Sleepless fearing the roof over their heads will fall over

As government scheme fall short of expectations and funds are hard to come by, tribals of Kandivazhi settlement continue to make do with MGR-era houses.
The damaged roofs of the houses in Kandivazhi tribal settlement in Periyanaickenpalayam block in Coimbatore district. (Express photo | Deepak Sathish)
The damaged roofs of the houses in Kandivazhi tribal settlement in Periyanaickenpalayam block in Coimbatore district. (Express photo | Deepak Sathish)

COIMBATORE: The Irular tribals in Kandivazhi settlement in Periyanaickenpalayam have not had a good night's sleep in a long while for fear of one day being buried in their beds with the roof having fallen over them. Such is the condition of the 20 houses built under the rural housing scheme a few decades ago. The roofs of the houses are crumbling and seem to be just one downpour away from collapsing.

The houses are a relic of the late chief minister MG Ramachandran's tenure. Over the years, the residents have managed to acquire all the basic amenities. The settlement - that houses around 80 people - has good drinking water, electricity supply and even individual household toilets. However, all is not well with the houses themselves. The hut-like houses built in concrete are visibly fragile, having weathered years of living and bad weather. The steel rods in the walls and roof were laid bare years ago; they are mostly rusted now. With the monsoon having set in, they are now forced to contend with the leaking roofs and seepage through the walls. Waking up in the middle of the night to wipe up the water collected inside the house has become a regular part of life.

With the house having become unreliable as a means of shelter, the people have taken to spending most of their time outdoors, says M Karthika, mother of a newborn. Some of the tribals have migrated to other areas to escape the doomed houses, she adds.

Government project foiled by added costs

The residents' only way out of this veritable death trap is the Chief Minister's Solar Powered Green House Project. The district administration allots Rs 2.10 lakh for each tribal family to help them build concrete houses. However, the additional costs involved have made it a prohibitive exercise for the beneficiaries. Activist Joshua GPN notes that the extra costs could amount to as much as Rs 1 lakh; these residents do not have the means to afford it.

Far from politicians' purview

With no help coming their way, the residents of Kandivazhi continue to live in fear. And politicians seem oblivious to their plight. M Rechiammal (65) hardly remembers any politician or official visiting her settlement to check on the condition of the houses. It is only poll campaigns or a disaster, if at all, that draws them to the area, she adds.

Banking on private parties

C Karuppusamy, the moopan (leader of the clan), has urged the district administration to consider their present state of affairs and find ways to help them. However, even officials have been able to little by means of help. A recent effort by Periyanaickenpalayam block officials to acquire CSR (corporate social responsibility) fund from private parties to complete the greenhouses went in vain.

Officials have not given up yet. They are still trying to acquire CSR funds, having earmarked 21 houses for construction in the settlement in the year 2019-20, an official says. Collector K Rajamani, on his part, has assured to hasten to process to obtain CSR funds for completing the construction of houses under the project.

Cases abound

Tribals across the State are living in similar, if not worse, conditions. A house - a safe one at that - remains a distant dream for many.

  • Earlier in October, a two-year-old child died after the roof of a house built by the district administration collapsed on a rainy day. This was in Thalli block's Kottaiyur panchayat in Krishnagiri. The houses, though concrete, had been in a poor condition. The Irula tribals' 10-year demand for better tenements had remained unheard.
  • The tribals of Navamalai in Coimbatore, in July, had petitioned for concrete houses. Not only were their huts vulnerable to the elements, but it also did not protect them from elephant attacks, they had pointed out.
  • The people of Chambakolli village in The Nilgiris, as of August, were still trying to get the funds (Rs 2.10 lakh) under the Prime Minister's Housing for All Scheme. While the money is to be released in instalments at specific stages of construction, many had not given the money. Some of them had been forced to take out loans to see the construction through; others had abandoned the construction altogether. The panchayat officials had said that they had not received the funds from the Central government since May-June.

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