CHENNAI: A Tambaram Corporation council meeting on Monday (August 31) was filled with heated arguments, as councillors from both DMK and AIADMK raised strong complaints against the civic administration regarding stray dog menace, drinking water supply, storm water drains, underground sewerage works and healthcare facilities.
Chaired by DMK Mayor Vasanthakumari, 344 resolutions were passed at the Tambaram Corporation office.
Councillors said that despite funds being allocated for vaccination and sterilisation of stray dogs, the measures had failed to control their numbers. They demanded effective implementation of sterilisation and vaccination programmes.
They also said that many SWD had been damaged, silted up or encroached upon, and warned that residential areas could face waterlogging during the monsoon season if immediate restoration works were not taken up.
Councillors lamented facing irregular or non-existent piped water supply despite residents being charged water tax. They alleged that residential areas along Major Mukund Varadarajan Road in Selaiyur had not received piped drinking water for nearly five years, while charges continued to be collected.
They also complained about the government primary health centre in Ward 51, where medicines were often unavailable and doctors were not present during several working hours, leaving nurses to attend to patients. They also claimed that basic diagnostic facilities, including blood tests, were not being provided properly.
The Opposition leader raised questions over the delay in extending the underground sewerage project to areas that had been left out of the existing network and newly added areas. He pointed out that the previous government had announced an allocation of Rs 750 crore for the expansion and sought to know why the works had not commenced and what had happened to the funds.
Corporation officials said that efforts were underway to obtain a loan from the World Bank. Opposition councillors questioned why external funding was being sought when the government had already announced an allocation for the project. Later, the AIADMK councillors staged a walkout from the council meeting.