Tiruchi mayor's address

The Mayor, Sarubala R. Tondaiman, addressing a council meeting in Tiruchi on Tuesday.The Tiruchi Corporation will desilt all drainage channels in the city ahead of the monsoon as a preventive measure against flooding, the Mayor, Sarubala R. Tondaiman, has said.While major channels will be desilted using earthmovers, minor ones would be manually cleared, she informed the councillors at an ordinary meeting of the Corporation Council here on Tuesday. Major drains including the Kottai, Kathirikai, Karumandapam and G.Corner vaicals would be desilted within a month.

The Commissioner B. Balachandran said a list of all drains is being taken in each zone and the desilting operation would commence within a week.The Corporation had taken up a similar exercise last year after the first rains of the monsoon exposed the inadequacies of the city’s drainage network. Later the council approved a resolution for construction of retaining walls along the Kottai Vaical at a cost of Rs.15 lakhs.Speaking on the issue, A. Joseph Gerald of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam urged the officials to take steps for widening the Keezhpokki (vents) near the Uyyakandon river, which drains the rain water from the Karumandapam area.

Earlier, piqued over a plethora of complaints against the civic administration by councillors Mr. Balachandran pulled up the Assistant Commissioners and expressed dissatisfaction over their performance. Assistant Commissioners should take note of the complaints aired by the councillors and ensure that they were rectified. “You should extract work from the officers serving under your control,” he told the Assistant Commissioners.The Commissioner’s comments came after Ibrahim Pitchai of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam complained that over 15 handpumps in his ward were in disrepair. Some councillors complained of inadequate water supply to their wards. The Mayor too expressed dismay when an official came up with a ‘routine answer.’ M. Venkatraj, Independent, said the Corporation’s Citizen Charter, which stipulates the number of days to be taken for various services, was hardly being enforced.

DMK councillor T. M. Ranga drew the attention of the Mayor to widespread complaints that a “fixed rate” (bribe) was being demanded from residents for services such as name transfer and tax assessment. Mr. Balachandran said action would be initiated against specific complaints.Earlier, the council approved a resolution for setting up a gasifier-based crematorium at Karumandapam burial ground.The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam floor leader Mariam Pitchai demanded a similar facility at the Manalvarithurai burial ground, while O. R. Sriraman of the Communist Party of India sought a crematorium at the Konakkarai burial ground.