So Near ... yet So Far !!! Is it a case of slip between the cup and the lip?

It has been more than 3 months since the last post was published in this site.  Too many things have happened in this too short a period.

Though I wanted to update the happenings in this blog as and when it happened, the way things were moving in a roller-coaster, I thought it would be wise to wait for things to settle down before posting the news in the blog.

Now things appear to have settled down. But, at the end, it seems all is not well.  I hate to utter such words.  But that appears to be the reality.  We appear to have gone back to square one and if that is the case, we need to pull up our socks, gather all our resources and get into serious action to wage a final battle to get our rights.

So, what has happened in the last 3 months?

Thanks to the untiring efforts of our lieutenants, Mr.Sridhar, Mr.Michael Jeyaseelan, who met various officials at Muncipal Administration, Municipality, Society and other places, the Society paid up Rs.1,15,90,170/- to Thiruverkadu Municipality.  Though orders were issued by the Registrar (Housing) to this effect on 23.1.10, it took some time for the Society to actually send the cheque for the said amount to the Municipality.  In the last blog (posted on 2.2.10) it was reported that the Society was expected to make the payment to the Muncipality by next week (i.e., 2nd week of Feb) and the approval process by the local body should be over within a month, hopefully.  Yes, as reported, the Society did send the cheque to the Municipality in the 2nd week of Feb, on 11.2.2010.  But the hope expressed about the approval process by Municipality to be over within a month's time remained a hope for ever.

In the meantime, full fledged efforts were taken by the Association, which in effect, was mainly the efforts taken by Mr.Sridhar and Mr.Michael Jeyaseelan and also Mr.Shantaram to meet the people concerned in the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration, Municipality, Society and other people who have a say in the affairs to get the approval of the Municipality.  The duo had even led a handful of people to meet the Chairman of the Municipality in his home during the last week of March to putforth the grievances of the plot owners of the layout, in person, to the Chairman.  The Chairman was gracious enough to give a patient hearing despite his tight schedule.  The Chairman appreciated our pleadings for early approval but expressed his inability to give any commitment on the affirmative action.

However, people were very positive that we would not be disappointed when a decision is taken on the approval issue.  Soon, it appeared that all was not well and the Municipality may not grant its approval any sooner.  The Association was contacted to convene an urgent meeting either of the Executive Members or an extraordinary AGM to discuss the issues and to take suitable action.  AGM was, thus held on 25.4.2010, though belatedly, considering that the meeting with the Chairman was held on the last week of March.  At the end of a real democratic (or was it dramatic?!) discussion, a few pertinent points were raised for effective functioning of the Association.  We'll discuss those issues separately in our next post.  For now, the result appears to be hanging in balance.  Though we want to be optimistic, the naked reality laughs at us.  Though the Society gives us a rosy picture, when contacted, saying that the issue would be resolved sooner, our reliable sources indicate that we may end up losing the battle now, though not the war.   

The latest we hear is that the Municipality may drag the issue again and we may not get the long-awaited approval in the immediate future.

Let's hope for the best!

- Blog team