Councillors staged a sit-in protest against the privatisation of drinking water supply at Salem Corporation on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit: LAKSHMI NARAYANAN E.
Proceedings of the Corporation council meeting on Wednesday (July 29, 2026) were disrupted after councillors across party lines staged a protest against the State government’s decision to entrust drinking water distribution in the city to a private company.Councillors, while raising civic issues affecting their wards, strongly opposed the move and recalled that the council had earlier unanimously adopted a resolution urging the government to drop the proposal. They alleged that despite the resolution, the government had gone ahead with the decision. The members demanded an explanation from Mayor A. Ramachandran and Corporation Commissioner Lalitaditya Neelam, leading to heated exchanges. . They also questioned the respective powers of the Mayor and the Commissioner in implementing resolutions adopted by the elected body.The councillors later staged a sit-in-protest in front of the Mayor’s chair, insisting that the order permitting a private company to undertake drinking water distribution be withdrawn. They also urged the Commissioner to ensure that the council’s resolution was forwarded to the State government.The protest was called off after the Commissioner assured the members that the council’s resolutions and representations would be sent to the state government.Later, AIADMK councillors alleged that the Corporation administration had failed to act on issues repeatedly raised by elected representatives, leading to further exchanges before the meeting resumed. Published - July 29, 2026 07:06 pm IST
