Nine Harur councillors protest assigning contract work only to relatives of municipal chairman, vice-chairman

DHARMAPURI: Nine DMK, AIADMK, PMK and independent councillors conducted a sit-in protest at Harur municipality office on Thursday over alleged corruption and administrative irregularities in the civic body.They alleged that municipal officials were assigning contract work only to relatives of the chairman and the vice-chairman, while certain wards were intentionally ignored. “When Harur was a town panchayat, it maintained a reserve fund of around ₹2.5 crore. But after the upgrade to municipality status, the money was reportedly mishandled due to favouritism in contract distribution,” R Perumal, a PMK councillor alleged.The councillors demanded that essential facilities be provided immediately, including stormwater drains, sewer connections, streetlights, drinking water arrangements and electrification works. They insisted on the posting of an independent inquiry officer to probe the claims of corruption and fix responsibility.The sit-in, which started at 10 am, created disruption at the municipal office, with members of the public unable to obtain routine services.When reporters asked for details, municipal commissioner V Vijaya Sree refused to meet them, stating that she was attending a high-level meeting.