Corpn workers seeking money to fix pipeline leaks: Residents

Trichy: A section of residents and councillors have levelled allegations against workers of the Trichy corporation for demanding money to attend to leakages in drinking water pipelines and blockages in underground drainage sewers in public areas. The workers are either refusing to fix leakages or keeping pending work if the residents hesitate to pay.
R Muthukumar, ward 10 councillor said that workers have been demanding money from the residents to clear the blocks.Similar complaints persist in Senthaneerpuram and surrounding areas too. In Cantonment, workers have been demanding 2,000 to 4,000 from the houses.
“For two hours of work, that too in the pipeline, which was laid by the local body, the workers are charging 2,000. They refused to work as we tried to bargain,” a resident of Cantonment said.
In some areas, there were complaints of workers demanding nearly 6,000.
“If the leakage was on a public spot, residents need not pay for the work. If people were harassed by the workers to pay money, action would be taken against the workers,” a senior corporation official said. Sources said that the residents will not be allowed to execute the rectification work by employing workers of their choice.