Coimbatore North – Voters look for wider roads and support for MSMEs

Encompassing some of the areas that were added to Coimbatore Corporation after the delimitation exercise in 2007 and having elected an AIADMK representative in 2011, 2016, and 2021, Coimbatore North will see a four-pronged contest in the 2026 Assembly elections.

Candidates from the BJP, DMK, NTK and TVK are in the fray and the voters look for assurances from them for revival of MSMEs, better roads, and improvement in civic amenities.

Arumugam, who is a resident of Ganapathy for almost five decades and has manufacturing facilities in that area, says that all vehicles coming to Coimbatore from Karnataka use the Saravanampatti road. “It is so congested and widening works are haphazard. An electric line that was supposed to be shifted for road widening works was removed and placed again at the same spot. Roads dug for sewage pipeline have been poorly relaid. This is an area that is seeing a growing population and high vehicle movement. The Saravanampatti road widening works have been delayed for years now,” he says.

The government should also give subsidies for MSMEs to switch over to rooftop solar and the system should be simple and transparent so that the units can be competitive, he adds.

According to Ashok, a senior citizen residing at Vadavalli, though his neighbourhood has 24*7 drinking water connection, water supply is so irregular that no one knows when and for long the supply will be. “It is anything but 24*7,” he says. Further, the Corporation road network in residential areas are of poor condition and have not been repaired. “We have no one to turn to and represent our grievances for day-to-day basic needs,” he says.

The famous Marudhamalai temple is almost like a tourist destination now and the local people can hardly visit it. It is crowded and vehicles move at snail’s pace on weekends, he adds.

Consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon says the land acquisition for the second phase of the western bypass road is over. Only the first phase has been thrown open for public use. The road is now handed over to Tamil Nadu State Road Development Authority that does not even have an official for Coimbatore. “We need an assurance from the candidates that this road will not be made into a toll road. The Vadavalli Road widening work and Lawley Road junction flyover projects were approved in 2020. But, these have not been implemented,” he says.

According to Ajjay Marshal, political intelligence analyst, this is a constituency that has a large number of micro and small-scale industries and a growing population of professionals employed in the Information Technology sector. “Their micro behaviour and requirement should be studied and addressed,” he says.

Further, the voter turnout in Coimbatore North was just about 59% in 2021. Efforts should be taken to encourage more voters to turn up on the election day, he adds.