The Hindu                       18.04.2013

A message that will not fail to fall even on the weakest eardrums

Muncipality employs tom tom to deliver encroachment news.

A man, dressed in khaki shorts and shirt, has been beating a small drum and going around the Pudupalayam area here, the past few days, announcing that those shopkeepers who have encroached upon the drainage space and put up protruding ceilings should remove those structures at their own expenses by Wednesday.

The municipality has found the time-tested tom tom an useful device to effectively reach out to the residents. It is, therefore, not a wonder that in this age and time, with so many technological advancements, the tom tom has come to smugly perform a duty.

None could avoid the reverberating sound of the tom tom as it would attract every passerby to pause and listen. Those staying indoors would crane their necks to have a good look at the man handling the tom tom and listen closely to what he has to say.

Sounding a tom tom implies that the matter is urgent and important. The man seen at Pudupalayam has been succinctly passing on the message that if the unauthorised structures are not removed within the stipulated time, the civic body would be constrained to deploy bulldozers to pull down the illegal appendages.

As the tom tom wielder would have many witnesses, none could later claim that he or she is unaware of the deadline for clearing the bills and adhering to the rules.