Councillors fume as Coimbatore Corporation ramrods 83 resolutions in one go

COIMBATORE: A majority of councillors complained about the pace at which the Coimbatore city municipal corporation (CCMC) council passed resolutions on Thursday, and wondered if they have a role to play or are being treated as puppets by the Mayor.

Chaos marked the proceedings of the late evening council meeting on Thursday as 19 resolutions were included in the list to be adopted around 9 PM. A whopping 83 resolutions were passed, most of them without a debate, in the ordinary meeting, which started at 3.30 PM.

Lakumi Ilanjelvi Karthik, east zonal chairperson said the Avinashi road was given importance by the CCMC as VVIPS often travelled on the road whereas the parallel Tiruchy road was ignored. She called upon officials to pay attention to Tiruchy road also and remove debris and silt dumped along the stretch.
Chairperson of the central zone,  where major bus stands are located, Meena Loganathan urged officials install CCTV cameras in the terminus. She also suggested the officials utilise them to take action against people littering the bus stands.

North zone chairperson Kathirvelu highlighted piling of waste materials in corporation buildings. "Around 30% of CCMC offices are filled with scrap materials. We must clear them and utilise the space in a better manner," he said.

As the resolutions were being passed one after the other, many councillors were irked as there was no debate or discussion. Many were disappointed as they did not get an opportunity to highlight problems in their ward. Mayor Kalpana went on to pass the 19 resolutions that were introduced late in the meeting in a single go. As a few councillors had already walked out halfway through the meeting and as many were exhausted, they were passed without any objections.

A councillors who did not wish to be named said, "We were made to sit like puppets. No debate, no discussions. They didn't bother to ask our opinions regarding the resolutions. We have to face the people and we are answerable to them. So without knowing what resolution is being passed and why it is passed, how can we meet the people and address their problems?"