On a rainy Monday morning, residents of slum settlements in Thideer Nagar, Greames Road, gathered outside their houses, urging authorities of the Greater Chennai Corporation to postpone their eviction. Residents complained that they were informed about the relocation only two days ago and were not given adequate time to pack their belongings.
“The officials visited us on Saturday and asked us to be prepared to leave on Monday morning. We have been living here for over 60 years now. How can we bundle everything up in one day, that too in this rain,” asked M. Soudhamani, a daily wage worker and resident of Thideer Nagar.
The 603 families living in Thideer Nagar were scheduled to be relocated to Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) tenements in Perumbakkam, as part of the Cooum River Eco-Restoration Project. While the families maintained that they were willing to relocate, mainly to avoid flooding of their houses, which happened in 2015, they requested more time. “Our children have semester exams this week, we cannot move now. We should have at least been consulted before passing orders,” said A. Aparna, a resident.
Following persistent pleas from residents, officials announced that they would not evict residents. However, they asked them to start packing and be prepared to leave any time as they are likely to be relocated by the end of this week. “We will look into how there was a miscommunication from our side. But they will have to be relocated, especially since the monsoon has set in. It is for their own safety,” said an official.
While residents seemed happy with the decision, they raised concerns about relocating to Perumbakkam and the impact it would have on their life and livelihood. They requested the officials for allotment in one of the TNSCB tenements in Ambattur or a nearby area. “The construction of tenements in Ambattur is under way, and Perumbakkam has been allotted for them,” said the executive engineer of Zone 9, Thousand Lights. The Corporation has identified 1,247 families in the zone, of which 389 families live in Makkes Garden and 275 on Rangoon Street. These families too will reportedly be relocated by this week.
