Forced out of his house by govt., disabled man has no place to go

A fall from the third floor of the Kalyanapuram Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) block a decade ago rendered N. Kesavan immobile.

Now as the board has evicted over 260 families to reconstruct the tenements, he has been rendered homeless and neighbours have accommodated him along the Buckingham Canal.

A narrow lane along the canal behind Elephant Gate police station leads to the shed where Kesavan lives. “I was a load man. After the fall I was paralysed from the hip down and became bedridden. My wife Devi supports me and my two daughters,” he said.

The order to vacate the house came as a shock. “We were turned down by many houseowners as they did not want to accommodate a sick person. Hence my wife and daughters alone live in a rented house in Sharma Nagar,” he added.

Forced to live in unclean conditions, he hopes either the TNSCB or the government will provide him a place to stay till his house is reconstructed. “I wish to stay with my family,” he said.

There are eight blocks in the Kalyanapuram slum tenements, housing over 260 families.

There are four floors in each block. They were constructed in the mid 70s. Since many of them are in a dilapidated condition, the TNSCB has started demolishing them and will construct 360 tenements in 10-storied blocks.

‘No alternative’

“Though all the families vacated, Mr. Kesavan was left alone in the building as he was unable to get a house on rent. The TNSCB did not provide us an alternative place to stay. Hence for the time being we have accommodated him in a shed,” G. Dhurvasan, an advocate and resident of the locality, said.

A senior TNSCB official said that there is no provision to provide alternative accommodation.

Meanwhile, experts say that there is an urgent need for a Housing, Resettlement and Rehabilitation policy. “The policy should lay out guidelines for transit accommodation when the State undertakes redevelopment of its tenements as it is doing on a large scale now. These guidelines should be developed in consultation with people's representatives,” said Karen Coelho, associate professor, Madras Institute of Development Studies.