CHENNAI: In a major victory for residents of Chrompet and Pallavaram, the State Information Commission has ordered the Pallavaram Municipality to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 for not providing replies to RTI petitions by citing certain irrelevant provisions of the Right to Information Act.
According to the petitioner, C Murugaiyan, general secretary of Federation of Civic and Welfare Associations of Pallavaram Municipality, State Information Commissioner S Muthuraj imposed the fine at the hearing on Monday and directed the civic body to provide the information sought in the RTI petitions within a week.
The petitioner in 2017 had sought details about total property tax collected by Pallavaram Municipality since its inception till 2016 and details about funds used for underground drainage scheme (UGD). However, the municipality’s public information officer had refused to provide the information under section 2(f) of the RTI Act and claimed that the information sought was ‘sensitive’. Following a futile appeal with the then municipality commissioner K Sivakumar, Murugaiyan appealed at the State Information Commissioner on July 25, 2017.
At the hearing which came up after two years, State Information Commissioner S Muthuraj has also directed the Pallavaram Municipality to follow norms mandated by the Government and the Courts when laying new roads. The Pallavaram Municipality’s refusal to scrape the top surface off roads before relaying them (milling), has been a major issue plaguing the area and has attracted a lot of criticism from residents.
In addition to this directive, the SIC has also directed the civic body to provide details regarding road relaid without following norms over the last two years, to the petitioner. “This will enable us to highlight the extent of road violations,” Murugaiyan said, thanking the SIC for its intervention and order.
The Pallavaram Municipality has also been instructed to hold regular meetings with residents to hear their grievances and provide redressals. When contacted, Karuppiah Raju, the municipal engineer said, “We are taking steps to provide the petitioner with clarifications at the earliest.”
‘Hold regular meetings’
The Pallavaram Municipality has also been instructed to hold regular meetings with residents to hear their grievances and provide redressals