Tiruchi Councillors lock horns with officials over civic issues

Councillors of the Tiruchi Corporation on Thursday accused the officials of prioritising beautification works over essential civic projects and failing to keep elected representatives informed about works being carried out in their wards.

Several Councillors said they were not being properly informed about civic works being undertaken in their respective wards. They also alleged that officials, including junior engineers, were being transferred without the Mayor’s knowledge, affecting implementation of works.

DMK Councillors T. Muthuselvam, Pushparaj and Khajamalai Vijay questioned the Corporation’s decision to prioritise beautification works over projects aimed at improving basic infrastructure. They argued that funds should instead have been allocated to improve drinking water yield.

The issue of water supply came up, with Councillor S. Kavitha displaying discoloured water and complaining that residents in her ward were receiving poor-quality drinking water and inadequate supply. Councillor T. Durgadevi also raised concerns over water quality and low supply.

Mayor M. Anbazhagan said the water yield in the Kollidam was very low and that water from Collector Well III was being supplied to the Crawford area. He said adequate water supply would be provided in the coming days.

Corporation Commissioner Veer Pratap Singh said the city’s daily water demand of 170 million litres was being met through the existing wells and questioned the need to spend ₹6 crore on new borewells, which was allocated to increase the yield. Councillors, however, countered that collector wells had been established the previous year in anticipation of the city’s future water requirements.

Councillor V. Leela said even minor works could not be taken up in their wards and alleged that the ₹1 lakh allocated to each ward every month was not being utilised. Councillors also complained that the online tender system had made it difficult to undertake emergency works on a war footing.

Mr. Muthuselvam questioned why Councillors were not being informed about the reasons for removing centre medians at various locations in the city. Responding to the issue, Mr. Singh said the medians were being renovated as part of beautification efforts. He said the expenditure was being met through advertisements placed on the medians and that the proposal had been approved by the previous Commissioner.

Mr. Muthuselvam also alleged that notices issued to the public regarding deposits for drinking water connections were worded in a threatening manner. He further alleged that breakfast provided to sanitation workers cleaning the Panjapur Integrated Bus Terminus (IBT) had been stopped for more than two months. He questioned why the scheme, which was introduced during the previous government, had been discontinued.

Mr. Singh said the IBT had been outsourced to a private agency for maintenance and that the Corporation could not continue providing breakfast to workers engaged there. He said the Corporation had provided breakfast so far but had stopped the scheme as it was meant only for Corporation workers and continuing it could lead to audit issues.

This led to a heated exchange between DMK Councillors and Mr. Singh. Councillors Muthuselvam and Pushparaj staged a dharna demanding clarification from the officials.

Meanwhile, AIADMK Councillor K. Ambikapathi questioned why officials had not removed banners and flex boards put up by TVK functionaries. He asked whether officials were favouring the ruling party. Following the argument, he walked out of the council meeting.