Councillor tries to end life before minister

TIRUPUR: A ruling AIADMK councillor of the Tirupur corporation attempted self-immolation at the Tirupur district collectorate on Thursday during a review meeting by the forest minister M.S.M. Anandan, apparently upset with the officials’ failure to carry out any development work in his ward.

The 45-year-old councillor Kannappan came to the collectorate on Thursday and suddenly poured kerosene and tried to set himself on fire just as the forest minister, M.S.M. Anandan was reviewing the development works in Tirupur along with the district collector G. Govindaraj.

The Tirupur corporation ward 45 councillor was rescued by the police who seized the kerosene bottle from him.

Later, he staged a protest, condemning the official apathy and the complete absence of infrastructure works in his ward.

The councillor told the media that no development works had been implemented in his ward. Even as the drama unfolded, the minister Anandan advised officials to speed up implementation of development works in the Tirupur corporation here. “Many development works have been allocated for Tirupur corporation by the state government. All the planned works should be completed on time, considering the welfare of the residents,” he said.

A total of Rs 28.35 crore has been allocated for installing 15,074 LED street lights in the corporation limit.

As many as 9985 streetlights were replaced with LED lights and the fixing remaining lights should be completed within a month.

Similarly, the installing of 3,300 new streetlights should be speeded up, the minister told officials.

He urged the officials to ensure the supply of drinking water to the newly merged areas of the corporation and also to monitor the solid waste management system.

Tirupur mayor Visalakshi was also present at the meeting.