CHENNAI: After they put up a fight against being relocated mid-academic year, eviction of 603 families of Thideer Nagar on Greams road began early on Tuesday. “Our lives are built around this place — jobs and education. We were told that we had no other option,” said P Pavalaveni, who lives with her granddaughter here. The families are to be resettled at Perumbakkam, around 20 km away in phases; an average of around 100 families a day.
On Monday evening, residents of Thideer Nagar protested against the eviction, which was part of Cooum River Restoration Project (CRRP). Saying that disruption of their children’s academic year was their primary grouse, a CRRT official said steps have been taken to integrate government school students to government schools at Perumbakkam.
As far as primary schools were concerned, the official said they were looking to get the school education department to recommend admissions for students resettled under the restoration project, in private schools near their new homes. “These students would be given priority at the time of admissions although the fee has to be borne by the parents,” he said.
Thideer Nagar evictions that were originally scheduled at the end of October, were put off until Tuesday due to monsoon and resistance from residents.
Meanwhile, residentsof Padikuppam, next in line for eviction, have sought houses in the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) settlements at Athipattu. Since most residents of Padikuppam were vendors at Koyambedu market for many years, they petitioned the Greater Chennai Corporation and TNSCB for houses at Athipattu that was a 20-minute drive away, as opposed to Perumbakkam.
Says Jagadheeswaran D, an independent activist who runs ‘Abdul Kalam Arivagam’, a library for kids of Padikuppam, “Here, I know college students who wake up at 2 am, help their parents sell their wares at Koyambedu market, take bath and then rush to college. If they are all taken to Perumbakkam, they wouldn’t know what to do next for their livelihood,” he added.
Although the TNSCB tenements at Athipattu are not usually allotted to those evicted under the CRRP, the residents here have requested an exception.
Around 400 of the 1,472 tenements in the Athipattu project were originally allotted to people from Kakkanji Nagar while the remaining tenements are free for occupation. “There is a lot at stake. The children may no longer benefit from the library that we are running here now. Children in the area come for free tuitions and computer classes,” said Jagadheeswaran.