CHENNAI: “How long can you stay at a relative’s place?” says Bakkiamuthu, who was forced to move into his brother’s house with all his belongings after he lost his house in an eviction drive launched along the Nanmangalam canal on November 20.
Around 40 families have lost their homes and none of them has been resettled by the Slum Clearance Board despite its promises of resettlement in a few days after the demolition. So, they plan to stage a road roko on Monday morning to protest the delay.
“What else can we do to get the attention of the officials?,” says Ponniamma, who now lives in a makeshift tent.
“Officials from the Kovilambakkam town panchayat just jotted down our names and a few of our numbers and said officials of the Slum Clearance Board would contact us. But no one has,” said Kavitha, another resident rendered homeless.
Bakkiamuthu feels he is becoming a burden to his brother and making regular trips to the Kovilambakkam town panchayat with the question when he would be allocated a house in the TNSCB tenement. “I’m tired of hearing the word ‘tomorrow’,” he told Express.
Kavitha, a flower-seller, has rented a house in the locality and is unsure if she will be able to pay rent for the next month. She claims that Village Administration Officer Suganthi has refused to tell when they would be resettled.
When Express asked the VAO and the Revenue Inspector over the issue, who are responsible for the resettlement, on the day of the demolition, they said the families would be allocated houses in the Perumbakkam TNSCB tenement in a few days.