The newly-elected Mayor of Tirunelveli Corporation, P.M. Saravanan, has big dreams to make the city self-sufficient, with all basic infrastructure facilities including provision of protected drinking water in adequate quantities, good roads, quality healthcare facilities etc.
Since he was born in Tirunelveli and did his school and college studies in the town now synonymous with halwa, Mr. Saravanan has a good understanding of the problems the people are facing due to the absence of motorable roads, quality healthcare in the urban primary health centers and protected drinking water being supplied in insufficient quantities to residents. Right from creating a dedicated mobile app to register resident grievances to selling waste to augment the revenue of the Corporation, he has a number of plans.
New road plans
In the road sector, Mr. Saravanan, during his tenure, plans to lay a new road to connect the Nehru Open Auditorium in Palayamkottai with the South Bypass Road, which has been under consideration over a decade. “If this road is laid via mostly uncultivated land, it will drastically reduce vehicular traffic along the highly-congested and busy Thiruvananthapuram High Road besides ensuring the formation of a new residential area in the midst of the city,” Mr. Saravanan says.
Another major new road he is planning to execute in the city is to connect the South Bypass Road and Abhishekapatti via the hitherto unused lands on the southern side of the city to ensure hassle-free movement of vehicles going to Tenkasi from Tirunelveli. He also favours an outer ring road to connect the Madurai – Kanniyakumari National Highway from Thaathanooththu near Thaazhaiyooththu, Rastha (on Tirunelveli – Sankarankovil Road), Abhishekapatti (on Tirunelveli – Tenkasi Highway), Tharuvai (on Tirunelveli – Ambasamudram Highway) to Ponnaakudi on the 4-lane national highway south of Palayamkottai.
“Since we’ve got an outer ring road on the eastern side of the city to connect IRT Polytechnic on the southern boundary of the city and Sankar Nagar on the northern side of the city, we should lay a new road to connect Thaathanooththu and Ponnaakudi via Rastha, Abhishekapatti, Tharuvai and Ponnaakudi. If it is realized, those who are going to Tenkasi will not enter the city,” says Mr. Saravanan.
Drinking water supply
For drinking water supply, the new Mayor plans to strengthen the existing supply chain by plugging leaks and wastage. As of now, the Corporation with Tirunelveli, Thatchanallur, Palayamkottai and Melapalayam zones get water from the pumping stations at Kondaanagaram, Suththamalli, Theepaachchi Amman Temple and Manappadaiveedu. “Since there is no mechanism to integrate all these drinking water projects, we cannot take the surplus water in one of these four zones to another zone that needs better supply. So, a credible mechanism should be put in place to integrate the existing drinking water schemes, though it will require a huge investment,” Mr. Saravanan says.
Smart City Projects
Since the Smart City Projects are being executed at an outlay of ₹955 crore, the Corporation has established a number of projects, mostly revenue-spinners like the Tirunelveli Junction bus stand, Trade Centre at Exhibition Ground, Truck Terminal at Pettai, a new auditorium at Nehru Open Auditorium, Palayamkottai bus-stand, Vaeinthaankulam New Bus-Stand, Bose Market in Tirunelveli Town and Gandhi Market in Palayamkottai etc.
“Instead of spending more on beautification work, the huge sum the Corporation has received has been used judiciously by ensuring revenue for the urban civic body. Besides ensuring the ongoing Smart City projects’ early completion, the huge revenue we get from these completed projects should be used meticulously so we can plan for new infrastructure creation,” the Mayor says.
His plan is to add new facilities in urban primary health centres to serve the patients from below poverty line families, and in Corporation schools to ensure quality education to children from deprived families. “If we spend every rupee of what we get through taxes and the rentals of the shops in the structures we’ve created under the Smart City Project for further upgrading the primary health centres and the schools, this would be great,” says Mr. Saravanan.
While admitting that the shortage of sanitary workers is a handicap in ensuring a ‘clean and green’ city, the Mayor says that the garbage being generated in the city could be sold to private firms making waste from wealth. “If we can execute this plan successfully, the clean and green Nellai will be a reality in near future,” Mr. Saravanan says.
