimbatore a totally sanitary city.

A Coimbatore Metropolitan Development Agency should be set up to plan and develop its urban agglomeration in an orderly manner, the monograph says. The projects that need to be implemented on a priority basis in Coimbatore include the second phase of the Pillur water supply scheme, an underground drainage system, a stormwater drain, and city development projects under the first and second phases of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

CODISSIA

An active Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA), with 1,500 members, makes Coimbatore proud. Its huge trade fair complex hosted the World Classical Tamil Conference in June 2010. The complex, which hosts international industrial exhibitions round the year, has five halls covering an area of two lakh square feet, three conference halls, a cafeteria and an amphitheatre. The built-up area is 4.5 lakh sq. ft. Every year, CODISSIA hosts in the trade fair complex its flagship programme called INTEC (Industrial Trade Fair, Coimbatore), said D. Gandhikumar, INTEC Chairman.

T.S. Subramanian