Residents cough up extra for goon-controlled Corpn community halls

When Kaja Mohideen of Saidapet booked a community centre in CIT Nagar five months ago, he was forced to shell out an extra sum for chairs, furniture and cooking utensils by local politicians.

“My wedding reception was held at a community hall in CIT Nagar in November 2018. The rent was Rs 6,000 plus tax. Even though I paid the rent at Ripon Buildings, the local politician demanded more thanRs 10,000 for furniture and cooking utensils. If I had hired the chairs and utensils from outside, I might have saved at least Rs 2,000,” Mohideen said.

The community hall that Mohideen used is not the only place where users are being fleeced by the handymen of politicians. Even though Chennai Corporation passed a resolution to provide furniture and utensils free of cost, the civic body has failed to procure such items for all the halls.

When DT Next visited one such hall on Dr Giriappa Road, T Nagar, on the pretext of booking it, a person, who claimed to be maintaining the hall, said that users must pay Rs 40,000 as rent for the building alone and shell out extra for chairs, cooking utensils and even for water. However, the actual rent is Rs 25,000 with Rs 4,500 GST, according to the Chennai Corporation data.

“Three years ago, my sister’s wedding was held at a community hall in Saidapet, which is bigger and we paid Rs 50,000 for rent and utensils. One particular politician controls all the three or four community halls in our locality for many years. He coerces users to hire his stuff which would be costlier than the items available outside,” Mohideen said.

The Greater Chennai Corporation maintains 57 community halls, including A/C function halls at T Nagar and Shenoy Nagar. The rent ranges from Rs 500 to Rs 2,15,000 per day, excluding GST, based on the size, locality and capacity of persons the halls could accommodate. Users also must pay a security deposit, which would be refunded after deducting electricity bill and charges for damagesincurred, if any.

“We hand over the keys to those who booked the halls at 2 pm and collect it the same time next day. Users can also book halls for half a day by paying half the rent,” a Corporation official said.

According to Corporation data, Teynampet zone has the highest number of community halls at eleven and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar and Anna Nagar zones have eight each. Tiruvottiyur, Manali, Ambattur and Valasaravakkam have one community hall each, whereas, there is no community hall in Perungudi zone. The 18 per cent GST slab for the community halls has led to an increase in rent by three per cent.