Comments
In an effort to de-congest Coimbatore city that is witnessing a huge increase in human and vehicle population year-on-year, the State Government should incentivise housing development along the railway corridors around the city by taking up Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS)/Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) projects and by offering higher FSI for housing activity along the rail corridors, the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Coimbatore, has said.
It also wanted the formation of a Coimbatore Urban Development Authority (CUDA) (on the lines of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority) to ensure planned growth of the city since the present Coimbatore Local Planning Authority (CLPA) does not have the manpower to cope with the heavy workload.
In a compilation of comments and suggestions on the ‘Coimbatore Master Plan 2011', presented to the Coimbatore District Collector Dr P. Umanath by the President of ICCI, Mr M. Krishnan, the Chamber pointed out that there was an urgent need to draw up development plans to promote residential colonies outside the city with necessary infrastructure for easy commuting to the city centre.
As the existing railway infrastructure connects the city with many nearby towns such as Somanur, Sulur, Singanallur, Ganapathy, Thudialur, Kinathukadavu, Pollachi, Mettulapalayam etc, it would be ‘sensible to promote intensive housing development' along the railway corridors so that the Metro rail or elevated rail transport system, when launched, would offer quicker travel between the city centre and the outlying areas.
IT parks
Referring to the development of IT parks, the chamber pointed out that these should be promoted sufficiently away (from the city) with requisite infrastructural support with good connection to the main highways, airport and railway line. Care should be taken to ensure that future developments along the IT corridor do not choke traffic and people's need for essentials such as power, water etc are met.
Touching upon the woefully inadequate entertainment and sports facilities in the city, the third largest in Tamil Nadu and second largest revenue earner after Chennai, the chamber wanted that a road map to provide recreation facilities be drawn up by LPA, particularly in view of the fact that many tourist centres were located within a 100 km radius of the city. A railway line between Marudamalai, a well known pilgrim centre about 15 km from the city, and Ganapathy could be laid. Despite having huge number of educational institutions, Coimbatore lacked any notable sports infrastructure and there was a crying need for world-class sports facilities.
Traffic study
The chamber suggested that there should be a comprehensive traffic study to meet continuous growth in human population and to serve the people's needs for which the work of various agencies involved in transport sector should be integrated and proposals such as BRTS, ELRTS and MRTS should be considered. Separate industrial parks for different types of industries such as textiles, powerloom, foundry and general industries should be formed.
It suggested the formation of bus and truck terminals in different areas of the city to ease traffic flow apart from construction of rail over bridges, subways, flyovers and ring/bye-pass roads at different locations. Important roads should be widened and link roads formed connecting key city areas.
The chamber said the present manpower of CLPA was inadequate to deal with the planning and approval processes and as major proposals had to be approved by higher authorities at Chennai, there was delay. The city needed a CUDA (on the lines of CMDA) to plan for the future development of the city, control and regulate development activities and speed up the project sanction process.
Mr Krishnan pointed out that Coimbatore contributed more than Rs 3,500 crore annually to the kitty of the Central and State Governments and its forex earnings amounted to more than Rs 25,000 crore. But in spite of the significant role it played in the economic and social development in the region, it continued to be neglected. He urged that the feed back from the chamber be considered seriously before the Coimbatore Master Plan is finalised.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.