The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Encroachers don't spare voter list too

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 06, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Encroachers don't spare voter list too

Staff Reporter

``In future they may ask for civic infrastructure''

CHENNAI : The list of voters in Porur town panchayat has included encroachers on the Porur lake since the Assembly elections.

The encroachers on the `eri poromboke' had not been listed for the 2004 Parliamentary elections but were suddenly added to the list for the last Assembly elections, said town panchayat president Sivaprabhu.

This was said to be in compliance with a government policy that required all those eligible for franchise to be added to voter lists. However, it goes against a government order passed in 1996 that fixed the territory of wards for local body elections, he pointed out. The lake was, for obvious reasons, left out of this demarcation of territory.

Any changes in territory have to be either recommended by the council of the local body or by a government order. Neither has been done in this case.

Ward No.18 that includes the encroachers on the Porur lake has a total of 5074 voters. Of these, around 3500 reside on encroached land. Ward No. 10 that has the next highest number of voters has 3683.

The list of voters used for the Assembly elections is also used for local body elections, with the last date for receiving nominations marking the deadline for including new voters.

Residents alleged that those omitted from the list previously were unable to get their names included this time around too.

Mr. Sivaprabhu pointed out that the Revenue Department, which should be taking up the task of adding new names, had not done so.

Among problems, which could crop up in the future, would be a request from encroachers for roads and civic infrastructure, he said.

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