Ahead of the Northereast monsoon, the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) in Ranipet has laid a storm water drain in Lappaipettai village near Arcot town without removing the existing TANGEDCO poles along the stretch.
This comes after a similar incident occurred in Vellore a few months ago when the Vellore Corporation laid fresh cement concrete mix on Kaligambal Street near Katpadi without re-locating a two-wheeler that was parked on the stretch.
The new drain work in the village is being done by the rural development wing of the DRDA for nearly a fortnight. Funded under the Tamil Nadu Rural Roads Improvement Scheme (TNRRIS) 2021-22, the total cost of the project for Mangadu village panchayat, which Lappaipettai is part of, is ₹40.37 lakh. Of these, ₹3.63 lakh has been allotted for the drain work on Mosque Street in Lappaipettai village where TANGEDCO poles were located inside the new drain. The video had also gone viral on social media.
Residents said that a new drain, was a long standing demand as the village would be inundated during the monsoon, and the residents had to move to temporary shelters. However, they said that excess rainwater that gets discharged into the new drain will be blocked by the TANGEDCO poles in the drain. This will result in wastage of rainwater and would also inundate the village once again.
“We have told the private contractor to relocate the poles before constructing the drain. However, they laid the drain in a few days,” said S. Ramkumar, a resident.
Officials said that the private contractor has been asked to complete the work within the stipulated time. As relocating TANGEDCO poles would be delayed due to procedure and as it also involves shifting charges, the contractor might have built the drain without the consent of the officials. “We have received complaints from the residents on the issue. Necessary action will be taken against the contractor,” said K. Prabhakaran, Block Development Officer (BDO), Arcot.
Published - November 22, 2022 10:08 pm IST
