Corporations Council Hall renovated and ready!

CHENNAI: The Chennai Corporation’s Council Hall has undergone a sea change. Not only has the hall been renovated to welcome the new Mayor, but it has also been equipped with additional seating arrangement for councillors.After the recent expansion of the city, the number of councillors has gone up to 200 from the earlier 155. The renovation has been completed and the historic House is all set to host the installation of Saidai S Duraisamy of AIADMK as the new Mayor on Tuesday.According to sources, the swearing-in ceremony is expected to start by 10 am and the Commissioner D Karthikeyan is to administer the oath of office to Duraisamy as Mayor. Duraisamy would become the third directly elected (by people) Mayor of the Chennai Corporation; the DMK’s M K Stalin was voted directly to the coveted post twice in 1996 and 2001.Duraisamy would also become the first Mayor of the expanded Chennai Corporation. The city civic body’s limits have gone up from 174 square kilometres to 426 sq km recently.While the renovation of the Council Hall was part of the Rs 7.70 crore grant under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for the whole Ripon Building, setting up of an additional 45 seats to accommodate all councillors was necessitated after the recent expansion of the city Council. Corporation authorities had roped in the Tamil Nadu Small Industries Corporation (TANSI) to provide additional seats.While space has been made available for all the 200 councillors in the cramped hall, officials of the civic body, who used to sit inside the Hall to assist the Commissioner during any query raised by the councillors, have been moved out. They will now  sit in the adjoining room and view the proceedings of the House on a television screen. The zonal officers, heads of various departments and officials from Metro Water, Housing Board and Slum Clearance Board used to attend the meeting that is held every month. Besides, seats of MLAs and MPs have also been relocated. In the new system, they would be accommodated on the right side of the Mayor and Commissioner’s seats. The two rows have now been allocated to councillors.