Stalin to visit Coimbatore on August 24

COIMBATORE: Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin will take part in a government function in Kinathukadavu area in Coimbatore district on August 24, said electricity minister V Senthil Balaji on Saturday.
Talking to reporters after conducting an inspection in waterlogged areas in the evening, Balaji said the chief minister would distribute welfare measures to 82,000 beneficiaries during his visit.
He said that the government has sanctioned Rs 9 crore for the widening of a drainage canal alongside the Trichy Road to the distance of 2.1 km. A government order in this connection has been issued.
The channel will carry excess water from Valankulam tank to Sanganur Pallam. The absence of a wide canal had caused waterlogging, causing inconvenience to the public during last year's monsoon.
The outlet of Valankulam was designed wrongly in Smart City work, which resulted in delay in excess water draining from the waterbody. It was rectified last year, he said.
Proposals to lay left-out roads and drainage channels at the cost of Rs 200 crore have been sent to the state government. Funds will be obtained soon, he said.
As a monsoon precautionary measure, 35,000 old electricity poles were replaced with new ones throughout the state in the last month. 1.33 lakh poles and 10,000 km length electrical lines are in stock, he said.
In Coimbatore, only Valparai received heavy rain, but there was no damage.
The minister said the CM had taken elaborate measures for rain preparedness. Apart from conducting collectors’ meetings, he was speaking to the collectors of districts, where rain damage was reported, over the phone. He also directly talked to people staying in temporary camps due to stagnation of rain.