Villagers lock prez, deputy at Pappanapalli

AMBUR: Irked by irregular supply of drinking water for more than nine months, the residents of Pappanapalli panchayat, 10 km from Ambur, locked up the panchayat office with the president and vice president inside, impounded a government town bus and then blocked the road with empty pots on Tuesday.

Following the road blockade, which lasted for more than two hours affecting traffic on the Umarabad–Vaniyambadi Road, Ambur MLA AL Vilvanathan arrived at the spot and tried to reason with the agitators who were then involved in a heated argument with the legislator.

Meanwhile, panchayat president P Boopathy and vice president P Karthikeyan, who were in the panchayat office suddenly found themselves locked within the premises as both men and women locked the main gate preventing them from leaving the panchayat office.

What angered the residents was the casual way they were treated initially by the officials who failed to respond to their repeated petitions seeking drinking water. When the agitators refused to relent, police and revenue officials rushed to the spot and tried to pacify them promising to set right their grievances at the earliest.

It was only then that the residents relented, lifted the blockade and handed over the key to the panchayat office gate thereby enabling officials to release the locked up panchayat president and vice president.