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Trichy reduced PM10 levels through sustained pollution control efforts
City decongestion planned by relocating truck terminal & buses to Panjapur, adding new marketplace
Mobility plans highlight need for footpaths, cycle tracks, electrification
UMTA for Trichy still pending despite longstanding policy mandate
Trichy has made progress in lowering its average annual Particular Matter (PM10) levels since 2019 and aims to reduce them further, according to the Trichy city municipal corporation. The city implemented several measures to bring its PM10 levels down from over 70 microgrammes per cubic meter (µg / m3) to just over 40 µg / m3 in recent years.
Being the fourth-largest city in Tamil Nadu, Trichy has experienced substantial population growth, increased employment activities, a rise in income levels, greater ownership of private motorised vehicles and urban sprawl.
To counter the resultant air pollution, the city focused on four key measures. These included regular road sweeping, eliminating burning of garden waste by strengthening door-to-door collection mechanism and preventing municipal waste burning in the open and plantation of 20,000 trees.
“The decrease in 2020-21 can be attributed to the lockdown due to COVID-19. We have sustained low PM10 levels in 2022, 2023 and 2024, with the help of these measures,” Saravanan V, commissioner, Trichy City Municipal Corporation, told Down To Earth (DTE).
The city municipal corporation is also working on decongesting the city by relocating certain activities to Panjapur. “Once they are ready, we can lower pollution levels even further,” Saravanan added.
He elaborated on their focus areas: “We focused on Gandhi Market, a wholesale market in the core city that has 1,400 stores across four acres of land in the core city. The second was Chattiram and Central bus stands; both are too small to cater to the needs of the million-plus population residing in the city.”
To address these issues, the city plans to establish an additional market beyond Gandhi Market to meet the growing needs. Saravanan explained that the new facility could accommodate 1,800 shops at a budget of Rs 226 crore.
To decongest Chattiram and Central bus stands, a new integrated bus terminus along with a truck terminal was inaugurated in Panjapur, with a capacity for 280 trucks per day and ample parking. This is expected to alleviate the problem of truck movement within the city, especially to Gandhi Market, where parking is insufficient, Saravanan added. “It will take away traffic from the core (prone to traffic congestion) to the periphery.”
All buses from the Central Bus Stand will be shifted to Panjapur, and all but three routes from Chattiram will also be relocated there. “We are exploring options for redevelopment of the city bus stand,” Saravanan added.
Shyam Sundar, a member of Trichy Intra-City Development Endeavours (TIDES), lauded this decision, stating that it would help reduce city congestion. “This is late but a good sign,” he remarked. However, some residents are not pleased, with Vijay and Subhashree noting that the shift could increase their travel time by 15 and 30 minutes, respectively.
The 2025 Budget speech for Tamil Nadu offered little specific to Trichy’s urban mobility needs, though it did identify the city as one of five corporations slated for general development works, including footpath improvements.
Despite recent progress in air quality, Trichy still faces significant challenges in its urban mobility infrastructure, particularly regarding pedestrian and cycling facilities. The city's Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), released in 2023, highlights the lack of safe pedestrian and non-motorised transport crossings at some intersections. CMP proposed the development of footpaths, pedestrian crossing infrastructure and dedicated cycle tracks to address these deficiencies. Adding to this, the Net-Zero Climate Resilient City Action Plan released in 2024 recommended a substantial upgrade to Trichy's urban transport system. Key recommendations include expanding compressed natural gas (CNG) stations, electrifying public transport and promoting e-rickshaws.
The plan also emphasised the need for traffic improvements through congestion reduction, stricter enforcement of emission standards and the construction of bypasses to divert through-traffic from Tiruchirappalli.
CMP further recommended a total bus fleet size of 1,257 by 2042, with at least 50 per cent being electric buses. To enhance accessibility and encourage public transport usage, it suggested constructing bus stops at every 500-meter interval.
DTE attempted to contact the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC)-Kumbakonam via email for their future plans for the city but received no response. A visit to the Trichy branch of the transport department also proved unfruitful, as authorities stated they lacked permission to comment, directing the reporter to speak with the head office.
A significant gap in Trichy's urban planning is the absence of a parking policy. The city municipal commissioner stated that this is a work in progress, with consultations currently underway.
Sundar from TIDES stressed the need for more parking points. More importantly, he advocated for the bifurcation of TNSTC-Kumbakonam, arguing, “Trichy should have its own transport division headquartered in the city.”
In 2023, the Chennai Metro Rail Project submitted Detailed Feasibility Reports for introducing Mass Rapid Transit Systems (MRTS) in Tiruchirappalli, covering 45 kilometres. The proposed system includes two corridors: Corridor 1 (19 km from Samayapuram to Vayaloor, with 19 proposed stations) and Corridor 2 (26 km from Thuvakudi to Panjapur, with 26 proposed stations).
Calls for a metro system in Trichy are growing. Durai Vaiko, Member of Parliament of Trichy, emphasised on microblogging site X (formerly Twitter), “We need the Trichy Metro project to attract such technology-based investments to our city. It would also emulate the principles followed by Tamil Nadu to achieve equitable socio-economic growth.”
Further, in 2016, the Ministry of Urban Development released final operations document for Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) to ensure coordinated planning and execution of urban transport initiatives in Trichy.
Despite the Union government's 2006 National Urban Transport Policy envisioning the establishment of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTA) to ensure coordinated urban transport planning, Tamil Nadu is yet to set up a UMTA for Trichy. The Ministry of Urban Development released a final operations document for UMTA in 2016 for this purpose. Saravanan confirmed that the state government has announced its intention to establish one, and it is a work in progress. Chennai already has an UMTA.
Meanwhile, Jeyakumar, Member Secretary of the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), stated that CUMTA can offer technical recommendations to development authorities in cities like Trichy. “We can train other city planners, who can help improve the urban mobility in Trichy. We can review comprehensive mobility plan for the city and provide practical and implementable recommendations,” he added.
This is the second part of the series on Trichy, exploring the city’s mobility and its link with air pollution. Read the first part. The articles are part of our series on how India moves, which looks at the relationship between air quality and human mobility in cities and towns.