CHENNAI: Mahatma Gandhi, a strong proponent of decentralised democracy and village autonomy, would have been proud of the residents of Kovilambakkam village, who lashed out at the panchayat administration for having reduced the grama sabha to a mere formality.
The question — “What happened to the resolutions passed at the August 15 grama sabha?” — set the tone of the grama sabha which convened under a tent in front of the panchayat office on Tuesday morning.
“We have forwarded them to the district administration and are following up,” stuttered the deputy block development officer who presided over the Sabha in the absence of an elected panchayat president. His seemingly inert response to quell the rising tempers failed miserably and instead sparked off an outpouring of dissent from the participants.
“Why is the Tasmac in front of Rose Nagar still open?” asked another resident seated in the sabha. The deputy block development officer repeated his initial response and eventually claimed he had no powers to ensure its closure when tempers heated up in the sabha and voices were raised.
It is learnt that a total of 25 resolutions were passed at the Independence Day grama Sabha and that the move to close this Tasmac adjacent to an accident-prone zone on the Medavakkam Koot Road was unopposed.
“The block development office is not a post office to merely carry our requests to the higher authorities. What’s the point of meeting here and listening to our problems if they aren’t interested in solving them,” argued T Eswaradass, president of the Rose Nagar Residents Welfare Association, explaining no action has been taken on even a single resolution passed at the previous grama sabha.
While the deputy block development officer kept deflecting incoming questions on grounds of having no jurisdiction, the members who did have jurisdiction weren’t present. Officials from the EB and PWD had conveniently given the grama sabha a miss.
Enraged by the non-answers and half assurances, most of the members in the grama sabha walked out, claiming there was no point wasting time recording grievances and passing resolutions when officials claim that they don’t have the teeth to redress them.
However, with the remaining members, the officials managed to pass a resolution to stop the use of single-use plastic in shops and took a few complaints from villagers.
“We have been asked to only take complaints about water scarcity, garbage and lighting problems. Since there is no elected panchayat leader, we are powerless in ensuring materialisation of grama sabha resolutions,” said K Ravikumar, the deputy block development officer.
Tasmac row
With the Kovilambakkam panchayat doing little to close the Tasmac outlet in Rose Nagar, a residential colony with over 700 families, the residents association approached the Collector on August 25. The Tasmac unit was promptly closed on August 29 but reopened on September 5. “The Tasmac has ruined peace in our colony and women are afraid of crossing that stretch and access the main road,” said S Murugasubramaniam, a resident of Rose Nagar. It is learnt that the Kancheepuram District Collector had forwarded the letter to the general manager of Tasmac