The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Madurai News : Demolition drive draws flak at council meet

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Friday, Mar 04, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Madurai

Demolition drive draws flak at council meet

By Our Staff Reporter

MADURAI, MARCH. 3. The ongoing eviction drive generated heat in the Madurai Corporation Council meeting held today as members cutting across party lines found fault with officials for showing more interest in the demolition exercise. They also expressed their anguish over not being consulted by officials before initiating the drive.

The All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader, S.D. Jeyabalan, seeking clarification on the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court's direction on the issue, set the ball rolling. When the Commissioner (in-charge), C. Rajamani, said the Bench had directed the civic body to remove encroachments on roads, streets and bylanes, interrupting him, the Communist Party of India (CPI) member, M. Saravanan, asked as to why the shed for horse-drawn carts at Arapalayam was demolished.

Though Mr. Rajamani said there were no horse-drawn carts in the city now, Mr. Saravanan contended that many buildings constructed on land without hindering public movement were also demolished, for which Mr. Rajamani said only those buildings that were constructed on Corporation land were razed since the local body considered those portions of land were needed by the Corporation.

The Congress member, I. Siluvai, complained that Corporation officials had pulled down a portion of a church, which was well within a patta land. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member, Chinnammal, complained that her shop was razed despite her claim that it was constructed on a patta land.

The Mayor, C. Ramachandran, promised that the Corporation would compensate the aggrieved, if it were to be found that the local body was at fault.

The DMK member, P. Packianathan, said the officials should have apprised the High Court Bench of certain practical issues pertaining to eviction of people who had been living in certain localities for decades. Mr. Jeyabalan questioned as to why the officials did not take steps to stop lorries from entering the city during daytime.

New twist

The issue took a new turn when members of the rival Dravidian parties started accusing each other of having "instigated" the demolition. Even as the Mayor asked the members to take their seats, they continued to shout forcing the Mayor to adjourn the meeting for a brief period.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, S. Mahalingam, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader, Ramalingam, and the Independent member, M.R. Manickam, were among those who participated in the debate.

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