Coimbatore: At a time when the district continues to record the highest number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state, the government on Wednesday transferred the city corporation commissioner.
Raja Gopal Sunkara, who is working as regional deputy commissioner (south) of the Greater Chennai Corporation, is posted as the new corporation commissioner replacing P Kumaravel Pandian.
Pandian took charge as the 25th corporation commissioner on August 31, 2020, when Covid-19 cases were increasing steadily in the city.
Pandian had spent most of his time working to contain the infection rate.
He did his BSc in Physics at PSG college of Arts and Science in Coimbatore in 1990.
He is a native of Kallimandayam near Ottanchatram.
During his stint, many of the smart city projects – lake rejuvenation projects at Valankulam, Ukkadam big tank and Selvachintamani, and model road project on DB Road – were completed and inaugurated for public use.
Apart from strengthening door-to-door survey to identify people with symptoms at their doorstep and other containment measures, he had also launched a mobile vaccination drive which aimed at vaccinating people at large numbers at their locations.
But within weeks, it had to be called off due to vaccine shortage.
As the corporation has been focusing only on containing the pandemic, the new commissioner might have to spend time in shaping projects like model road project at Race Course, biomining project, other lake projects, 24X7 water supply project and integrated bus stand – whose work had slowed down due to the pandemic –, improving the civic infrastructure and financial stability of the civic body in addition to controlling the spread of the infection.
This year, the corporation had tabled a budget with surplus revenue of just Rs 1.04 crore and had not announced any new projects.
The corporation aims to make a revenue of Rs 2,630.2 crore and of which, it plans to earn Rs 180.3 crore by collecting taxes.
Similarly, the state government has also transferred the Tirupur corporation commissioner.
Kranti Kumar Pati, who was working as the executive officer of Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy temple in Palani, will replace the existing commissioner K Sivakumar.