The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Elections to Cantonment Board held

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Monday, May 19, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Elections to Cantonment Board held

Special Correspondent

About 55 per cent voter turnout recorded in 7 wards

Braving the heat: Women waiting to cast their vote at the Cantonment School in Pallavaram on Sunday.

TAMBARAM: Residents living in Cantonment land belonging to the Ministry of Defence in the southern suburbs of Chennai can look forward to highlighting their problems and concerns to an elected body shortly.

Such a scenario became imminent with the election to the post of seven ward members of St.Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment Board, held on Sunday.

The previous council with seven elected representatives from the civilian population (and an equal representation from the Indian Army and Kancheepuram district administration officials) was voted in in 1997 and it remained till 2002.

The elections were not conducted over the past six years due to certain revisions in the Cantonment Act of 1924, officials of St. Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment Board told reporters.

In the election on Sunday, about 55 per cent of the 34,000-odd voters in this local body cast their votes to elect seven ward members from Pallavaram, Tirusulam, Meenambakkam, Nandambakkam and St. Thomas Mount areas that come under the Cantonment Board.

Voting commenced briskly from 8 a.m. as residents preferred to cast their vote and return home to avoid getting caught the scorching heat. With no other major political activity now, district and grass-root level functionaries of the different parties had gathered near the polling stations in large numbers, waving models of symbols of the candidates as voters passed by.

No untoward incident was reported anywhere, the police said.

The population of the Cantonment Board is about 42,000 and it includes personnel of the Army, who form a chunk of the electorate.

A total of 74 candidates, mostly belonging to major political parties, but contesting as independents on symbols allotted by the Kancheepuram district administration are in the fray.

Brigadier V.N. Money, Station Commander and ex-officio president of the Board, told reporters on Sunday evening that once the results were announced, the names of the newly elected members and the rest of the non-elected members, including representatives from the Army and district administration, would be forwarded to the Headquarters of Indian Army. Thereafter, the new council would be constituted and it would be discussing routine subjects pertaining to day-to-day affairs of civil administration.

The second oldest among Cantonment Boards in India and formed in 1774, St. Thomas Mount-cum-Pallavaram Cantonment Board spreads over 3,550 acres. With an annual income of Rs. 8 crore, mostly by way of property tax collection and assistance from the Centre, it faces problems similar to those encountered by other urban local bodies around Chennai, officials said.

Pressing issues

The newly formed council of the Cantonment Board was expected to meet at least once a month, officials said. Some of the pressing issues that are expected to be raised during the forthcoming meetings of the council are water supply, street lighting, parks and open spaces and proper disposal of garbage.

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