Mid-term polls in four Chennai wards by month-end
Cleared - mani
Chennai: The
Greater Chennai Corporation
(GCC) is set to conduct
midterm elections
to four wards that have remained without elected representatives for more than two years. The wards — 165 (Adambakkam), 146 (Alapakkam and Maduravoyal), 122 (Alwarpet and Nandanam), and 59 (Island Grounds)— have been vacant following the deaths of their respective councillors.
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Deputy mayor M Mahesh Kumar said the
by-elections
will be held by the end of the month. "The election process will begin once nominations are filed, and candidates are shortlisted. Campaigns will follow accordingly," he said.
The earliest vacancy occurred in Nov 2022, while the most recent was in Ward 59, where Councillor Saraswathy passed away a year ago. As per election regulations, midterm elections must be conducted within six months of a ward falling vacant. However, the delays have left residents without
local representation
for an extended period.
Residents of Maduravoyal, where DMK councillor Shanmugam died in August 2023, said they were struggling to sort out garbage issues and segregation of garbage for almost a year. "Garbage collection has been a menace and improper in Bharathi Nagar. The waste is only collected once every two or three days. It would have been easier for us to raise complaints with the help of a councillor," said R Kavitha, a resident.
Residents across the affected wards had anticipated that the elections would be held alongside the recent parliamentary elections. The prolonged absence of elected councillors has also impacted ward-level development activities.
"In Ganapathy Colony and the interior lanes of Cenotaph Road, roads damaged during last December's monsoon are yet to be repaired. With a councillor, funds from the ward development scheme could have been used immediately. Now, the Corporation has to follow the tendering process, which takes time," said T Kamesh, a resident of Alwarpet.
Ward development funds amounting to approximately Rs 55 lakh per ward have remained unutilised due to the absence of elected representatives.
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