The Hindu 11.04.2013
Will corporation tag bring civic amenities?
Mixed response to making Dindigul a municipal corporation.
The State government’s announcement of upgrading the 150-year-old Dindigul Municipality into a Corporation has evoked a mixed response.
On becoming a Corporation, the Municipality is expected to witness a 10-fold increase in size. After annexing the nine villages — Pallapatti, Thottanuthu, Adiyanuthu, Chettinaickenpatti, Ponnimandurai, Seelapadi, Balakrishnapuram, Pillayarnatham and Kurumbapatti — the total area of the new Corporation will be around 110.4 sq. km.
The population is likely to rise up to 4 to 5 lakhs from the present 2.07 lakhs, said Municipal Commissioner T. Kumar.
The announcement was made in the Assembly on Wednesday. It would take at least six to seven months to complete the process, he said.
The Collectorate, District Sports Complex and many areas that were under the control of panchayats and owned by the municipality will be annexed to the Corporation area.
The long-pending demand of shifting the Kamarajar central bus stand to the outskirts of the town will become a reality soon, officials said. There was not enough land for bus stand expansion now.
The civic body expansion will pave the way for shifting the bus stand to the outskirts where a big facility could be constructed. The existing bus stand could be used to serve town buses, they said.
People at annexed villages will get protected drinking water, wide roads, streetlights and other urban civic amenities in a short period of time, the officials said.
Autorickshaw driver S. Periasamy welcomed the move. But the government should improve civic infrastructure first, he said.
P. Hari, another resident, said that the underground drainage work had not been completed in the town. Garbage was not being cleared regularly.
The municipality could not even supply water once a week. People may end up paying more taxes without deriving any benefits once the municipality became a namesake Corporation, he said.
