Chennai: Residents in various parts of Chrompet are increasingly concerned over the absence of officials at the Municipality office in the neighbourhood.
They allege that a number of civic issues lie unattended, as authorities are busy with work at the Athi Varadar temple in Kanchipuram.
V Santhanam, a resident of New Colony, said, “The Sanitary Officer (SO) is not here in town. He has been camping in Kanchipuram to do the needful. Due to the absence of officials, most of the works like, collecting garbage, draining stagnant water and cleaning the roads, have not been completed in recent times.”
He added, “We, the residents of New Colony visited the Municipality office, to file a petition, requesting the government to rejuvenate the Thiruneermalai lake. That is when, we realised that many of the officials were not in town.”
Murugaiyan, another resident, said, “There is a delay in the supply of Palar water, removal of garbage, acceptance of water and property taxes, as there are no authorities to supervise the work done in the field.”
He stated, “In our area, water was stagnant for a long time in the roads, and no action was taken to rectify the problem. In many parts of the locality, traffic congestion was more than usual. We all had a tough time in the absence of supervisors. I think the officials too might be facing issues, moving from one city to another and managing huge crowds.”
Meanwhile, an official of the Pallavaram Municipality said, “Officials were sent to the place of worship only in batches, to ensure a few of them stayed here too. When I was sent to Kanchipuram, my assistants were in town and three other officials were also in Chennai. We are all servants of the government and it is our duty to oblige to its orders. The Athi Varadar festival attracted a huge number of visitors and it is our responsibility to take charge and control the situation, whenever and wherever needed.”
Later, when News Today visited the Municipality office, it found that there were very few authorities present. A resident who wanted to pay his property tax, told that that he was waiting for a couple of hours and no proper instructions were given to him regarding the payment.