Kilpudupakkam village panchayat resident gave petition to Sub-Collector (Cheyyar division) against the merger.
Residents, mostly women, at Kilpudupakkam village near Cheyyar town in Tiruvannamalai, have opposed the plan to merge the village with Thiruvathipuram municipality to protect work for women under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme.
They said the village has nine wards with around 4,100 persons. Of this, around 60% of them are women. Most of the women in the village were employed under the MGNREGA scheme to dig ponds and water channels.
As the village is located along the fringe of reserve forests (RFs), women workers were also roped in to create water facilities inside the forest for wildlife, mostly spotted deer. “Farming is the main occupation in the village. The plan to merge with the municipality will endanger farmlands and waterbodies in the village,” said K. Packiyam, a resident.
Residents fear that merger of the village with Thiruvathipuram municipality will result in their losing work under the MGNREGA scheme. As per plan, officials of Thiruvathipuram municipality said that 15 surrounding villages around Cheyyar town had been identified for the merger with it.
Such merger will help the municipality to implement major civic works including underground drainage system, integrated solid waste management, road widening, combined water supply scheme and housing projects. “People can do civic works undertaken by the municipality like sanitation, health, road laying rather than completely depending on MGNREGA work. The merger will help improve the village’s infrastructure and basic amenities,” L. S Geetha, commissioner, Thiruvathipuram municipality, told The Hindu.
Highlighting their demand against merger, a large number of residents in the village gave a petition to Pallavi Verma, Sub Collector, Cheyyar (division).
At present, Kilpudupakkam village has around 600 acres of land under paddy cultivation. Farmers in the village depend on two lakes for irrigation. Borewells were also dug around these two waterbodies by the local panchayat to draw water for domestic consumption.
Villagers also fear that major civic and infrastructure works would pollute lakes in the village. Any contamination of the waterbodies would also ruin farming and allied activities like cattle rearing. Residents demand that the State government should drop the plan of merger with the municipality.
Published – February 05, 2025 08:18 pm IST