Another difficult day for Nochikuppam residents

There was an air of acceptance at Tent 2 on Tuesday afternoon. By then, residents of the one-room corrugated tsunami rehabilitation project had prepared themselves for another climatic onslaught. Missing roofs had been replaced with scrap metal that had flown away from other rooftops overnight, precious items had been moved to higher ground and children had been moved to the adjoining Housing Board residential complex.

“Thank you for your help, but where were you yesterday?” asked a woman to M.R. Raghunathan, an Assistant General Manager of the private pharmaceutical company Strides Shasun, mistaking him for a government official. Mr. Raghunathan and team were at Tent 2 adjacent Marina Beach, where the former residents of Nochikuppam live, to distribute blankets. However, it soon became a scuffle, as residents fought over the scarce item.

There are three such “tents” - the names its residents have given these slums - to which around 800 households who once lived in Nochikuppam, adjacent the light house, were evacuated. Five years on, they await the completion of their new houses.

There was no economic activity along the Marina, as fishermen kept away from the sea for three days. Residents said that they had sold fish bought from Kasimedu on Monday, but even that was not available on Tuesday.

“We stayed inside this room all night, getting wet,” said R. Karunakaran, who was yet to repair a part of his roof. Some moved to an adjacent shelter set up by the government; others spent the night with friends and relatives in the nearby Housing Board flats. “We are paying Rs. 500 in labour charges for replacing the roof. My children are still at the pink-coloured Housing Board flats,” said M. Kalpana, who said that her television were among items damaged when water seeped in.

A team from the Chennai Corporation distributed sambar rice outside Tent 2; an official said that that they had distributed pongal for breakfast. “We are from Zone 9 and are servicing six locations. The team is led by an assistant revenue officer and we plan to serve dinner, too,” he said.