S. Maruthu, a marginal farmer in Thiruverukadu, remembers going with his mother to a small Mangalore-tiled room, which had served as the panchayat office decades ago. It was surrounded by paddy fields. There was a narrow stream. The scene was arresting. She would clean the office and the vast open space around it before the panchayat clerk and other staff would start work for the day.

Maruthu, who is 72-years-old now, has been following a routine for two years now. He would take some time out to sit under a peepul tree in front of the same premises, and watch the office being rebuilt, brick-by-brick, into a single-storey building for the Thiruverukadu municipality. The construction work started in 2018.

“As a child, I used to play with my friends on the premises of the panchayat office as it was felt we are safe due to the presence of people at the office. Besides the panchayat office and the temple, the neighbourhood consisted largely of paddy fields and a section of thatched houses. It has changed beyond recognition now,” says Maruthu, a father of two.

Thiruverukadu Municipality continued to function from the same old panchayat office with only a few modifications in the building. With the new status, specialised sections like engineering, sanitation and public works had been added, yet the Thiruverkadu Municipality functioned from the cramped office for many years.

Visitors had to wait outside the office due to the lack of a waiting hall. During monsoon time, the office would get flooded and be relocated to a government school nearby.

Two years ago, the Municipality passed a resolution to construct a new office building on the existing premises at a cost of ₹1.07 crore from the general funds of the local body. The Municipality moved to a two-storey pilgrims’ rest house nearby as a stop-gap measure to enable the construction of the building.

New features

“The new municipal building will have all basic facilities including a visitors’ hall and a separate e-seva office and a grievances cell for residents,” says S. Senthil Kumaran, Commissioner, Thiruverukadu Municipality.

Built on 3,000 sq.ft, the new municipal building consists of separate rooms for engineering, health and sanitation, public works and town planning. A spacious council hall is also being constructed to organise public hearings and monthly council meetings. The new building is expected to open by August. Surrounded by neighbourhoods like Avadi, Poonamallee and Koyambedu, Thiruverukadu is one of the key border areas connecting Chennai with neighbouring Tiruvallur and the Bangalore Highway.

Thiruverukadu has 18 wards with 25,000 families; and it is home to many industrial workers mainly employed at factories in the manufacturing hubs of Irunkattukottai and Sriperumbudur. Farming mainly paddy cultivation also provides additional income to residents of the neighbourhood.