Salem Mayor stages sit-in against Commissioner over ‘withheld’ resolutions

COIMBATORE: DMK councillors led by Salem Corporation Mayor A Ramachandran staged a sit-in protest at the Corporation office on Friday, accusing Commissioner Lalit Aditya Neelam of failing to forward resolutions passed by the council to the State government.

The Mayor claimed that several resolutions adopted by the council on key civic issues, including those seeking to scrap the proposed privatisation of the drinking water supply in Salem and the proposed waste-to-energy plant, were not forwarded.

“Under the Urban Local Bodies rules, it is the duty of the Corporation Commissioner to forward the resolutions passed by the council to the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA), District Collector and State government. However, the resolutions adopted during the council meetings held in May, June, July and August have not been sent to the authorities,” Ramachandran told reporters.

The Mayor also accused the Commissioner of failing to issue the notification for the monthly council meeting, despite having been instructed to convene it.

The agitation at the Mayor’s chamber led to tension at the Corporation office, with police personnel urging the Mayor and councillors to withdraw the protest. However, they refused to relent and continued their sit-in.

Salem Corporation has 60 wards, of which 48 are represented by the DMK, 7 by the AIADMK, 2 by the Congress, and 1 each by the VCK, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), and Manithaneya Makkal Katchi.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Lalit Aditya Neelam met Salem District Collector K Elambahavath and held discussions on the situation arising from the protest. A large number of police personnel were deployed outside the Corporation office as the agitation continued.