Staff of a town panchayat near Tambaram on Saturday seized power supply cables that had been laid underground by a builder of an apartment complex without due permission.
Acting on a complaint, staff of Sembakkam town panchayat visited the site of the three-storey complex under construction in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar. The complaint alleged the builder had provided power supply from a post of the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco), through underground cables laid without prior permission.
Initially, a couple of staff members, including a temporary worker, visited the spot to make an inspection. Trouble broke out when they got into an argument with staff employed at the site.
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On receiving information, the town panchayat’s executive officer visited the spot and established that the power supply cables, running underground along the road margins, were laid from the post to the complex without approval from the local body.
The staff said the cables laid underground for a distance of 51 metres were pulled out of the ground and seized. Further, road-cutting was also done at a couple of spots without the permission of the local body, they added.
According to the staff, the laying of the underground cables was a potential threat to residents’ safety and would also pose a hindrance if town panchayat administration were to provide additional water taps on the street. The executive officer said the plan approval would be verified and checked again.
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