Former Congress MLA and President of the Tenkasi District Natural Resources Conservation Association, K Ravi Arunan, has strongly condemned the continued neglect of road and water infrastructure damage caused by overloaded mineral trucks. He has announced a public protest in response to the issue.
In a statement issued recently, Arunan said, “In various parts of Tenkasi district, particularly from Ambasamudram onwards, the roads have been badly damaged due to the constant movement of heavily loaded mineral transport trucks. These damages have also affected the underground drinking water pipelines, leading to large-scale water wastage.”
He pointed out the irony of the situation: while many residents are struggling to get water, the available supply is being lost due to leaking and broken pipes. He criticized the local administration and municipal authorities for ignoring repeated complaints, accusing them of apathy and inaction. “Despite numerous alerts from our association, no real effort has been made to repair the damage. The silence from public representatives and officials shows that the government system has become non-functional.”
He also expressed concern over the fact that the district-wide maintenance of the collective drinking water supply project has been handed over to a single contractor, who, he claims, operates without accountability and ignores directives from authorities.
If corrective action isn’t taken within ten days, Arunan warned that his organization’s members would begin a symbolic funeral protest, “On behalf of the Natural Resources Conservation Association, our volunteers station themselves at each damage site and perform a funeral rite protest by blowing a conch shell to make people realize that the government machinery is dead.”
If there is still no response, he stated that the situation would be treated like “ringing a bell in the ears of the deaf”—symbolizing the futility of trying to wake a sleeping administration.
Finally, he called on the district administration to act urgently, urging them to lift the court-imposed ban that currently prevents the enforcement of limits on the size of mineral transport vehicles. He believes that only then can the infrastructure be protected from further damage and the issue permanently resolved.
Former Congress MLA & Tenkasi Iyarkai Vala Paathugappu Sangam president K Ravi Arunan announces protests over frequent road & drinking water pipeline damages caused by overloaded mineral trucks and officials' apathy. 👇
இனி சங்கு தான்… வேற..… pic.twitter.com/YEJRthf1TL— Thinakaran Rajamani (@thinak_) June 16, 2025
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