MLA meeting : civic issues raised These were some of the issues raised at Saturday's face-to-face meeting with the Mylapore MLA.
1. Shanthi Colony (off Jeevaratnam Nagar) residents said the roads were potholed, that street lights did not burn very often and that autos took up most of the space on the street.

2. Venkateswara Nagar residents said that sewage overflowed on the 2nd and 3rd Streets because the connections led to an 'illegal' line in the area and that this issue had been raised many times with the state agencies and nothing had been done.

3. Sastri Nagar and Adyar residents said that the L. B. Road arm of the Adyar flyover did not solve the traffic flow problem and that it would make sense to demolish it and restore the pavements on the main road here.

4. Padmanabha Nagar residents opposed the suggestion to re-design / removal of speed breakers that had been put up on 5th Street with police permission, saying that there was a need for more speed breakers since the traffic flow from areas like Besant Nagar and Thiruvanmiyur which take this short cut, had increased and because students in local schools used on this street.

5. Sastri Nagar residents were very vocal about the noise, air and soil pollution which was caused by the MTC depot situated on the main road around which colonies and apartments have come up.
They said that as a first step, the MTC MD should ask the drivers to park buses on the western side, rather than on the eastern side, due to which the smoke blew into the houses.  ¶ posted by Mylapore Times @ 12:03 AM   0 comments

  MLA meets Adyarites at face-to-face meeting The MLA for the Mylapore constituency ( which covers most parts of Adyar), S. Ve. Shekher says that street lighting should improve once the maintenance of street lighting is handled by private agencies, a plan that is on the cards.
The MLA said this at a face-to-face meeting that was held in Shastri Nagar on Saturday morning. The meeting was held to enable Adyarites to present local issues that affect the colonies here.

Shekher said that the Corporation intends to start the process of privatisation in one area of Mylapore soon.
He was responding to plaints from residents from Shanthi Colony and Venkateswara Nagar about 'dead' street lights.
Shekher also said that the Corporation Commissioner was responsive to civic issues and he, as MLA, would represent such issues that were mailed to him.

"Instead of merely listing your issues, please also state viable solutions and give us a background of the issue you want to raise," Shekher told the gathering.
Only about 30 people attended the meeting and only seven people raised civic issues related to their colonies.

Shekher said that during the last four weeks since he was elected he has been studying the various functions of the state departments and its officers in order to understand their powers, duties and operations. "This should give me a better idea on how to address the issues people raise," he said.
Shekher said that since the time he had opened an email ID account (mylaporemla@gmail.com) he has received about 190 e-mails and almost all of them related to local civic issues which should be handled by local area Councillors.

He said that the plaints submitted at the Saturday meeting would be studied and forwarded to the departments which must address them.
Shekher said that he devoted the morning hours to work in the constituency and that he was willing to attend meetings organised by local associations.  ¶ posted by Mylapore Times @ 11:58 PM   0 comments

  MLA's face to face meeting with Adyarites - June 17 A face to face meeting of the MLA with Adyartites will take place on June 17 (Saturday) at 10.30am at The Community Hall on 5th Cross Street, Shastri Nagar, Adyar. Residents of Adyar, Besant Nagar can raise local issues. For more details on the meeting , contact P.P Sivamani. Phone : 24918723  ¶ posted by Mylapore Times @ 9:02 PM   0 comments

  The civic issues raised At the first face-to-face meeting with the new MLA ofMylapore, a few important issues were raised. Listed below are the main issues and the response of MLA, S.Ve. Shekher.

Issue : Stoppage of conduct of weddings of poorcouples inside Sri Kapali Temple and of rituals on the banks of the temple tank has affected different sections of people.
MLA : Have a meeting with the temple managers soon.

Issue : Restoration / increase of MTC bus services plying in the Mandaveli-Mandavelipakkam areas.
MLA: Will take it up with MTC.

Issue: Levelling of some roads in the Norton Road-Mandavelipakkam area because the uneven heights cause flood water to flood some streets, creating problems
MLA : To take up this issue with the civic authority.

Issue : Rename Norton Road Ki. Va. Jaganathan Road after the well known Thamizh writer who used to live here.
MLA : To take up this issue with the civic authority.

Issue : Opening up the grounds in the P. S. High School campus to Mylapore’s youth for sports activities. Access to this ground was closed over a year ago because of some ‘undesirable’ acts. The access will provide more open spaces to children.
MLA : Need to discuss the issue with the school and access if allowed will need to be regulated.

Issue : Continuance of Regional Transport Office in R.K. Nagar (R. A. Puram) is contributing to pollution and civic problems in a densly resindential area. Mustbe shifted out.
MLA : To take up this issue with the Transport Department.  ¶ posted by Mylapore Times @ 10:38 PM   3 comments

  Give me written complaints: MLA Mylapore’s newly elected MLA, S. Ve. Shekher says tha the would like to receive written complaints from people who wish to raise local issues through him. He also invites such correspondents to prove a concise background on the issue they raise in their e-mails or letters so that he can appreciate the issue better.

Shekher shared his thoughts at a well attended face-to-face meeting organised by The Kalyan Nagar Residents’ Association in Mandaveli last Sunday. The meet began on a shrill note, with a few speakers expressing the hope that the ‘community’ could now expect greater attention and support.

Shekher however made it clear that he was the MLA of the whole constituency (which covers Mylapore and Adyar) and that the MLA fund of one crore rupees given by the state and due toeach MLA, would be spent on priority issues that affect the poor.


He said that he would be willing to sit at meetings organised by the public and discuss issues. There was a suggestion from an Adyarite that residents-volunteers in different areas of the constituency could be the liaison betwen the residentsand the MLA on local issues.

Meanwhile, Shekher has opened two e-mail accounts.The IDs are - mylaporemla@gmail.com and mlamylapore@gmail.com. Those who wish to correspond with him directly can do so.

‘Mylapore Times’ has launched a blog on the Mylapore MLA. It will feature news and coverage on the MLA and the constituency and provide space to post plaints /suggestions / ideas. Log on to - http://www.mylaporemla.blogspot.com/  ¶ posted by Mylapore Times @ 10:22 PM   0 comments

  Face-to-face meet with Mylapore MLA: June 4 Mylapore's MLA, S. Ve. Shekher will take part in the first 'face-to-face' meeting following the Assembly elections held in early May.
The meet is being organised on Sunday morning (June 4) by The Kalyana Nagar Association at its premises at 29, West Circular Road in Mandavelipakkam.
The meeting, to start at 10 am, will begin with a felicitation function hosted by the association, of which the Shekher family has been a member for some time.
This will be followed by a 'face-to-face' meeting at which the MLA will address the gathering and people can present ideas, suggestions and petitions on issues that affect the area.
More details can be had at 2495 2997.  ¶ posted by Mylapore Times @ 8:45 PM   0 comments

  Shekher seeks space to set up MLA's office The recently elected MLA for Mylapore, S. Ve. Shekher plans to open an office in the neighbourhood.
Shekher says that he is asking the PWD as well as the Corpration of Chennai to grant space where the office can be constructed quickly.

He says that space has been located at two places on C. P. Ramaswamy Road and he hopes the Corporation will develop the space to set up the office. "This location seems central because people from Mylapore as well as from Adyar can access it," Shekher says.

Mylapore is among the few constituencies which do not have a permanent office space for the local MLA.The previous MLA, Lakshman of the BJP had secured a part of the Corporation office off Kutchery Road to set up his office.

Shekher is also looking for people who are willing to work in this office - a retired senior person to liase with people who drop in and also a woman to manage the office.

Two weeks into his new job and Shekher is on the go - he visited a San Thome kuppam colony devastated by a fire and filed a question in the Assembly on the nature of housing that was being provided to people who were exposed to such dangers all the time. "The compensation paid to them is simply not enough to start life all over again," he says.  ¶ posted by Mylapore Times @ 8:40 PM   0 comments

  S. Ve. Shekher is Mylapore's MLA Actor S. Ve. Shekher has been elected to represent Mylapore as the new Member of the Tamil Nadu state Legislative Assembly (MLA). In the elections held on May 8 ( the votes were counted on May 11), Shekher won by a small margin of about 1,700 votes. His closest rival was the DMK candidate, actor Napoleon.
A resident of Mandaveli and best known as a popular Thamizh theatre and cinema personality, Shekher decided to celebrate this victory by taking his family and close friends out to dinner on Thursday night.

He took time off before the party began for this telephonic interview with the Mylapore Times.

It was a tough fight, wasn't it?
Well, the fact that I won by about 1700 votes is a good record. After all, even the great Kalaignar has won his seat in Chepauk by a margin of only 8,500 votes.

Did you expect a bigger margin?
I did. But the Lok Paritran candidate seems to split the votes. Votes from the Brahmin community, the educated and of the young seem to have gone to the Lok Paritran candidate.

So, what are the first lot of issues you plan to address?
I think the traffic problem is gettng severe and needs attention. Parking is also a major issue and we need to address that. I am also concerned at the lack of toilets in our slums and kuppams. We must provide these people with basic facilities.

Do you intend to work from home?
No. We should have a MLA's office up and running soon. We will also set up phone lines that the public can access.

But as an Opposition MLA you will have limitations?
Yes. However, as the MLA of a constituency I will make representations and seek relief. If that is not forthcoming, I will fight. I want to be true to my constituents who have elected me. I will also seek my party leader's guidance.

Will your new job responsibility affect your theatre activities?
Not really. All along, theatre has not been a fulltime profession. That goes on in the evenings. It will carry on as it has always been. After all, even theatre can be used to share ideas and propagate issues.  ¶ posted by Mylapore Times @ 8:35 PM   0 comments

  A blog on the MLA: why? Tapping technology to connect with local politics can be one of the many ways to nurture healthy grassroot politics. Though, this alone will not deliver magical results.

One, it opens up a transparent, documented and public dialogue between people and their MLA.

Two, it provides space for the voices of people as well as the MLA.

Three, it opens up the dialogue that one person or a group wishes to have with the MLA.
Individual phone calls and private e-mails restrict the issue only to the people involved. On the blog, it becomes public.

Four, hopefully this activity will encourage people as well as their representative to contribute to healthy democratic practices.We welcome the people of this constituency to make this space vibrant.

We hope the posts and dialogue will be mature - we will, without assigning reasons, be constrained to remove unparliamentary posts. And all comments will be moderated by us before posting them on to the blog.
  ¶ posted by Mylapore Times @ 8:00 PM   7 comments