SALEM: An assurance was given by Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru recently has revived demands to make Attur as a separate district. The minister, during his recent visit to Salem, said the government would consider upgrading Attur Municipality as City Municipal Corporation next year by joining Attur and Narasingapuram municipalities.
Since 2014, traders and the general public, have been urging the government to bifurcate Salem and declare Attur as a district. A committee, Attur New District Coordinating Committee, was formed and resolutions were passed in Grama Sabha meetings.
Attur was made a municipality in 1965 due to steps taken by political stalwart Rajaji and is one of the oldest bodies in the district.
In 2014, former chief minister J Jayalalithaa directed revenue officials to check for the feasibility of creating Attur as a separate district, following a request from an MLA. Though public hearing meetings were conducted, the initiative lost steam. The subject was revived by both Dravidian majors during campaigning in the 2019 Parliament and 2021 Assembly elections.
P Sivasubramaniam, A resident of Attur, said, "If people in Veeraganur and Thalaivasal want to submit grievance petitions, they have to travel 90 km and 80 km respectively to the Salem Collectorate. In 2019, the then chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced Kallakurichi, which is just 50 km away from Attur, as a district. Kallakurichi was a town panchayat till 2016 and
later it converted as a third-grade municipality. Within two years after it was upgraded, it became a district. But Attur became a municipality 55 years ago, yet has not been a district."
K Baskar of Attur New District Coordinating Committee said, "If a district has more than 10 lakh population it can be bifurcated. The population of Salem district has crossed 30 lakh. Attur Municipality has a 2.5 lakh population and generates. The revenue of `Rs.10 crore per year. Functionaries of all political parties are in favour of making Attur as a district."'
A DMK functionary in Attur said a delegation called on Chief Minister M K Stalin and explained the rationale behind the demand. "We expecting a favourable announcement after urban local body elections, he said.