COIMBATORE: Imagine being allotted a house but unable to live in it as it lacks basic amenities. This is the plight of 73-year-old Mariyammal (name changed), who lives with her goats in an asbestos-roofed hut in Mangarai, a tribal village near Thadagam in Coimbatore district.
Despite having a newly-built concrete-roofed house just a few metres away from her makeshift house, Mariyammal is forced to live in her asbestos house as the new house lacks basic amenities. The situation is the same for many families in the hamlet as the newly-built houses lack basic amenities.
“The authorities built houses for us under government schemes, but failed to provide basic provisions such as power, drinking water and toilets. As we cannot live there, we remain in our shanties. We move into the new houses only when we are faced with difficult situations, such as elephant intrusions, especially at night. We move out again in the mornings,” Mariyammal explained.
“Residing in the makeshift shed is far better than the concrete-roof houses that lack basic amenities,” she added.
There is a significant risk of human-animal conflict as wild animals, especially elephants, move through Mangarai village. The Irula community is home to about 30 tribal households that reside close to the reserve forest boundary. They had been living in homes with thatched roofs for several years. A decade ago, about 12 houses were replaced with concrete-roofed houses and in 2023, 15 houses were built under the PM JANMAN scheme.
M Murugesan (name changed), a beneficiary of the housing scheme, said, “We are seven of a family, and we expect this house will be comfortable and safer. But there are no basic facilities, and the toilets are incomplete. We can stay only during rainy days and elephant intrusions. As summer is approaching, the threat of wild animals will increase.”
The houses are built on 1.5 cents of land, with three rooms, for Rs 5.70 lakh each.
When asked, an official in the rank of BDO in Periyanaickenpalayam block, on condition of anonymity, said that the delay was caused by the final stage fund release, allocated for the toilet facility. “Around 100 such houses are being constructed in seven hamlets in Veerapandi panchayat and most have been completed. We have been working to complete the construction as soon as possible,” the officer said.
“We have identified 27 clusters which have many hamlets where we are working to provide all basic amenities like street light, individual toilets, electricity and drinking water connections. This hamlet will get these facilities very soon,” said District Collector Pavankumar G Giriyappanavar.