Leaky ceilings, ankle-deep water mixed with sewerage and buzzing swarms of mosquitoes – this is the plight of the thousands of residents of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) tenements in Perumbakkam ever since it started raining in the city.
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“We don’t even have a place to sleep inside the house as it has been leaking continuously. Many of the residents have locked their houses and have moved to the city to live with their relatives,” said S. Girija, a resident.
There are over 21,000 houses in the Perumbakkam TNSCB colony and over 15,000 families have been resettled here over the past few years. However, residents have always complained of poor quality infrastructure.
Ms. Girija added that residents feared suffering electric shock as the walls of the houses are damp. “This problem persists even on non-rainy days,” she added.
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Even the roads inside the colony get flooded during the rains. “The roads inside the tenements are filled with ankle-deep water. Even after the rains subsided on Monday, the schools inside the tenements had water. Children found it difficult to reach the school on Tuesday,” said K. Sivakumar, a resident.
Besides, as the water is mixed with sewage, residents fear a disease outbreak. “Already many children are suffering from fever. It is damp inside the house too. It is a conducive environment for a disease outbreak,” added Mr. Sivakumar.
The residents, especially women and children, found it difficult to reach the bus stop as they had to wade through water. “The TNSCB has to come up with a permanent solution for this problem. We cannot be neglected like this,” adds Ms. Girija.
TNSCB officials said that senior officials from the housing department inspected the site on Tuesday. “We will find a solution to the problem,” said an official.