TIRUCHY: Mentioning all major construction works at the Rs 492-crore facility having been completed, Minister for Municipal Administration KN Nehru on Saturday announced that Chief Minister MK Stalin will inaugurate the integrated bus terminus in Panjappur on May 9.
Addressing media persons after inspecting the works, the minister said, "Almost all work at the bus terminus has been completed and we've now begun final cleaning activities. The chief minister will also lay the foundation stone for a new truck terminal and a wholesale vegetable market complex during the same event. Further he will distribute housing site patta to around 55,000 beneficiaries."
The minister added that the CM and DMK president is expected to arrive in Tiruchy a day earlier i.e. on May 8 and meet party workers in view of the upcoming Assembly election. On amenities provided at the terminus, Minister Nehru said that all required facilities have been put in place.
"Initially, the blueprint did not account for sufficient toilet facilities. Now, toilets have been set up at multiple locations. Similarly, potable water supply facilities have also been provided at convenient points so that commuters don't have to search around for them," he said.
Addressing allegations on untreated sewage being discharged into the Uyyakondan canal, the minister said, "Only treated water is let out into the canal, which is actually fit for irrigation. Furthermore, a new 40-foot-wide road will be laid along the banks of River Koraiyar extending up to the Central Bus Stand. While tenders have already been floated, the project is currently delayed due to land acquisition processes."
Earlier in the day, the minister launched 115 desilting works in the district to be taken up under the special desilting scheme in irrigation sources at an estimate of Rs 16.70 crore. It is part of a Rs 1,200-crore package of the state government in which 1,071 desilting works would be carried out on a 6,170.60-kilometre irrigation resource network. As part of it, irrigation channels comprising a 343.14-kilometre network in Tiruchy will be desilted, benefiting 1,18,258 acres of farmland, officials said.