The narrow bitumen road that starts between two cellphone towers located on Thenpalanji village opens to a vast expanse of barren land with barely any trees for shade.
On ttravelling about two kilometres on the road, of which only half the distance is paved, one reaches the settlement of 66 families of the downtrodden ‘Kuravar’ community on a piece of land allocated to them by the government 20 years before.
Despite the settlement located in Thoppur panchayat, near where the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is going to come up at a cost of ₹1,264 crore, the settlement lacks basic amenities like electricity, toilets, roads, and regular supply of drinking water.
In 1999, each family was allocated 1.25 cents of land. Over the next few years, almost all the families constructed small thatched-roof or pucca houses depending on their ability and moved in here.
Majority of the people work as conservancy workers, hawkers, housemaids, or daily wagers.
“Though the government allocated the land in such a remote spot with no connectivity, we shifted since we had a piece of land in our name for the first time. Since then, we have been demanding basic amenities in vain,” said A. S. Muthiah, who works as a conservancy workers in nearby Vadivelkarai panchayat.
Though lamp posts have been erected with street lights, individual households have no electricity connection.
“We still depend on kerosene and hurricane lamps. Our children have to study with these lamps. While some of us own mobile phones, we charge them at our work places during the day,” said P. Sankar Moorthy, another resident.
Around 25 school and college going children from the settlement have to walk four kilometres to use bus services available from Thenpalanji.
“Only few buses come to Thenpalanji. Hence, our children have to be there on time,” said M. Rukmani.
She added that women working as housemaids and in shops in the city had it tough. “They return at night and have to walk in dark. I go with a torch light to pick up my daughter every night from Thenpalanji,” she said.
At a time when government is claiming to do intensive campaign under Swachh Bharat Mission to build individual household toilets, none of the houses in the settlement has toilets.
“There is no money, space or water to build toilets. I have two granddaughters, who do not want to answer nature's call in the open, but what can I do,” asked P. Mahalingam, an elderly person, who was the first to settle in the allocated land.
While the panchayat has provided a borewell connection and installed a small plastic tank, residents complain that there was no regular supply of water. “We often end up buying water from tankers by paying ₹5 per pot,” said M. Thadagainachi, a conservancy worker from the area.
“We are not demanding any support for our livelihood or other welfare measures. Provide us basic amenities so that we can take care of ourselves,” said Mr. Muthiah, who is also a functionary of Vana Vengaigal Peravai, a political organisation that is planning to mount pressure on the authorities through protests to fulfil their demands.
