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150 families facing eviction in R.K. Nagar to get houses

August 12, 2021 01:05 am | Updated 01:07 am IST - CHENNAI

Officials start issuing tokens, flats to be allotted at K.P. Park

Ticket to new home: Officials issuing tokens on Wednesday for allotment of houses to 150 families in R.K. Nagar.

The issuance of tokens to allot houses for a majority of the remaining families to be evicted from along the banks of the Cooum in Dr. Radhakrishnan Nagar in Arumbakkam commenced on Wednesday.

According to government estimates, 243 families in informal settlements in the locality had to be evicted as part of the Cooum River Restoration Project. Although the eviction process began by the end of July, it was subsequently halted temporarily following opposition from a section of people and political parties. Ninety-three families were evicted and allotted houses at the apartments constructed by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board’s (TNSCB) at Kesava Pillai Park in Pulianthope. Others in the locality had agreed to vacate, provided they were allotted houses at the same place.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), the TNSCB and the Public Works Department put up a notice on Tuesday in the locality that issuance of tokens for allotment of houses for the remaining 150 beneficiaries would commence on Wednesday.

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A senior official from the Corporation said they were not expecting to complete the exercise in one day as they wanted to be thorough in identifying all the eligible beneficiaries. Accordingly, a considerable number of beneficiaries were identified and tokens were issued by officials who camped in the locality on Wednesday.

While the process is expected to continue, many families expressed dissatisfaction that they were not on the list of beneficiaries as they did not meet the conditions stipulated by the government or lacked the documents demanded by the officials.

One of the persons, speaking on anonymity, said his family had been living there for decades. “Naturally, our family has expanded. I have three siblings and each of us is living in separate settlements. However, the government is allocating only one to us,” he said.

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