Plan to restructure Tiruppur to meet people’s expectations, says Mayor

Mayor N. Dinesh Kumar, who holds a master’s degree in international business, says his focus is on ensuring drinking water supply, waste disposal and also on improving infrastructure to attract foreign investors to the industrial city

N. Dinesh Kumar, the third Mayor of Tiruppur, says that he has plans to “restructure” the city by ensuring basic amenities and bringing in new projects to meet the expectations of the people.

In an interview to The Hindu at his office, Mr. Dinesh Kumar, who holds a master’s degree in International Business, says that the people of Tiruppur have “very high expectations” from the elected local body representatives and that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, too has been taking a special interest towards the growth of this industrial city. “My duty is to fulfil all these expectations,” he says.

The 44-year-old Mayor has been in active politics for 17 years, and had contested and lost in three elections – the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the 2011 urban local body elections and the 2014 Lok Sabha elections – from Tiruppur as a member of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK). Subsequently, he joined the DMK in 2016 and was made the party’s Tiruppur north urban district in-charge in 2020.

Acknowledging the grievances of the residents in the 60 wards of Tiruppur Corporation, Mr. Dinesh Kumar says that efforts are on to tackle major issues. The fourth drinking water supply scheme will be completed by the end of summer this year, to streamline the water supply for all the four zones in the city and the pending underground drainage work will be completed through the second phase of the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, he says.

On the issue of damaged roads, the Mayor says that he has instructed Corporation officials to prioritise completion of pending road work.

A project to ensure clearance of all industrial and domestic waste immediately after disposal, is also being chalked out to prevent improper disposal of waste in the city.

Projects under the Smart Cities Mission such as renovation of bus termini and the construction of multi-level vehicle parking areas, which have been facing delays for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are nearing completion and the Corporation is being given a “very hard push” for the inauguration of these projects in a few months, Mr. Dinesh Kumar says.