Two decades ago, the Kancheepuram Thiruvalluvar Silk Cooperative Society Weavers' Colony, came up on the border of Punjarasanthangal and Valathottam village panchayats on the River Palar's southern bank. Now, the residential colony wears a dilapidated look with shrubs grown all around.
Enquiries reveal that sizeable number of dwellings that were constructed either as duplex model houses or triple-house structures in triangular shape have become unsuitable for living as the walls have developed huge cracks. This is within a decade of construction and has led rainwater leak in through the roofs.
Weavers' families have tried their hand at carrying out simple patchworks on walls and roofs but their attempts have been unsuccessful. The basements too gave way slowly as years rolled by, said sources.
Some of the weavers, who have managed to carry out some exhaustive and expensive repair works, criticised the Society for selecting an area that is made of brimstone than ordinary earth. “Thank God, the building contractor did not use heavy concrete for the roof. He used a new technique of laying a thin layer of cement and then fixing flat brick tiles on top,” said a weaver. “Thus, the roof was light enough to rest on the walls which were raised without the support of concrete pillars on the corners.”
When plans were drawn up for 217 dwelling units on an area of five acres, the members of the Society were asked to shell out Rs.3,000 as an initial payment. They were also informed that a sum of Rs.300 per month is to be paid towards the cost of construction and land which worked out to be a total sum of Rs.55,000 to Rs.60,000 per unit at that time.
Having initially agreed to such a proposal, a resolution was adopted subsequently at an annual general body meeting of the Society where it was unanimously decided that the annual bonus amount could be adjusted against the payment due by the members.
But, weavers said their plans went awry after the silk handloom industry was hit by recession. With the steep hike in ‘ kora ' prices and skyrocketing of zari prices with the inclusion of gold in the highly speculative commodities market during the last decade, their situation worsened.
However, officials in the Society and Handlooms Department said that the Society managed to scrap through this situation by seeking the help of Co-optex which came forward to repay the housing loans taken by the Society members from HUDCO. This was based on the condition that the fund pumped in by Co-optex should be repaid by the free supply of saris made by the Society. Thus, the Co-optex loan was cleared fully three years ago, said an official.
Meanwhile, some of the weaver families have tried to become financially independent after some of their family members pursued different jobs. Even though they have expressed views to demolish the structures after settling their dues and raising new ones in their place, they could not proceed with such a plan as they do not have the house registration documents in their names.
“We were not able to get the documents in our name as the Society had promoted this project as one unit. Thus we have to wait for others to raise their economic status to settle their dues”, said a weaver.
S.V. Kandasamy, Deputy Director (Handlooms) said the Society had to recover around Rs.75 lakh from allottees as dues towards the cost of promoting the housing colony. “Further we are yet to get no-objection certificate from Co-optex. Only then can we proceed with the collection of overdue amounts from allottees and issue individual patta and house registration documents to them,” he added.
