Coimbatore, our beautiful city, is the second largest city in Tamilnadu (105.6 sq.km). About 15 lakh people are living here. We, the people who live in the city which lies on the banks of river Noyyal and the foot hills of Nilgiris Mountain get our water from the nearby river Siruvani, whose water is supposed to be the second best sweetest water in the world. Our city is called as the 'Manchester of South India', since here too we have large number of spinning mills like that of the city of Manchester in England. The city of Coimbatore is reckoned as famous for spinning mills and industries and is being conducive for industrial wealth. The reasons for this are the weather, hard-working nature of the people, water and beautiful natural environment. The employment opportunities attracted the nearby villages, towns and neighbouring states.

Will, this peace/tranquility/serenity, tasty water and good weather which gives our Kovai its place of pride and esteem, last for ever?

Now, due to lack of proper planning in the guise of 'Urban development' Coimbatore city is fast becoming a 'concrete jungle'. It can be inferred from the present proliferation of buildings that in another 15 years, Kovai, which is now luring people from neighbouring places, is sure to lose its pride and esteem and face the situation where its own people would detest it and start fleeing away from it. If this dangerous trend is not nipped in its bud, there is no doubt that our future generations would not be able to live in a glorious Kovai but have to live in a devastated Kovai.

The most affected by this problem are those small residential colonies which are basically designed and equipped only for independent houses. Apartments are being built even in those small narrow lanes of these colonies of width 20 feet to 30 feet without adequate infrastructure. So this leads to road congestion, shortage of drinking water, depletion of ground water and drainage issues. Hence, people living in independent houses of these colonies are the most affected lot.

We all know well to what extent the people of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai were affected due to the buildings that were built without sufficient infrastructure. Should our future generations live in a glorious Kovai, rich with natural resources? It is only you who has to decide, 'yes' or 'no'. RAAC is born only for those who would say 'yes'.

If we take for instance in our Kovai city, the colonies and layouts which have promoted the RAAC having a population of about 3000, namely, Bharathi Colony, Lal Bahadur Colony, K.E.N. Layout, Shringar Nagar, Shringar Nagar Extension, Gopal Nagar and Surya Gardens were designed and formed about 30 years back. The roads, drainage, water supply facilities and such other infrastructural facilities were designed without anticipating the present rapid proliferation of multi- storeyed apartments and commercial complexes.

These places were designed and planned only for independent houses and accordingly only 15 to 30 feet wide streets and sub-roads were provided. If multi-storeyed buildings are allowed to come up in these areas, 50 to 100 houses will come into existence in an area which at present accommodates only 5 houses. To suit this there are no wide roads, sewage, water facilities & other basic amenities in these places.

The Main Feeder Line which supplies water now is small in size. The output of water is also not adequate in quantity since the main feeder line pipe and distributing pipes are all small in size as they are all designed for layouts consisting of only independent houses. If multi-storeyed apartments come up, then this problem will worsen.

There is only one 40 ft. wide main road which connects these colonies with the Avinashi Road. Further it is only this road which is being used as the main thoroughfare for the above 7 colonies and other 12 layouts surrounding these colonies, old Peelamedu area, Peelamedu Railway station, 7 schools, Industrial units and places of worship. Due to this, high level of traffic congestion has developed. But in these circumstances some construction companies are making hectic efforts to build multi-storeyed buildings in the existing vacant sites in the above areas and adjoining areas.

It is a plain fact that such problems are not confined to just the above said areas but is present through out the city of Coimbatore. If we do not oppose and struggle against this problem, all localities will have to get into the same situation prevailing in some important areas in Coimbatore, where the people living in independent houses are not able to lead a peaceful and secured life.

Hence, our position is that, the construction of multi-storeyed apartments / buildings should not be allowed in places where there is no sufficient infrastructure, with the noble objective of creating a good living environment in the city of Kovai for the future generations to come.