Tamil Nadu - Tuticorin   

Pandemonium at Tuticorin Municipal Council meeting

Staff Reporter

AIADMK, DMK councillors lock horns over poor water supply

TUTICORIN: The municipal council meeting held here on Wednesday witnessed heated arguments between the councillors of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which almost ended in a fisticuff.

Later, DMK and Congress councillors boycotted the proceedings.

Commotion began when the Municipal Chairman, S. Daniel Raj, blamed it on leaks in the pipelines for poor supply of drinking water in the past few weeks.

He said that the pipes, which were laid during the previous DMK regime, were poor in terms of quality causing leaks frequently. The entire group of DMK councillors, led by the party whip, Kottu Raja, asked the Chairman to stop blaming the previous government, termed it as an act of escapism, and demanded a proper reply to grievances of the public.

`Why do you blame the DMK regime for the first time in your fourth year in office as Chairman and why no action was taken so far in this regard, asked Mr. Raja.

Immediately, AIADMK councillors, led by Antony Gracy, came to the rescue of the Chairman.

The situation became so volatile that only when Mr. Raja pacified his party councillors, normalcy prevailed.

Noisy scenes erupt again

Noisy scenes erupted again in the next few minutes, this time thanks to the Chairman's announcement that an `Aavin milk booth' would be established on the old bus stand premises in addition to the one functioning there. A. T. S. Arul, a Congress councillor, urged Mr. Raj to stop granting a second `Aavin booth' at the old bus stand since the existing one was functioning in a pathetic manner.

`Instead of selling milk, the stall was predominantly used for selling many other items,' he said. In such a circumstance, a second stall should never be sanctioned.

As Mr. Raj refused to budge an inch from his decision, Mr. Arul rushed to the well of the house and tore the copy of the agenda. Accompanied by DMK councillors, Mr. Arul boycotted the rest of the proceedings.

The Chairman told the house that Mr. Arul was suspended for the next council meeting since he had failed to honour the decorum of the house when a session was in progress.

The Chairman told the council that a culvert would be constructed from Chelliamman Koil on Alagesapuram Main Road to Alagesapuram Cross Street at a cost of Rs. 1.15 lakhs and beautification of Roche Park would be taken up at an outlay of Rs. 10 lakhs during the current fiscal.

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Pandemonium at Tuticorin Municipal Council meeting

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