Corporation councillors blame officials for not solving underground drainage issues for over three years
Cutting across party lines, the councillors from the ruling and opposition stood together and blamed the officials for not implementing the underground drainage (UGD) project in Dindigul city on Friday.
As a result, the members said that the people faced hardships due to sewer flowing on the roads and in low lying areas, the gutter entered dwellings posing health hazards to the residents.
The Mayor Illamathi presided in the presence of Deputy Mayor Rajappa and Commissioner Senthil Murugan. Senior officials from the Health, Town Planning, Engineering and other departments were present.
The DMK members Janakiraman, Venkatesan and among others joined with the AIADMK member Baskaran, CPI (M) Ganesan and BJP's Dhanapal, who raised the UGD issues faced by the people in the city and with specific problems from their wards.
As the pressure mounted unanimously from the elected representatives, the Executive Engineer Karuppiah intervened to say that the Corporation has taken a survey of the wards, where the UGD was functioning. 'We have noted the problems such as pipeline burst, leak in the UGD and incomplete works in the wards. An estimate has been prepared to the tune of Rs 38 crore. As and when the proposals were given approval, works would start within about two months. This would be a permanent solution to the UGD issue,' he summed up.
Taxes should be lowered, uniform
Though the then AIADMK government announced Dindigul and Thanjavur as Corporations in 2014, the tax slabs were different. While Dindigul residents were slapped with 27 % and it was 7 % for people in Thanjavur city, said councillor Subashini (DMK).
The Commissioner said that taxes were decided by the government and not the officials. It is a policy matter to collect taxes on property, water, UGD and among others, he explained.
Not convinced, the councillors again said that Dindigul had not got any funds from the Smart City Programs, while many other cities in the State enjoyed the funds from the Union government.
The AIADMK and DMK members locked horns for a short period over the non-implementation of basic amenities and infrastructural facilities in the city.
There were also heated arguments over the non-functioning of street lights in RM Colony 80 ft Road, Nehruji Nagar and others by Rajmohan (AIADMK). The officials said that it would be replaced soon.
The councillors suggested the Mayor to send the minutes of the meeting in advance to them as it would help to prepare and familiarise with the subject. Except the resolution on the UGD, 29 other items tabled in the meeting were passed.
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