Chitlapakkam waiting for an administrator

Pradeep Kumar| TNN | Nov 1, 2017, 08:10 IST

CHENNAI: With the state government in no mood to conduct local body polls, residents of Chitlapakkam have become a worried lot. The town panchayat in the southern suburb has been on 'auto-pilot' for the last two months, as the state government has failed to appoint a permanent executive officer (EO) to administer its affairs.

In the absence of an EO, who is equivalent to a special officer in a municipal corporation, Chitlapakkam residents complained that their grievances are going unattended. "The Perungalathur EO looks after Chitlapakkam as an additional responsibility. But he is rarely available at the town panchayat office," said P Viswanathan, a local resident.

According to official sources, a town panchayat department officer from Velloredistrict was appointed as Chitlapakkam EO more than 10 days ago. "But he has not yet been relieved from his post in Vellore due to unknown reasons," said a department official.

The Perungalathur EO, who has been handling the affairs of Chitlapakkam for nearly two months, told TOI that residents were exaggerating the situation. "Due to the dengue fever situation, my presence is required at the Kancheepuram collectorate frequently. This is the reason for my absence at Chitlapakkam on many days," he said.

But for residents like R Krishnamurthy of Anna Nagar, the situation is not so simple. "For instance, my street light is not functioning, I ring up the town panchayat office and registered a complaint. Since there is no permanent supervisory officer, the staff have become complacent. There is no accountability. Many times, the complaints are not registered or is only attended to after repeated calls and personal visits to the panchayat office," he said.

Meanwhile, the situation has also given rise to a political blame game between the incumbent MLA and a former MP with strong ties to Chitlapakkam. Residents recently called on Tambaram MLA S R Raja of the DMK in this regard. Speaking to TOI, Raja said former AIADMK MP Chitlapakkam Rajendran wields considerable influence in the area. "The officers who obey his instructions alone are allowed to work (in Chitlapakkam). Being an MLA, I can only request the government, which seems to be doing nothing," said Raja.

Rajendran denied the MLA's allegations. "I am neither an MLA nor an MP. How can I be accused of influencing anybody. This is merely a political attack to cover up his (Raja) failures," said Rajendran.