Jayalalithaa’s vision will be achieved: Chief Minister

He said most of them were announced by Jayalalithaa under Article 110 at the Assembly. “She strived hard to fulfill the announcements,” he said. EPS also initiated distribution of benefits to 3,368 beneficiaries through 19 government departments.

Stating that the government is working on a series of road widening projects to decongest the region, Palanisamy hinted at the possibility of a ring road for Salem. Recalling his recent visit to Delhi when he met the Prime Minister regarding the drought and other issues, he said that he also met the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari and put forward this ring road project. “He said he would consider the proposal,” EPS said. 

Calling Namakkal as the district with the highest vehicle population in the country that needs a host of road widening and transport related infrastructure, he said that work is underway for the Namakkal and Tiruchengode ring road projects announced by the former Chief Minister. He added that efforts are on to convert the Namakkal-Tiruchy Road into a four lane one. 

He said that the Paramathi Velur-Tiruchengode, Tiruchengode-Rasipuram, Mohanur-Namakkal, Namakkal-Tiruchengode and Tiruchengode-Erode roads would soon be widened. The CM added that similar widening works would be carried out on the roads connecting Bhavani, Thoppur and Mecheri in Salem district and other busy roads in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts.

Earlier, the Chief Minister, who is also Edappadi got a hero’s welcome during his maiden visit to the city as the Chief Minister on Monday night. Though the grandeur was not a patch on the celebratory mood  seen during  Jayalalithaa’s visit to the city, party cadre had ensured that he was received in a much grander way when compared to three- time interim Chief Minister O Panneerselvam during his trips across the state. 

Thousands of AIADMK party flags fluttered all over the city. Ministers P Thangamani (Electricity, Prohibition and Excise), V Saroja (Social Welfare), KP Anbalagan (Higher Education) and P Balakrishna Reddy (Animal Husbandry) were also present at the event in Salem. After his short trip to his native district that lasted a little over 12 hours, around 2 pm,  Palanisamy left for Tiruchy by road.