Date:25/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/25/stories/2006092514390100.htm

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A lost chance to elect Mayor for Tirupur

M. Gunasekaran

Delimitation Commission's ban plays spoilsport

TIRUPUR: The 2.15 lakh voters of this vibrant business town have missed a chance to have their first Mayor. The Government accorded top priority to Tirupur declaring it as the Seventh Municipal Corporation of Tamil Nadu, though district headquarters such as Erode, Vellore and Thanjavur were also in the race.

The Finance Minister, K. Anbhazagan, made the announcement while presenting the budget and subsequently it was reiterated by the Local Administration Minister, M.K. Stalin. However, two factors - getting the nod from the Delimitation Commission of India and mandatory time required to include adjoining local bodies in the proposed Corporation - have played spoilsport, official sources said.

Pointing out that there was no meaning in upgrading the Municipality without expanding its area to the outskirts, sources said that at least six to eight months was required to complete the process.

Top officials held several rounds of discussions to expand the existing 27 sq km area to 119 sq km with a population over 5.5 lakh, by including two recently-upgraded municipalities - Nallur and Velampalayam and eight village panchayats - Andipalayam, Muthanampalayam, Murugampalayam, Thottipalayam, Chettypalayam, Mannarai, Nerupperichal and Veerapandy - all considered an extension of Tirupur, the official added.

The Government has to invite suggestions and objections if any by giving six weeks time to the residents, before including a town or village panchayat in the Corporation. After the exercise, the proposed area has to be bifurcated into zones and wards. These formalities cannot be gone through now, as elections have been announced, sources said. Otherwise, the elections have to be postponed, and the political parties were not willing for that. The infrastructure-starved town has over one lakh residents in slums.