TIRUNELVELI: The Sri Lankan refugees accommodated at a refugee camp at Naranammalpuram near Tirunelveli are living in an unhygienic and deprived environment for the past 19 years.
The Lankan refugee camp at Naranammalpuram has 227 families constituting 830 persons. The camp has two partitions with 115 families living on one side.
An old godown has been converted into the camp and a hall in the godown has been divided into 115 small units each housing a family consisting of minimum four members.
The walking space between each unit is just a few inches -- enough for one person at a time. The remaining families reside in small huts on the other side of the godown.
When it rains the entire camp, including the living area, is flooded with rainwater, residents allege.
An open well at the camp is shared by 115 families in the camp. As there are no bathrooms constructed in the camp, people have to bathe near the well in the open.
Basic sanitation and hygiene is a distant reality in the camp. Residents claim that it has been more than six months since authorities cleared the garbage dumped in the camp and this has turned the place into a hot spot for pigs. About seven toilets for men and six for women have been constructed near the well. The drainage channels are broken and as a result of non-maintenance, sewage from the toilets gets mixed with the water in the well, causing several health problems.
The appalling state of the toilets has increased open defecation in the camp.
Residents in the camp claim that the Naranammalpuram panchayat officials are neglecting the camp. They claim that the sweepers would clean the toilets and camp only when there is an inspection from authorities like the District Collector.
The camp is without adequate drinking water as water is supplied for only half-an-hour daily giving each family hardly a pot of water. Majority of the hand pumps remain defunct for years now. Moreover, an anganvadi established at the camp is in a dilapidated condition.
The residents also allege that the amount of kerosene supplied through the PDS shops is only seven litres as against 10 litres allotted per family.
“We don’t want anything from the officials. We just want them to ensure a healthy living condition as we can’t continue to live in a place where the pigs breed. Our plight can’t be explained in words”, a resident says.
A consoling factor of a few of the residents is that 90 families amongst them would be shifted to a new camp at Gangaikondan next year.
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