The Hindu 11.10.2010
Plan to expand Tirupattur Municipality
Staff Reporter
| Proposal sent to State government to merge two village panchayats |
“Areas have been selected mainly based on urbanisation, followed by parameters”
“No vacant space within Tirupattur Municipality limit for taking up development schemes”
TIRUPATTUR: A proposal to expand the 124-year-old Tirupattur Municipality by merging two adjoining village panchayats has been sent to the State government. This long-pending need to extend the municipality limit was to provide a breather to the crowded Tirupattur town and establish land resources for undertaking development in the future.
Since its formation in 1886, the Tirupattur Municipality's area extent has been 4.66 sq.km. Recently, the municipal council had passed a resolution to merge nearby villages — Tirupattur village, Paachal, Supallipattu, Aadhiyur and Vengalapuram — with the municipality. The resolution was also sent to the District Collector.
Following this, the Collector has sent a letter to the Department of Municipal Administration and Water Supply, said official sources.
“Based on a number of parameters and after following required procedures, we have sent a letter to the government proposing to merge two areas — Tirupattur village panchayat and Paachal panchayat — with the municipality. These areas have been selected mainly based on urbanisation, followed by parameters such as individual income, per capita income, agricultural land,” District Collector C. Rajendran told The Hindu.
It was only the Tirupattur village panchayat and Paachal village panchayat that fell within the required urbanisation parameters, officials said. “The other areas selected by the council — Aadhiyur, Vengalapuram and Supallipattu — have rural habitations. These areas have cultivable lands. We do not want to disturb these areas,” an official said.
While the Tirupattur village panchayat has an area extent of about five sq.km, Paachal covered nearly eight sq.km area, official sources said. “Presently, there is no vacant space within the Tirupattur Municipality limit for taking up development schemes such as underground sewage (UGS) and water supply schemes in future. If we are taking up the UGS scheme in future, we need to construct sumps and a number of lift stations for the sewage treatment plant for which sites are required,” the official pointed out.
With the municipality being enlisted under the Hogenakkal drinking water project, land for constructing overhead tanks and ground-level reservoirs were also needed. “With no land for municipality utilisation in future, merging the nearby village panchayats will be of great use as lands are available there. The Tirupattur town has plenty of residential areas,” the official noted.
In fact, municipal officials said the town witnessed a floating population of 45,000 to 50,000 per day as people from adjoining villages come for commercial purposes such as marketing agriculture produce and purchase of commodities. Being a commercial centre, extension of its limits was crucial for the municipality, officials stated.
