After waiting for a year, the families left behind during the resettlement drive in Aminjikarai were finally moved to their new homes at Gudapakkam, near Thirumazhisai last week. The families expressed happiness and are glad that they no longer have to live in dilapidated houses.
“Because of the demolition, the roof and walls had cracks. And parts of it would keep falling off. It was scary,” recalled Amudha, who with her young son and mother were living in a one room cabin in Sunnambu Kalvai Street, Aminjikarai.
She was among the 16 families in Aminjikarai who were left behind after their houses were razed by the Greater Chennai Corporation last October as part of the Cooum River Eco-Restoration Project.
Alamelu, 60, who lived in Perumal Koil Street with her aged husband and two young grandchildren, says “There was no electricity, and the place had become a hub for alcoholics who would create trouble. I am so happy that I can now sleep in peace. I can’t go back there,” she said.
According to officials from the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board, 62 families who were left out during resettlement, including 16 from 7 slums in Aminjikarai and 46 from MSP Nagar, Maduravoyal, were provided houses at the tenements in Gudapakkam recently. “We are now working on helping them get employment,” said a senior official.
The Hindu had earlier published reports about the plight of these families and the death of 70-year-old Poongavanam on the corridors of the Gudapakkam tenements without getting a new house.
D. Nagasaila, advocate and member of People's Union for Civil Liberties, said the delay in allotting houses to the families only showed lack of planning among the authorities. “They were clearly not concerned about what would happen to these families in the meantime. It was not a complicated task, they could have planned well in advance and rehabilitated them. They have only been indifferent,” she said.
However, the plight of children’s education worries them immensely. Amudha’s son who is studying in class 12 in a school in Nungambakkam had to be left behind with her sister to avoid any distraction. “We are struggling to make ends meet here. I have no job or money. I can only hope that things get better,” she said.
