The Block Development Officer (Coonoor) and an assistant engineer have been suspended by the Nilgiris district collector, while action has been initiated against the president and vice-president of Melur village panchayat in Coonoor, after the district administration confirmed that development works were carried out in a slipshod manner.
According to officials, the Coonoor BDO, Chandrashekar, and assistant engineer, Rajkumar, were suspended by the collector following an investigation which looked into allegations made by local residents that development works were not being completed using quality materials or with proper care.
Following repeated complaints, the district administration tasked a top official to look into the allegations that were being made against officials at the Melur village panchayat. According to an official, investigations found that the officials involved had used wooden sticks in place of iron rods to construct a sewage drain in Kerada lease area. The lack of quality construction of basic infrastructure is said to have been replicated in other development projects as well.
As the President of Melur village panchayat, Renuka Devi, and vice-president, Nagaraj, had not given satisfactory explanations as to how the lapses had occurred, the collector initiated action against both the officials under sections 205 and 206 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act.
The district administration has also filed a police complaint against the contractor for endangering the lives and safety of local residents. Officials stated that the contractor would be blacklisted and that he would be prevented from bidding for any more tenders floated by the government.
