The move to merge some of the village panchayats around the city with the Tiruchi Corporation continue to evoke strong reactions with residents of at least three villages staging protests on Tuesday.

Residents of Keela Valadi on Tuesday resorted to road roko on the Tiruchi-Lalgudi Highway protesting against the merger of their village with the Tiruchi Corporation.

The protesters, who were aggrieved over the provisional merger, assembled on the main road around 10.30 a.m. Claiming that the merger was detrimental to the interest of the village, the protesters, mostly women, squatted in the middle of the road. They raised slogans against the State government for merging their village with the Corporation.

They said the officials had taken a unilateral decision to include the list of villages that had been merged with the Corporation. They should have consulted all stakeholders, including elected representatives and the residents, before arriving at a decision.

S. Prabhu, a leader of Keela Valadi, said his village was still agrarian. The residents depend on agriculture for sustenance. Most of the surrounding villages were agrarian. No urbanisation had taken place. There was no logic behind the move. It would adversely affect the residents. They would be forced to pay more on account of property taxes to the Corporation.

T. Muthamilselvan, another resident, said most of the residents of Keela Valadi were beneficiaries of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The merger move would deny 100 days of employment to residents.

On information, the police and revenue officials rushed to the spot and held negotiations with the protesters. The officials told them to withdraw the protest assuring that their demand would be taken to the notice of the State government. Upon their promise, the protesters dispersed from the spot. It hit vehicular traffic for about an hour.

Demanding the State government exclude their village from merger, a large number of residents of Nerunjalkudi staged a demonstration in front of the Collector’s Office on Tuesday. The government should respect their sentiment. A group of protesters presented a petition with the Revenue officials.

Similarly, the residents of K. Kallikudi, on the outskirts of Tiruchi, staged a protest, demanding the State government to exclude their village from the merger plan.