COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) council meeting descended into chaos on Friday after opposition councillors raised a series of issues even before the proceedings formally got under way, forcing Mayor K Ranganayaki to suspend the session for an hour and later suspend Congress councillor Gayathri for two months.
The monthly council meeting, held at Victoria Hall in the corporation's Town Hall campus, was chaired by Mayor Ranganayaki in the presence of corporation commissioner Katta Ravi Teja and Deputy Mayor R Vetriselvan.
Soon after the meeting began, Central Zone Chairperson Meena Logu questioned civic officials for allegedly failing to inform zonal chairpersons and councillors about the special camp being conducted at zonal offices for land regularisation. The issue triggered heated arguments between opposition members and the ruling bench.
The situation escalated when Congress councillor R Gayathri, daughter of former Coimbatore Mayor Colony Venkatachalam, along with a few councillors, surrounded the mayor and commissioner demanding an explanation over allegations of irregularities worth Rs 40 crore in the execution of Semmozhi Poonga works.
At the same time, councillors from the CPI and CPM climbed onto the mayor's podium, demanding that the CCMC withdraw its decision to establish a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Chinnavedampatti Lake. Congress councillors soon joined them on the podium, raising slogans and reiterating the demand for a response on the alleged Semmozhi Poonga scam.
As the commotion intensified, Mayor Ranganayaki initially announced the suspension of CPM councillors V Ramamoorthy and R Bhoopathi, CPI councillors C Santhi and Prabha Ravindran and Congress councillor Gayathri for two months. However, after further deliberations, the mayor revoked the suspensions of the Left councillors and confirmed that only Gayathri would remain suspended for the next two months. Gayathri later alleged that she was harassed by DMK councillors during the proceedings.
With protests continuing inside the hall, the mayor adjourned the council meeting for one hour. The session resumed around noon after order was restored.
Meanwhile, AIADMK councillors D Ramesh, S Prabhakaran and C Sharmila arrived at the council meeting carrying empty water pots to protest what they described as an acute drinking water shortage in several parts of the city. They alleged that many residents receive piped water only once every 15 days and urged the CCMC to address the issue as a priority.
The meeting hall also featured portraits of more than 10 former CMs, including C N Annadurai, Kalaingar M Karunanidhi, M K Stalin, M G Ramachandran, J Jayalalithaa, Edappadi K Palaniswami, K Kamaraj and others, installed by the corporation following demands raised by opposition members during the previous council meeting.
