Chennai corporation council session for lasted only 25 minutes

Chennai: The Chennai corporation meet on Tuesday lasted only 25 minutes, making it the shortest ever. Saddened by the verdict on Jayalalithaa, the mayor and councillors were not inclined to initiate any discussion. The corporation conducts a council meeting once a month in which all the 200 ward councillors participate and pass resolutions to carry out civic works in the city and discuss major civic issues.

The longest meeting they have had was in October 2013 when the session, conducted ahead of Jayalalithaa’s birthday, extended for nearly seven hours, when every AIADMK ward councillor rose to wish the then CM. That meeting too did not have any discussion on civic issues. Postponed twice, the  council meeting was finally convened on Tuesday, but the resolutions on civic issues were passed without any discussion and the question hour was cancelled.

In the brief council meet, the corporation passed 67 resolutions, including the the decision to procure fuel in bulk again and regularising the obtained open space reserve (OSR) lands. Tension prevailed right from the beginning of the meeting as the DMK councillors were beaten badly by the councillors from the treasury bench. When mayor Saidai Duraisamy hit out at DMK chief Karunanidhi for registering a false complaint against Jayalalithaa, the DMK councillors started to remonstrate when the AIADMK councillors beat them and evicted them from the hall.

“The mayor was keen on defaming our chief, Karunanidhi, instead of discussing civic issues,” said DMK councilor S. C. Bose. Mayor Duraisamy informed the council that the question hour was cancelled and the resolutions passed without discussion, there being only a small number of councillors in the hall.

The  council meeting started by 2.32 pm and ended by 2.57 pm, which was unusually short. Council meetings usually extend for about three or four hours. AIADMK councillor K. Malairajan attributed the short duration to lack of time. “As the meet was conducted in the afternoon, we did not have time to discuss,” he said.

67 resolutions passed

• The corporation will recruit staff under Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana scheme to work in zonal call centers
• Resolution passed to procure diesel in bulk from Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum
• The corporation would remove any names mentioned in street name boards other than the street’s name in the city
• Land owners must get the acknowledgement of corporation council after handing over the OSR lands to civic body after which planning permit will be provided from CMDA