GCC to take action against errant Amma Unavagam staff

CHENNAI: Cutting across party lines, councillors of Chennai Corporation on Friday poured out their ire against the errant Amma canteen workers and the Metro water authorities for not attending the drinking water complaints and the sewage overflows in the city.

Participating in the monthly council meeting at Ripon Building, the city civic headquarters, the councillors said despite complaints against Amma Canteen staff over poor maintenance and lack of punctuality in canteens there is no action by the officials. The ward representatives also urged the local body authorities to recruit additional staff at Amma Unavagams as it would benefit more public.

DMK councillor S Bharathi of Ward 152 said, "Ever since the Amma canteens were initiated, there has been no transfers made among the members. It resulted in various activities including looting of cooking items, regular abseentism and not turning up punctually. The civic body should take appropriate steps to ensure that the canteens are functioning properly," Bharathi added.

After hearing the councillors, Mayor Priya assured action against errant staff. It is informed that anyone who leads to disorder will be removed from service. "We have instructed the concerned officials to conduct a survey and provide the details of the employees involved in disorder. Action will be taken to dismiss them from service within a week, " said Priya.

Meanwhile, the ward councillors also pointed out the issues related to the Chennai metro water board alleging that the public grievances are not addressed in their area. "Several wards do not have assistant engineers to raise complaints regarding drinking water supply and sewage overflow in the city," rued DMK and AIADMK councillors. The mayor assured that a meeting would be held along with metro water board officials, and Chennai Corporation where the grievances would be discussed in detail.

Ahead of the northeast monsoon, the Chennai Corporation instructed the regional deputy commissioners of North, Central, and south to organise mass cleaning to remove the garbage and construction materials in the city. The top brass also advised the civic authorities to prune the avenue trees and directed that the premonsoon works should be completed within two months.