Officials in pickle over different petitions over Tasmac shop

ARANI: Revenue officials faced a the piquant situation of having to receive petitions from those opposing and supporting the closure of a Tasmac shop in a village near Arani on Thursday. Residents, especially women of Nadukuppam village panchayat on the Arani -Padavedu road, have been staunchly opposing the Tasmac outlet for quite some time. The protest also saw 5 ward members resigning from their posts in support of the demand. Based on this, the district administration closed the shop and an alternative site was scouted near the Vinayagapuram burial ground. However, the women of Vinayagapuram opposed the move and petitioned the Arani tahsildar R Jagadeesan on March 6 against opening the outlet in their area. On hearing this, Vinayagapuram tipplers met tahsildar Jagadeesan on Thursday and submitted a petition in support of opening the outlet citing their long-distance travel to get liquor. Meanwhile, the Revenue officials said Tasmac is facing a daily loss of Rs 1.50 lakh due to the closure of the outlet and said the petitions would be forwarded to their superiors for action.