Mayor defends delay in Tiruchy IBT service

TIRUCHY: War of words erupted between the DMK and AIADMK members in the Tiruchy Corporation meeting on Monday on the delay in operating the Integrated Bus Terminal (IBT) in Panjapur.

The corporation meeting, chaired by Mayor Mu Anbalagan, turned into chaos owing to the skirmish. Even as the Mayor was addressing the gathering, AIADMK member Ambikapathi intervened, saying that the IBT had been open for a long time and inquired about the reason for the delay in starting services. He also accused the Mayor of deviating from the subject.

Soon, the DMK members T Muthuselvam, Kajamalai Viji, and others rose from their seats to voice opposition to Ambikapathi. They said that the AIADMK members should speak responsibly. This led to a heated argument between the AIADMK and the DMK members. However, the Mayor interfered and made a statement on the issue of the delay in launching services.

Anbalagan pointed out that the Leader of Opposition, Edappadi K Palaniswami, has announced a protest against the operational delay in IBT. “AIADMK was ruling for the past 10 years, but no development was brought to the city, and so the party doesn’t have the moral authority to comment on DMK, which has brought several projects, including IBT, which will start functioning soon,” he said.

While addressing the session, the Mayor stated that a total of 40,000 stray dogs had been identified in the city, of which 30,000 had undergone sterilisation, and the remaining 10,000 would be completed in a phased manner.