City residents meet candidates armed with detailed wishlists

City residents meet candidates armed with detailed wishlists

People In Ambattur Demand Tax Rationalization Ahead Of Polls

Komal.Gautham@timesgroup.com

Chennai:20.03.2021 

Gone are the days when people would submit a general list of demands to political party candidates. Now, heads of residents’ welfare associations come to meetings with candidates armed with specific data — either based on their own surveys or sourced from government agencies — to show how past promises had remained unfulfilled and how new ones should be met.

Residents of Ambattur want property tax calculated on basic street rate and area of the house. S Swaminathan of the JAMBA United Welfare Association, which includes five residential colonies, trots out government data to show how property tax in Ambattur since 2012 has remained ₹3.30 per sq ft against a mere 50 paise per sq ft in Sholinganallur and not more than ₹1 in Adyar and the posh Boat Club area. “If the candidates concerned don’t promise to rectify this anomaly, we will vote for NOTA [none of the above],” he said.

The Tansi Nagar Residents Welfare Association in Velachery wants an integrated market, with secretary M Balakrishanan adding that the government should come up with a policy for sewage treatment based on the demand and population increase. “An additional sewage pumping station on Taramani Link Road will reduce the load on the existing station during rainy days. Also, an additional EB power substation is needed.”

K Mohan of Saidapet said integrated hospitals are the need of the hour. “People still have to go to Triplicane or central for treatment,” he said visited the area.

Kamakshi Subramaniyan of the Kalakshetra Colony Welfare Association says encroachments on Elliot’s beach in Besant Nagar should be cleared and the famous stretch given a revamp. “With the Marina beautification project on, we want the government to focus on Elliot’s beach as well.”

In Perambur, residents say widening of bus route stretches such as Perambur High Road, Madhavaram High Road and Paper Mills Road, providing pedestrian friendly footpaths, laying medians and constructing speed breakers have been promised but never fulfilled.

Finally, residents want the candidates, once elected, to use their office to enforce a proper quality audit system to oversee the infrastructure development work taken up by the local administration. “Put pressure on the state administration to conduct the local body elections and set up a ward committee. Citizens’ participation in matters relating to infrastructure development, security and conservancy can help build a model constituency within the city of Chennai,” several Perambur residents say.

DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY: Residents want candidates to address their concerns

If the candidates concerned don’t promise to rectify this anomaly (property tax rates), we will vote for NOTA (none of the above).

S Swaminathan | AMBATTUR RESIDENT