High drama: Councillors climb atop cellphone tower

Chennai: High drama prevailed in suburban sungurvarchattiram in Kancheepuram district on Thursday after th­ree councillors atta­c­h­ed to Madurama­ngal­am vi­l­lage panchayat th­rea­tened to jump off from a cel­phone tower. The cou­n­c­ill­ors were protesting against their grama panchayat chairman So­mu Munusamy who has fail­ed to convene the local bo­dy for the last two years.

According to local tashildar A Murugan, based on the complaints from the councillors and public on the non-performance of the local body, the district collector had ordered a detailed inquiry into the issue.

As the inquiry was postponed due to administrative work, the councillors expressed their protest. Inquiry has begun and a report will soon be submitted to the collector.

“Gram panchayat president Munusamy was not punctual in conducting the local body meetings and our wards are dep­riv­ed of basic amenities”, co­u­ncillors Appan Raj, Po­nnuvel and Arul Raj said.

Only after the tashildar said that an inquiry was on and as a preliminary step sanitation will be im­provised in the area, the councillors came down from the tower.

However Munusamy said that he was unable to convene the meeting due to ailments and frequent hospitalization. An associate of Munusamy ter­med the protest by the co­u­n­cillors a political

dra­­ma.