After the facelift it got in the run-up to the World Tamil Conference in 1995, the historic city of Thanjavur has been waiting for a development push. In recent years, the civic infrastructure has struggled to match the city’s stature as an important tourist destination housing the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sri Brihadisvara Temple.
As the first DMK Mayor, Sun. Ramanathan, 45, is conscious of the gaps in infrastructure and the task at hand. “There is an enormous work to do,” he concedes. Having already served as a corporator for two terms, initially as a municipal councillor in 2006 and later as a councillor of the corporation, he is well aware of the civic problems.
“First, roads are in pretty bad shape after being dug up for building underground sewer lines and replacing the drinking water pipelines. I plan to relay all the roads in two years, if not within a year,” says Mr. Ramanathan, who took to politics as a student activist in his college days in 1993 and has since risen through the ranks to become the DMK’s youth wing secretary of Thanjavur central district.
