Stating that house site pattas were not provided to them despite many requests, people in Sujjilkuttai village, Bhavani Sagar Panchayat, hoisted black flag atop their houses and threatened to boycott the local body elections. They said 120 families are residing in the village located along the water spread area of Bhavani Sagar Dam and were involved in fishing. Their houses were build on land that belongs to the Public Works Department and despite submitting petitions to the revenue officials many times seeking house pattas, no action has been taken so far.
They said that in the absence of pattas, they were unable to construct houses under various government schemes and also unable to get welfare assistance. “Our demands were pending for many years now and we have decided to boycott the elections”, they said. Officials said that their demands could not be met as the land belongs to the PWD.
Likewise, people in Eachaparai has threatened to boycott the election as their demand for relaying or carrying out repair works to the 6.5 k.m. road from Anthiyur bus depot to their village was not met.
They said that the road was severely damaged during rains and is non-motorable. “Though we placed a banner in the office of Anthiyur Tahsildar demanding proper roads, no action has been taken”, they said.