T.N. election 2026: Katpadi constituency residents seek solution to heavy traffic congestion, lack of jobs

Bifurcated from Gudiyatham Assembly constituency manner attend in 1962, Katpadi seat turn into once won by the AIADMK now not now not as much as thrice between 1977 and 1991.

Since 1996, the DMK’s strongman Duraimurugan, occasion’s trendy secretary and Minister for Water Property now, has won six consecutive cases, making it his beget castle. In 2021, however, Mr. Duraimurugan won with a margin of a mere 746 votes, the bottom victory margin secured in the seat since it turn into once formed over six a protracted time previously.

Tucked between busy Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway (NH-48) and dry Palar river, Katpadi is a bustling city agglomerate with excessive-upward thrust buildings, multiplexes, browsing division stores, and multi-delicacies restaurants.

“Visitors congestion remains the perennial field for lots of years. Faculty trucks and ambulances to find caught on the principle stretch that connects residential, commercial areas and the railway position,” stated E. Ganesh, president, 14th ward Residents Welfare Affiliation. 

Mr. Ganesh is a member of the District User Board that contains elected representatives, residents’ welfare associations, officials of various authorities departments and the civic body as members to handle public grievances. District Election Officer and Collector V.R. Subbulaxmi is the chairperson of the board, which organises stakeholders meeting once every three months.

“Rather then site visitors congestion, clogging of the present canal that discharges extra rainwater into Palar river is one more irritant, because it ends in mosquito breeding in the house,” stated S. Ranganathan, a resident.

Residents stated that the district administration and Company would possibly well restful utilise streets and lanes in Katpadi to decongest key stretches like Veteran Katpadi Road between the railway position and Green Circle, a roundabout below Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway.

As many of the authorities hospitals with larger facilities would possibly well be found in Veteran City areas, patients in Katpadi to find caught in the site visitors on these key stretches. Residents stated that light vehicles like cars, auto rickshaws and two-wheelers needs to be diverted to lanes and streets with security features to decongest arterial roads in Katpadi.  

The constituency additionally covers somewhat a few surrounding villages that diagram below Katpadi, Vellore and Walajah taluks. Sizable tracts of farmland are below paddy cultivation in these villages. Farmers largely count on tank irrigation, with the Palar river last a first-rate water source.

A collection of test dams beget been built all around the river by the Water Property Department (WRD) since 2021 to recharge groundwater in surrounding villages. Farmers sought the constructing of such test dams and the implementation of water conservation efforts to flee agriculture progress in the house.

Despite being an city home, Katpadi restful largely is dependent on agriculture, which is the mainstay of its financial system. The constituency would now not beget any tall-scale industries to provide jobs for local formative years. A proposal to house up a SIPCOT advanced additionally faces challenges as residents oppose the acquisition of farmland for the conducting. Residents quiz that industrial fashions needs to be established on a tall scale to propel progress in the house.

Quantity of polling stations: 251