Even with all the windows closed and curtained, light seeps in from all sides to Malini’s house atop a small hilly region, located along the Melarannoor- Karamana road.
This is not any construction marvel though. These are cracks that have appeared on literally every wall of the house due to removal of mud for construction on an adjacent plot.
A domestic worker, she has over the past five years been fighting an unrelenting battle at courts and government offices to protect her only possession. The family of four now sleep under a shed-like extension that they built sometime back at the front of the house, fearing that the house would cave in. The house is situated at about 25 ft from the main road.
“I got this land as inheritance from my father. All this adjacent land was almost of the same height as our land during that time. Now you can see that the adjacent land is a huge pit owing to uncontrolled excavation and our house is perched dangerously on the edge of the hill. It could cave in any moment or one of these cracked walls could fall on us,” says Ms. Malini.
Based on her complaint, the Principal Munsif Court had in 2012 appointed an Advocate Commissioner to prepare a ground report.
According to this report, the excavation of mud for construction work on the adjacent plot has caused damage to Ms. Malini’s house and that further excavation could cause the house to collapse.
Based on this, the court issued an interim order saying that any construction activity should be done only after providing lateral support to the wall.
No lateral support
But, till date, no lateral supporting wall has been built in the place, even though construction activity has continued in fits and starts, thanks to a modified order from the court.
“Two weeks ago, late at night, they again started the excavation work after a long gap. The next day, I approached the Karamana police and filed a complaint. In response, a safety officer of the builder contacted me and gave me a phone number, to call in case of emergency. What is the use of calling them after my house has collapsed? Probably they are waiting for that, for this to slowly collapse and us to leave the place, so that they can take up their work,” she says.
The location of the electricity meter at the house itself conveys the story eloquently.
There are ‘meter-shaped’ marks on two walls, from which the meter had to be shifted twice as cracks on the wall appeared and water began to seep in. It is still unsafe on the current third wall.
Builder responds
The builder, meanwhile said that the construction activity cannot have impacted Ms.Malini’s house, as it is more than 50 metres away from the site. The builder claims that the plot adjacent to her house was taken on lease earlier this year for the storage of material, and not for construction. The excavation activities on this plot, which allegedly damaged Ms. Malini’s house, were carried out by the original owners of the plot in 2012, the builder said.
