Area Sabha meetings in Chennai often postponed or cancelled, residents slam lack of action

CHENNAI: In 2022, the State government launched the Area Sabhas and Ward Sabhas, and also notified the rules under the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act Rules, 2023, which establish regulations for the functioning of these sabhas throughout the state.

Fast forward to 2025, these meetings are not held in many wards as per the timetable (once every quarter) by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). It has been either rescheduled or cancelled by ward councillors claiming that the zonal officials were not available.

Residents of several areas including Perambur, Anna Nagar and Old Washermenpet stated that they were unaware of the meeting timetable set by the civic body. They also accused the nominated representatives of not communicating the information to the residents.

Since civic issues have not been rectified despite complaining on social media, submitting them online and also to zonal level authorities, residents use the Area Sabha platform to raise these to resolve them quickly. “When the GCC initiated this, we were unaware of the members nominated for Area Sabha. Though they should conduct four meetings every year, we haven’t received information about any meeting so far,” said P Suseela, a resident of Pillaiyar Koil Street, Tondiarpet.

The 10-member committee has social workers and advocates, but most of them belong to the ruling DMK party. The police too can participate in the Area Sabha meetings to get more clarity about issues. But officers are not willing to do it. So, local politicians are appointed, and they keep saying that there was no issue in the locality.

Area Sabha meetings have been continuously cancelled or postponed in many wards. “We received the information from Nallor Vattam early this morning and had tried to reach out to the councillors and ward members of various zones through the members of the Community Welfare Brigade across the city. Councillor Punithavathi Ethirajan of Ward 71 responded to our calls. We were given to understand that Area Sabha meetings have been postponed due to officials being engaged in other important meetings,” explained C Raghukumar, a resident of Perambur.

He added that a combined meeting of 3-4 wards was proposed to be held under the leadership of Mayor Priya. “Area Sabhas are supposed to be chaired by local councillors and their ward members. But now, the public is limited to being a silent audience or offering suggestions, only when requested,” he pointed out.

Similarly, residents complain that grievances have not been addressed by the corporation authorities. Sandhya, a resident of Anna Nagar, stated, “After nearly two-and-a-half years, the first meeting was held. Councillor K Rani of Ward 102, along with the engineers from the Corporation, Metro Water and EB, and also many residents of M Block, Anna Nagar East, had participated. But it was a farce. Except for garbage collection, none of the promises made were followed up. Pavement repairs, construction of SWD on one of the 30 Feet Roads, clearing the piled-up garbage at the transformer and covering it with a protective shield – all of it remains on paper only.”

When contacted, a senior GCC official stated: “The civic issues raised by the residents have been rectified immediately. We’ll send the schedule to the ward councillors to conduct the Area Sabha and monitor it regularly.”