The library under-construction at the children’s park at Jai Nagar near Andipatti in Salem Corporation.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.
Residents of Andipatti in Salem Corporation demanded the completion of the library construction work that has been under way for the past two years.
Andipatti, which comes under Ward 20 in the Suramangalam zone in the district, has more than 3,000 residents, who are primarily casual labours. Students in the locality are studying at various government and government-aided schools in and around Suramangalam. Candidates who are preparing for competitive exams are forced to go to the district library at Kumarasamipatti.
Due to this, the residents demanded a library at Andipatti and in 2023, the Salem Corporation allocated ₹54 lakh under the funds of the Education Development and the construction work for library at Jai Nagar began. The Corporation announced that the construction work will be completed in six months. But, two years have passed, and the work is yet to be completed.
Srinivasan, a resident of Ward 20, said that initially, the work seemed to be progressing quickly. But after a few months, it came to a halt. He added that the construction of the library at Old Suramangalam which started after the construction of the Jai Nagar library, has been completed and opened for public use. “But here, the work is still ongoing,” he said and alleged that the public’s money is wasted by the Corporation.
“Without an option, candidates are going to the district library or knowledge centre at Hasthampatti,” said Mr. Srinivasan. He said that the government recently announced the library-cum-knowledge centre (Bharathidasan Arivulagam) at Hasthampatti.
He added that the children’s park in the premises of library was also not in use and bushes have surrounded the park. “The Corporation should complete the library work soon and install better playing equipment in the children’s park”, said Mr. Srinivasan.
The Suramangalam zonal officials said that the contractor paused the works midway and the Corporation listed the contractor on the blacklist. The works for the library will be completed in two weeks. Based on availability of funds, the children’s park will also be renovated, officials added.
Published – February 10, 2026 07:14 pm IST
