COIMBATORE: Members of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) staged a demonstration in Chettipalayam on Sunday urging the panchayat administration to mobilise fund to construct a railway station there.
MDMK state youth wing secretary V Eswaran, who led the protest, said, “Since 2012, a series of protests including signature campaigns, demonstrations, were held pressing the demand to reopen the railway halt at Chettipalayam village, which was closed few decades ago. Based on the demand, on November last, the Southern Railway proposed to reopen it under Shradhan scheme, if the Chettipalayam town panchayat administration could spend about `49 lakh for constructing a railway station there with basic amenities.”
He alleged that even after the railway officials reminded the panchayat administration regarding the scheme, the administration did not take any effort to mobilise the required amount.
“While the gauge conversion of railway track from Coimbatore to Pollachi is likely to be completed within a year, this is the right time to construct the railway station,” he added.
The Chettipalayam town panchayat administration and MLAs and MPs in Coimbatore district should work together for raising the fund to speed up the process, he noted.
Between Coimbatore and Pollachi, there is only one railway halt at present (at Kinathukadu) and the a railway halt in Chettipalayam would be a boon for the villagers of surrounding areas to travel to Coimbatore, Pollachi, Palani and Dindigul, he added.