Chennai: Residents of Velacheri in the city are elated as a couple of new facilities have come up in the locality.
At Seva Nagar, Gandhi Road, a new tahsildar office is now functional and a community building next to it, which had been shut for years, is now being renovated and will be open for public use soon.
Tahsildar S Murugesan, who has been serving the people of Velacheri since 2012, says,”We moved to this location so that it would be easier for the public. They can come here to get pattas and other certificates like community, nativity, income, legal heirship and so on. Like any other Government office, we will function from 10 am to 5.40 pm, and if need be, will work round the clock.”
The office also addresses pension-related grievances among others. The building, which includes offices of Urban Tax and Excise, also has a separate section for conducting Aadhaar drive. Murugesan, who has been in Government service for the past 20 years, states that the area is a real estate hotspot, and he conducts regular land inspections here. Also next door, renovation work of a Corporation Community Building is underway in full swing, which will be used for conducting weddings and other functions.
A senior Corporation official says,”The civil work is over and now the revenue department has to do its part in purchasing chairs, tables, vessels etc, adding that it will be open in a month’s time. When asked why it was shut for so long, the official informs, during the 2011 Assembly elections, the building was used as a storage point; EVM machines of the entire city were stocked up here and it remained like that for a very long time. Later, on public’s request and interference from MLAs, the place was cleared out. We have spent Rs 35 lakh for the renovation work.”
News Today had published a report on the state of the building then. The two-storied building has a spacious hall and a dining area; a vast parking facility is available too.