A temple city that longs for district status, infrastructure push ahead of Mahamaham in 2028

Kumbakonam, the “city of temples” that attracts tourists right through the year and commercial hub of Thanjavur district, remains bogged down with civic and infrastructure problems. Creating a new district with the city as the headquarters, expeditious track doubling on Thanjavur-Villupuram on the main line section that passes through the city and improving the tourism infrastructure are some of the key demands of the residents.

With the Mahamaham festival, celebrated once every 12 years, scheduled to be held in March 2028, the city is badly in need of an infrastructure push not only to handle the huge influx of devotees from across the country and abroad but also during normal days, local residents say.

Despite several schemes implemented by the civic body over the years to get rid of the town’s identity as ‘mosquito town’, the epithet continues to hold good as one could feel the bite of mosquitoes at the railway station and as well as at the mofussil bus terminus almost all through the year.

While the civic body points the finger at the Water Resources Department for the poor maintenance of irrigation channels criss-crossing the town, the latter indicts the former for the accumulation of garbage and other non-biodegradable material discarded on these channels leading to mosquito breeding. The mahamaham tank needs to be given a facelift.

The passenger amenities at the mofussil bus stand in Kumbakonam need an upgrade.
| Photo Credit:
R. VENGADESH

Citing the good response to the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Kumbakonam Divisions’ “Navagraha Temple Tour” package, Karthikeyan of Kumbakonam, a tourist cab service operator, says with the daily religious tourist footfall registering a steady graph over the recent years, hotel, homestay, and tourist cab industries enjoy a green patch every day.

“Though laying of Thanjavur-Vikravandi Road abutting Kumbakonam would ensure better road connectivity for tourists, only the execution of Thanjavur-Kumbakonam-Mayiladuthurai-Villupuram track doubling work by the Southern Railway, which is pending for long, could help improve rail connectivity,” says Sahasram, a resident of Salai Street, Kumbakonam, and a local coordinator for pilgrimage trips organised by tourist operators located in places such as Chennai, Madurai, and Coimbatore.

“As far as the movement of vehicles through the town is concerned, a well thought out and strictly implemented one-way traffic system with automatic signals, at least on the main thoroughfares, would help overcome the traffic congestion to some extent,” Mr. Sahasram said. Further, public participation was key to the successful implementation of vehicular traffic management schemes, he added.

Apart from pressing for the long-pending demand for railway track doubling, V. Sathyanarayanan, a trader and social activist, said shifting the goods yard to Thirunageswaram from Kumbakonam and utilising those tracks for passenger service operations would be a welcome move.

Another, prime demand of the locals was the upgrade of Kumbakonam’s status as a district headquarters. Though they thought their wish to achieve the status of district would become a reality after the 2021 Assembly polls, it still remains a distant dream.

On the political front, the constitutency had remained with the DMK for continuous six terms starting from 1996. It is set to witness a contest between the DMK and the BJP this time as the seat had been allotted to the Tamil Maanila Congress, an alliance partner of the National Democratic Alliance headed by the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu.

The DMK veteran and former Minister, late Ko. Si. Mani emerged victorious from this Constituency in 1996, 2001, and 2006. From 2011 to till date, G. Anbalagan has been representing the Kumbakonam in the Assembly.