Twenty-four DMK councillors, along with a group of Congress and CPI(M) counterparts, on Thursday staged a walkout from Tiruchi Corporation Council meeting.
They were protesting against the failure to accept Minister of School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi’s demand to stop construction of a chicken manure-based fish feed manufacturing pellet unit.
Raising the issue at the council meeting held here, DMK councillor (Ward 16) M. Mathivanan said a number of residents had strongly opposed the decision of the Corporation to erect a pellet manufacturing unit on a parcel of land on the premises of Ariyamangalam dump yard, which was reclaimed through a biomining project. They had expressed fears that the unit would cause severe pollution in the neighbouring residential colonies. They met Mr. Poyyamozhi and expressed their strong reservations on the project. The Minister then urged Corporation officials to stop the construction work immediately. However, the work was still going on.
Mr. Mathivanan said he and other councillors would stage a walkout in protest against the ongoing work.
By the time Mayor M. Anbazhagan responded, Mr. Mathivanan and 24 DMK councillors, identified as supporters of Mr. Poyyamozhi, along with Deputy Mayor G. Divya, Congress councillors S. Sujatha and Govindaraj and CPI (M) councillor S. Suresh walked out. However, other DMK councillors, identified as supporters of Municipal Administration Minister K.N. Nehru, remained seated.
