THOOTHUKUDI: Flagging the absence of basic amenities in the village, women self-help groups (SHG) in Mapilaiyoorani demanded that the village should be annexed with the neighbouring Thoothukudi corporation. Over 350 members of the Panchayat Level Federation (PLF) submitted a petition in this regard with District Collector K Elambahavath during the weekly grievance redressal meeting here on Monday.
According to PLF president Anthony Prema, there are no basic facilities in the village, which consists of over 64 hamlets and a population of at least 1 lakh. After the December floods, the panchayat remained inundated for almost three months due to a lack of infrastructure, in addition to the water crisis that looms over the village even during monsoon, she said.
Pointing out that the village ward members had passed a resolution during the grama sabha meeting on October 2 against annexing the village with the corporation out of vested interests, Prema appealed to the collector to cancel the resolution and ensure that the village is added to the corporation so that the public get access to all essential services.
Speaking to TNIE, PLF secretary Lourdhu Bakiyam said that the water crisis still worries Mapilaiyoorani residents, and the water supplied by the panchayat is not suitable for consumption. "The villagers are economically vulnerable and most of them are daily wagers working in salt pans, seafood companies and construction industry.
They have to shell out a major part of their daily earnings for potable water, and it makes it hard for them to run their families. Further, the drain canal constructed at Saveriyarpuram, Rajapalayam and Thalamuthu Nagar, after the December floods, are not useful. We believe that annexing the village with the corporation will address the water crisis," she said.
Meanwhile, a group of women from Velayuthapuram near Kalugumalai urged the district administration to provide jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, which has not been pending for over six months now.
Condemning the alleged apathy of Ellainayakkanpatti panchayat authorities, as many as four ward members (out of the nine ward members) attached to Pottaloorani village — S Suba of ward 4, E Athilakshmi of ward 5, S Sathya Narayanan Lakshmi of ward 6 and A Poomari Ammal of ward 7 — submitted their resignation letter to collector during the grievance meeting.
"We have been urging the panchayat president to pass a resolution against the three fish processing units, emanating foul smell thereby causing inconvenience for the Pottaloorani residents. However, they are refusing to pass the resolution," the members said.