Scores of residents of four villages under Melamadai village panchayat on Monday thronged the Collectorate with a petition seeking immediate action for restoring basic amenities in the panchayat.
The villagers also sought action against the erring officials and panchayat president, for reported irregularities following which fund allocation to the rural local body has been withheld.
Jhansi Rani, wife of one of the ward members, Saravanan, complained that drinking water which had been erratic has now worsened for the last one month.
Despite repeated representation, the panchayat president and officials in the Tiruppulani Block Development Office were not taking any action to restore it.
Streetlights have not been properly maintained and the four villages of Melamadai, Karukaththi, Kanniyapuram and Komboothi Colony were deprived of properly cleaning.
The villagers complained that the panchayat members have never met to discuss about the development of the local body till date.
"Only after we put pressure on the officials at the Block Development Office, they did tell us about certain irregularities in the panchayat following which the funds have been frozen for the local body," she complained.
Stating that villagers had to drudge for fetching water for nearly a month, the villagers warned that if the civic problems were not set right at the earliest, they would be forced to resort to agitations.
Giving a patient hearing to the villagers, the Collector, Johny Tom Varghese, has promised to make a field visit and find solution to their problems.
