In April, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board will rehabilitate more than 500 fishermen, non-fishermen and their families, who live along the Loop Road at Marina Beach, by shifting them to the Kannagi Nagar Slum Board tenements at Okkiam-Thoraipakkam.
Many fishing hamlets, including Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Bhavani Kuppam, Mullima Nagar, Nambikai Nagar, Nochi Nagar, and Srinivasapuram, are located on the stretch.
More than 15,500 tenements were constructed by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board at Kannagi Nagar for clearance and improvement of slum areas in the city. The tenements are also meant for fishermen and slum dwellers affected by 2004 Tsunami.
“Five years ago, the TNSCB allotted the tenements to the families of fishermen and slum dwellers who were affected by the Tsunami. But, the people refused to move in citing bad roads, poor healthcare facilities, irregular water supply, overflowing sewage and erratic power supply. The TNSCB did not take any action to rehabilitate the people,” officials said.
A series of meetings were held with the officials of Chennai Corporation and TNSCB over the rehabilitation of these people. Finally, the TNSCB agreed to rehabilitate them, officials pointed out.
With the public exams going on and annual examinations around the corner, the rehabilitation process has been put off till April. The Zone 9 of the Chennai Corporation will provide manpower, transportation facilities, and food during the rehabilitation process.
The TNSCB has made necessary arrangements for admissions of students to schools in the next academic year.
Meanwhile, the fish market on the stretch, along the beach side, will function on the opposite side, in keeping with a 2011 CRZ notification by the Ministry of Environment and Forests forbidding any development within 100 metres from the high-tide line.
