Coimbatore South has become a star constituency this time, thanks to the high-profile contestants who have drawn much attention.
In the 2021 election, the 2.51 lakh-odd voters from the 19 Coimbatore Corporation wards that make up the constituency would have to choose among BJP women’s wing president Vanathi Srinivasan, TNCC working president Mayura S. Jayakumar and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan. The other candidates are A. Abdul Wahab of Naam Tamilar Katchi and R. Doraisamy of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam.
Since the Election Commission of India created the constituency, after the 2007 delimitation exercise, by including areas from the then Coimbatore East and West constituencies, the voters have twice chosen the AIADMK.
Coimbatore South comprises the old parts of Coimbatore, the central business district and residential localities on the periphery.
It also houses the wholesale market, a jewellery manufacturing cluster, a bus stand and a railway station. As a result, the need for better infrastructure takes precedence over other demands. Topping the voters’ wish list is decongestion of the market area. Coimbatore is urgently in need of such a development. Without it, the ‘smart city tag’ that the Corporation is projecting will have little meaning, says A.R. Basheer Ahamed, who has his shop in the area.
Civic activists say the incumbent MLA Amman K. Arjunan lost an opportunity to develop the core business district because National Smart Cities Mission talked about retrofitting or redeveloping an old city area to suit modern needs.
Alongside infrastructure development comes the need for reducing traffic congestion. Again on top of the voters’ wish list is the demand to shift the lorry parking and repair yard, Lorrypet, to Vellalore. The movement of heavy vehicles in the commercial areas and the mushrooming of snack bars on pedestrian pathways has only increased traffic congestion so much so that pedestrians, especially the elderly, cannot even walk safely along the road, let alone try to cross, complains S. Jawahar Subramaniam, a resident of R.G. Street. In fact, the encroachments on the pedestrian pathway have increased in the last few years, and the space on the platforms is auctioned at premium, he says.
The residents’ grievances in Gandhipuram, Ramanathapuram and other areas are mostly about poor infrastructure. R.M. Sethuraman of Gandhipuram says the flyover on Dr. Nanjappa Road has served the ruling party men more than the road-users as the poor design has cut off access to the Gandhipuram town bus stand.
An AIADMK office-bearer says the government and the Corporation should have long ago shifted the retail vegetable market, T.K. Market, on Raja Street and the flower market to the city’s periphery.
The constituency being a jewellery manufacturing hub, people want the government to create common facilities for small smithy owners and take them outside the city to reduce pollution. The discharge of acid and cyanide, used in cleaning gold, into the sewer lines pollute the area as does the smoke from the chimneys. The creation of such a common facility will not only boost the jewellery business but will also help the residents live in a pollution-free neighbourhood, they say. Those involved in jewellery manufacturing want the government to form a jewellery workers’ welfare board as the entry of the organised sector has devastated their livelihoods.
The BJP, Congress and MNM candidates have promised to make Coimbatore a model city. It remains to be seen which of their promises make a mark with the voters.
