Coimbatore :

While most panchayats close to the city have grown rapidly in the last ten years, the Ettimadai town panchayat has remained the same, with very little development. While residents await good drinking water, wide roads and job opportunities, local body officials are completely out of tune with their needs. However, some industrialists predict that once the airport expansion begins, opening up the southern end of the airport, the area might become ideally located for development.

“Ten years ago, I was working in a spinning mill in Madhukkarai, but the mills and workshops closed down and we had no choice but to continue farming and rearing cows,” said R Kanakaraj, a milkman in the village. Residents said that even basic amenities such as good roads and drinking water were lacking in the area. “In the last ten years, several colleges were set up here but not even one private player was allowed to set up an establishment in the village,” said S Shanmugam, an auto driver. Some panchayat sanitary workers said that they did not have many job opportunities in the area and thus several people were moving out of town to look for work. “We don’t even have a health centre here,” said Subramanian, a local. A few residents blame the inefficiency of the panchayat president for the lack of development.

The village officials said that they have done all that they could for the village. “It is located in the border area and thus many people don’t like to settle down here. Proximity to mountainous terrain and forests do not allow the land to be sold to industries,” said a town panchayat official. According to industrialists, the entire stretch after Madhukkarai became a hot spot for development after the Vellalore integrated bus stand was announced. “Moreover, since all other stretches have been developed, the south-western stretch of Coimbatore including the bypass road would definitely develop in the next three years,” said D Nandakumar, president, chamber of commerce.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Komal Gautham, TNN / March 26th, 2015