Residents urge Salem Corporation not to shift Suramangalam zonal office; Corporation says it is a temporary arrangement

The public and the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) have appealed to the Salem Corporation not to shift the Suramangalam zonal office to Sathram and added that it should continue to function at the current location, However, the Salem Corporation said the office was shifted as a temporary arrangement.

The Suramangalam zonal office of the Salem Corporation which was functioning near the Salem Junction railway station was recently shifted to the newly-constructed Sri Krishna Rajendra Sathram at Shevapet. The office was expected to function in the new location from Monday. Meanwhile, the Salem West MLA, R. Arul, had demanded that the office should function at Suramangalam.

The MLA said there were 14 wards in the Suramangalam zonal and out of that, 11 came under the Salem West Assembly constituency. The zonal office in the existing place was easily accessible to the public. The new building at Rajendra Sathram was built under the Smart Cities Mission at a cost of ₹5.50 crore for generating revenue for the Corporation and not for running its office. Through this shifting, people in wards 19, 20, and 21 would benefit. People from 11 wards should catch two buses to reach the office at Sathram.

“My constituency people met me and demanded that the office should not be shifted. We decided on Saturday to stage a road roko regarding this issue. But, the Corporation Commissioner assured us that he would look into the issue. We will wait till Monday, and if the zonal office functioned in the new place, we would stage a road roko,” he said.

Corporation Commissioner Ranjeet Singh said that a decision would be taken soon. The office was shifted only as a temporary measure. The building at Suramangalam was constructed 50 years ago, and it was damaged, and the space was not enough for the office. So, a proposal was sent to the government to construct a new zonal office at ₹5 crore in the existing place in Suramangalam, the Commissioner added.

Published - December 15, 2024 07:04 pm IST