Residents of Anjur village in T.N. flay panchayat officials for constructing new road to benefit private builder

Residents of Anjur village in Chengalpattu district demand a ration shop, but officials are using land for private road.

A ration shop in their locality has been a long-pending demand of the residents of Anjur village, located in Chengalpattu district.

While the absence of a ration shop has been a grievance for several years, village residents are now worried that panchayat officials are using portions of poromboke land which could potentially be used to construct a ration shop, to pave a 40-feet wide road to a private property. 

S. Saranraj, a resident of Anjur new village, said the village has more than 500 ration card-holders who have to travel more than 3 km to Eechankaranai village of Kunnam panchayat union, to get essential items.

The village residents have been requesting the Chengalpattu Collector to construct a ration shop in their village as it would help women access essential items easily. However, the panchayat has not taken any steps to allot space for the construction of a ration shop though ample poromboke land is available, they say. 

In the meantime the Panchayat officials have started paving a new 40-feet road, using a portion of government land meant for the ration shop, to benefit a private builder. Social activist D. Jaikumar said a portion of the poromboke land located in survey no. 401/1 along the Naval Eri of Anjur village was being used to pave a new road for the builder. In the entire panchayat, not a single road has been paved with a 40-feet width as most interior roads are only 12 feet wide, he charged. 

A senior revenue official of the Kattankulathur Panchayat Union, said they have received a representation from the village residents and once the upcoming Lok Sabha elections were over, surveying of the land where the road was being paved would be taken up.