Facing eviction, Ritchie Street residents appeal to CM

They have to repay a loan amount of over ₹70 lakh

Reeling under debt and unable to repay their loan amount, which is now cumulatively over ₹70 lakh, residents of Ritchie Street Home for Homeless Cooperative Housing Society will appeal to the Chief Minister’s office to intervene and waive off the amount or help them reach a reasonable settlement.

Residents said that it was increasingly difficult for them to repay the amount as almost all of them were daily wage labourers and many were in debt.

Signature campaign

“We have been directed by the authorities to either pay the sum or vacate the premises. But we do not have that much money,” said Arul Raj, a resident. “We have started a signature petition and will be submitting the signatures to the CM’s office,” he said.

In the late 1980s, 96 families living on the pavement were displaced from Ritchie Street and in 2001, were provided permanent shelters in the same area.

The one-room flats were built by a city-based NGO, Community Development Information and Action Centre (CODIAC), after the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board approached them. Each room measures 137 sq.ft. with a kitchen alcove.

Of the total amount needed, ₹62.5 lakh was provided by EZE, a German missionary organisation and CODIAC paid ₹7 lakh.

The beneficiaries were to contribute ₹7.8 lakh, which came to ₹8,000 per beneficiary, and the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) offered a loan of ₹24 lakh on the condition that the beneficiaries would repay via the NGO.

The NGO, however, conveyed its helplessness in recovering the amount and the responsibility was transferred to HUDCO.

The corporation later filed a case against the families and the NGO, which is currently pending in the Debt Recovery Tribunal.

“We are already in debt and paying the said amount will only aggravate our problems,” said M. Kumar, a daily wage labourer and resident of the society.

“We really hope the State government hears our plea and the issue gets resolved,” he said.

Officials from HUDCO were unavailable for comment.