Srirangam voters threaten to boycott poll over civic issues

Trichy: Alleging apathy in resolving civic grievances and improving basic amenities in village panchayats abutting Trichy city, residents of Allithurai on Sunday threatened to boycott the 2026 assembly election. Stating that political parties have failed to fulfil their long-standing demands in ensuring ease of living, residents said hundreds of voters from Subatham Avenue will abstain from participating in the election for the Srirangam constituency. They said overflowing drainage inundates vacant plots and roads that provide main access to the area, resulting in children often falling ill due to the rampant mosquito menace and deteriorating quality of drinking water."We have been running from pillar to post seeking good roads, better drainage infrastructure and uninterrupted drinking water supply, but solutions are still evading us for the past 10 years. Elected representatives and bureaucrats have continuously failed us," R Raja, a resident of Subatham Avenue, said. In the past nine months, more than 60 petitions were submitted to the district authorities besides petitions to the CM's special cell, but none yielded any solutions, they said. Since panchayats in and around Allithurai lack adequate funds for maintenance, and with the tenure of panchayat chiefs already lapsed, residents said the rural local body system has been paralysed completely for a year now. Panchayats are operating under the control of the block development office, they said.