The agonising delay in completion of Smart City Projects that were designed and being executed to mitigate the residents’ decades-old woes, especially during monsoon, is expected to reflect in the civic polls on February 19.
Interestingly, candidates of both the ruling and Opposition parties are expected to face the residents’ ire during canvassing of votes as they hold the DMK and the AIADMK responsible for the delay. When Thoothukudi, a dusty and cramped coastal town with full of encroachments and illegal structures that cause traffic snarls throughout the year, was handpicked for implementing Smart Cities Mission project in 2018, it was expected that 65 schemes, taken up with Central assistance of ₹974 crore, will change the very face of the town. Unfortunately, the residents’ predicaments continue even after ₹436 crore spent on the projects selected under the Smart City scheme.
While 31 projects have been completed, the remaining 34 development schemes are under under various stages, officials say.
As the Corporation that witnessed unprecedented marooning of residential areas in 2015, started the work on draining rainwater into the seven-km-long Puckle Channel that carries domestic sewage of Thoothukudi and rainwater into the sea. Under this project, construction of a huge stormwater drain started from State Bank Colony in 2018. Unfortunately, the project is yet to see the light of the day and the delay resulted in marooning of adjoining areas in last November also. Rainwater is still stagnating on vacant plots of this posh area even though there is no rain since last December.
‘Improper desilting’
The prime reason behind this sorry state of affairs is the improper desilting of Puckle Channel, the residents say. Though Corporation officials claim that ₹23 lakh was spent under the Smart City scheme for desilting the channel to ensure hassle-free draining of rainwater and domestic sewage into the sea near Terespuram, no resident is ready to buy this.
As the cramped old bus stand is being reconstructed under the Smart City project for the past two years, the public suffered much during the last monsoon with the buses parked on the slushy SAV Ground nearby.
The badly-damaged roads, especially the busy VE Road, around old bus stand, Fourth Gate – new bus stand stretch, Second Gate to Sathyam Theatre Road, Terespuram to New Bus Stand cause accidents every day.
The residents hold both the present and the past governments for their failure to expedite the works.
“Only after witnessing the fury of last monsoon did the Corporation is working overtime to compensate the sluggishness in completing the work. But people will not forget it as they are the victims since 2018. It will reflect in the upcoming civic polls,” says a senior physician of Thoothukudi Medical College Hospital.