Poor amenities, inadequate public transportation rile voters in Papanasam

Voters in Papanasam express frustration over poor amenities, inadequate healthcare, and unaddressed infrastructure needs in their constituency.

Sandwiched between Thanjavur, the district headquarters, and Kumbakonam, the temple city, the Papanasam constituency continues to grapple with problems in basic amenities.

Inadequate healthcare delivery, poor public transportation, and missing crucial road links to other towns apart from the recent issue of sugarcane farmers attached to an erstwhile private sugar mill being asked to clear a loan in the fraud committed by the mill management are among the major concerns that rile the electorate.

“Though a taluk headquarters hospital functions at Papanasam, a majority of the patients requiring critical medical assistance are either referred to the Thanjavur Medical College and Hospital or to the District Headquarters Hospital at Kumbakonam,” says T. Saravanan, a social activist.

Several representations made in the past four decades for the construction of a high-level bridge connecting Karuppur with Melaramanallur, an islet on the Coleroon riverbed, in Ariyalur district, have been ignored. As Melaramanallur has already been linked with Ariyalur through a high-level bridge on its northern side, linking from Karuppur would be of immense help not only to the passengers but also help freight movement, he pointed out.

The absence of a government college, the functioning of a government library in a dilapidated private building, unreliable public/private transport, unaddressed demand for a modern rice mill and cold storage facility for flowers cultivated around Papanasam were some of the issues putforth by the electorate.

Pointing out that paddy procured from the villages at the heart of Papanasam constituency have to be taken either to the Ammanpettai modern rice mill near Thanjavur or to the Thirunageswaram mill near Kumbakonam, both at a distance of 40 km, Mr. Saravanan demanded proper storage facilities in the taluk for paddy.