Over the past few years, the city has seen its largest ever deliberate displacement of people from slums to Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) tenements located far from the heart of the city. For the thousands of resettled urban poor people, the 2019 general elections were crucial — with expectations running high of their elected representatives solving their myriad problems, ranging from livelihood to law and order issues.
From the end of 2014, the shifting of slum-dwellers from the city to resettlement colonies such as Perumbakkam, Gudapakkam, Athipattu and Navalur began. This process is ongoing. The resettlement is being done under various programes like JNNURM, World Bank-funded Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project, Chennai Metro Rail, Slum Free City and Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT)-funded Integrated Cooum River Eco-Restoration Process.
It is a clear case of ghettoisation, if one were to go by the living conditions of these displaced residents. Their new units are inadequate when it comes to street lighting, connectivity, security and infrastructure. But people in the colonies harbour hope as over the past few weeks candidates from various political parties, including the likes of DMK leader M.K. Stalin and MNM leader Kamal Haasan, have approached them and made tall promises, including improved standards of living and security. Whether any of those promises will materialise remains to be seen.
Law and order
Most residents of TNSCB resettlement colonies look at any newcomer with suspicion. “Random people come here, consume alcohol, smoke ganja and hang around. We are not able to trust anyone now as we are living in a state of constant fear. They have set up some police booths, but they are at one end of the tenements,” said Uma, a resident of Perumbakkam.
“A month ago, a 10-year-old girl, who was playing in the corridor, was molested by a 54-year-old man in Perumbakkam. After this most parents claim they are scared to let their children out to play. There is need to have CCTV cameras and proper gates leading to the blocks so that outsiders who come here because of lax security do not trouble the residents,” she said.
Residents of other sites also complained that the sale of illicit arrack and banned gutkha products was rampant. “There is no compound wall around the Navalur site. Rowdyism has reduced to an extent, but chain- snatching is common,” said Siva (name changed), a resident of Navalur. Residents of Gudapakkam and Athipattu have similar complaints.
Police patrolling is poor in most of the resettlement sites. “There is scant respect shown for our complaints. Hence many residents start settling scores themselves. The policemen just sit inside their booths and don’t venture out. Even when we call them, they ask if the quarrel is a major one or minor,” Uma added.
Many residents across sites said that they need all-women police stations. “Only if there is visible policing will the situation improve. Besides police boys clubs should be introduced everywhere and sports should be introduced for youngsters so that they are not enticed into a life of crime. TNSCB should fix CCTV cameras and gates in every block,” said M. Keerathana (name changed).
In most of these settlements, it is a rare sight now to see children playing outside after school hours. The lack of safety has restricted the mobility of women and children, who are forced to stay indoors fearing for their safety, residents said. When advocate commissioner K. Elango inspected the tenements, many residents also complained that there were cases of children going missing.
Street lights
Most often the dark alleys and corridors at these sites are used as cover by anti-social elements. “TNSCB has been promising to install high-mast lamps. But nothing has been done till date. Our children return from college and some women return from work at night. It is very dangerous without lights. The corridors inside the tenements and the staircases are also dark,” said K. Subha, a resident of Perumbakkam.
Ramalingam (name changed) from Gudapakkam also complained of a similar problem. “They have constructed a sub-station here, but nothing is being done about street lights. We have written to senior TNSCB officials about the issue. But there has been no action,” he said.
Sivagami (name changed), a resident of Athipattu, said that while there are street lights, they are insufficient. “TNSCB should fix lights in the corridors. People sit on the stairs and drink and smoke ganja under the cover of darkness,” she said.
Transport
Apart from safety, livelihood is a major concern for residents. A big impediment is the lack of transport facilities. In most tenements, residents either complained of insufficient services or that they had to walk long distances to board a bus.
Though TNSCB has introduced buses for residents of Perumbakkam, not much has been done for residents of other sites. Recently, Navalur residents wrote a letter to the Chief Minister’s cell seeking four buses. “There is one bus every three hours and after 8 p.m there is no service. We have to walk more than two kilometres to reach Kancheepuram main road and take a bus,” said Siva of Navalur.
Residents of Gudapakkam said that they had to walk one kilometre to get a bus or share autorickshaws. “The roads are bad so no vehicle comes to our site,” said one resident. Most residents travel to the city to earn a living and are forced to spend atleast ₹100 per day on transport alone.
In Athipattu, residents, especially children, find it hard to reach the city as they have to change buses. “It would be helpful if the government arranges a bus service for us. It will also benefit women who go to work in the city. TNSCB should coordinate with the transport department and find a solution for this problem,” said Gomathi, a resident of Athipattu..
Infrastructure
While most of the buildings look clean from a distance, a closer look reveals cracks in most of them. Residents of newer resettlement sites complain of leaking ceilings and poor infrastructure. “It is impossible to even drive a nail through the wall, as the cement starts falling. The toilets are also not fixed properly. The unit starts shaking and the mud around it gets washed away every time we pour water,” said K. Amudha (name changed).
In Perumbakkam, there has been no action to rectify leaking buildings. “There are thousands of families who moved in about three years ago. The leakage happens throughout the year, due to poor pipelines and is present in all the blocks and particularly intense in the M, L,K, D, E and C blocks. Though we complained, there has been no action,” said Uma.
Quality audit
Vanessa Peter, policy researcher with the Information and Resource Centre for Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), said that the act of ghettoising multiple informal settlements into an en masse resettlement, alienating people from their places of livelihood without providing basic social and civic infrastructure facilities, is an act of neo-discrimination. “The people are treated as lab rats because of TNSCB's failure to learn from its previous mistakes. As multiple departments are involved in providing services, there is a need for convergence of services/schemes and coordination among departments,” she said.
Other activists claim that the issue of livelihood is a problem in most sites, so it amounted to a case of total deprivation. “Earlier they did not pay any rent. Now they have to pay ₹1,000 as rent and maintenance, but their scope for earning has gone down and they spend a huge amount on transport,” said R. Geetha, advisor, Unorganised Workers Federation.
Ms. Geetha termed the relocation process an act of urban untouchablity. “There is surplus land in the city. It can be used for housing the poor. Besides, it is surprising that when proper buildings along the waterways are given patta , the slums are being evicted,” she added.
Ms. Vanessa called for an independent quality audit by the State government of all the resettlement sites to assess the quality of the houses constructed and rectify the issues at the earliest. “The delay in addressing the grievances of the resettled families is an act of omission by the State government,” she pointed out.
TNSCB’s take
TNSCB officials said that they will be coordinating with other departments, including police, health and education, to introduce necessary facilities like schools, bus services and health centres. Most of the tenements will be coming under CCTV coverage too.
“Handling Perumbakkam alone is like running a town panchayat. Apart from this we are maintaining other tenements with the resources and manpower available. Soon we will get increased manpower and capacity to handle such issues in a better manner,” said an official.
