Village threatens boycott of civic poll

MADURAI: The voters of Vaidyanathapuram of Thennur panchayat have threatened to boycott the local body election unless encroachment by a former panchayat president from DMK that block an arterial road here is removed.
Villagers of Vaidyanathapuram, located 17 kilometres away from Madurai city, have been using a dirt track to reach Sholavandan, the nearest town, for more than 50 years.However, the ex-panchayat president of adjoining Thiruvedagam village, K Raja alias Periya Karuppanan,) blocked the road and erected a gate across the road, denying villagers access to the path two years ago. Efforts to remove the gate have proved futile. Though villagers manage to sneak through the gate and use the same track, vehicles including tractors used for agricultural purposes could not be brought into the village. “There is no bus service to our village. We have to walk for about two kilometres through this dirt track to reach the main road and get a bus,’’ said R Soundarapandi, a villager.
The villagers sent a memorandum to chief minister J Jayalalithaa, a month ago. Based on their complaint the police conducted an inquiry with Raja, who claimed that the track ran through land owned by him. He also claimed to possess title deeds for the land. But villagers alleged that it was not patta land. “A culvert has been built in the same land by the panchayat. If it is patta land, how come the panchayat built the culvert,” asked Solai Palanivelrajan, state secretary of Mallar Kazhagam.
Soundarapandi alleged that the police did not take action against Raja for the past two years as he belonged to DMK. “Now, the regime has changed. But still we could not find a solution. Farmers and students were using the path. Ever since it was blocked, we couldn’t send agricultural products to the city,” he said. “So, we have decided to boycott the local body election,” said S Sappani, another villager.
Thenur panchayat president, A Malathy said she personally sent the memorandum to the CM’s office to sort out the issue. “I hope Amma will get the path restored,’’ she said.