Sivaganga (Tamil Nadu), February 11 A municipal ward in Sivaganga has replaced the traditional use of whistles by sanitation workers with portable speakers to announce garbage collection, sparking outrage among TVK members in poll-bound Tamil Nadu. Usually, sanitation workers in Sivaganga, as well as in many parts of Tamil Nadu, blow whistles to signal their arrival. The decision, made by a DMK Councillor, which came in the wake of actor-turned-politician Vijay's party, Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), being allotted the whistle symbol by the Election Commission, has created a buzz in the political circles. Sources in TVK claimed that the local authorities were worried that the continued use of whistles by civic workers could be a form of indirect campaigning for the newly formed political outfit. However, A Ayubkhan, councillor of Ward 21 in Sivaganga, said he merely wanted to spread awareness about the etiquettes of garbage segregation among the people by playing a recorded message. "From yesterday, my ward has transitioned to using small battery-operated speakers that play pre-recorded announcements to signal the arrival of garbage collection vehicles," Ayubkhan told PTI. He said he was also inspired by this new trend in bigger cities, like Chennai, where recorded messages urge people to segregate their waste in the correct order. "Local TVK party people are blowing this out of proportion. I only wanted to use every available resource to drive home the garbage segregation message. So, when I heard that in Chennai they play these recorded messages and songs, encouraging people to dispose garbage in a proper way, I thought, why not," Ayubkhan added. The Election Commission recently assigned symbols to various unrecognized registered parties. The whistle symbol gained significant attention after being linked to Vijay's party.