DINDIGUL
In an attempt to put an end to the war of words between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) former MLA Bala Bharathi and Forest Minister and AIADMK leader Dindigul C Srinivasan over the delay in construction of the Balakrishnapuram bridge, the CPI (M) district secretary has urged the Minister to stop with his demand for apology and use his good office and expedite the work on a war-footing.
In a statement issued here on Friday, district secretary Sachidanandan said the construction of the rail overbridge covering all the three railway level crossings would benefit thousands of people living in the vicinity. Every day, express and passenger trains bound to Tiruchi, Karur and Palani criss-crossed the point and hence the gates had to be downed.
Though the railways had built a sub-way, it could be thrown open to use for the small vehicles movement. When the CPI (M) insisted the officials to spell out the plan and implementation in public interest, the Minister should have mentioned it rather than demanding apology, Mr. Sachidanandan said and added that the Communist Party would not be cowed down by such threats and would face them legally, if the Minister felt so.
The former MLA had only raised the concerns of the people for whom the officials had neither given them the compensation nor returned the land. At a time, when there were a number of corruption charges against the AIADMK government, it was natural for the people to apprehend non-release of compensation, he said.
The revenue authorities claimed that they have received ₹ 31.99 crore towards compensation and hence the people would raise eyebrows when it was not disbursed.
People would be relieved to see the work commence and also the land owners would be happy to receive the compensation at the earliest, the statement said.