CHENNAI: Even as Jagatha James, panchayat president of Gudapakkam, waits outside her home for her son’s school bus to turn the corner, her husband, E James, the self-appointed thalaivar, is having a busy afternoon waiting for a chance to speak, as two groups of residents are at each other’s throats.
In the seven months that the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) resettled over 300 families of slum dwellers from Aminjikarai, Nerkundram, Avadi and other areas to the tenements in Gudapakkam near Thirumazhisai, at least five clashes have broken out between the resettled communities and the locals, say residents.
“On Sunday night, another clash broke out. They damaged each others’ shops and property, in the process injuring a 14-year-old,” said James.The bone of contention for locals is that the resettlers have staked claim to resources that once solely belonged to them. They have to compete for the few available jobs in the locality — mostly in the private beer and soft drink factories — and are unhappy with the resettlers setting up small shops next to theirs.
“We already only make just enough to get by, they are taking away our jobs and businesses. There are only a few big houses nearby and even there, women from here offer to work for lower wages than what we demand,” said Meenatchi K, a resident of Gudapakkam for 12 years.
This, when only around 300 of the 1,024 tenements in Gudapakkam are presently occupied. Members of the resettled community, on the other hand, said it wouldn’t be long since they return to where they came from, already struggling for subsistence after being pushed to the fringes, over 30 kms away from their earlier workplaces.
As Muthu P, resettled from Aminjikarai pointed out, the fights are sometimes petty. “They blame us for the queues at the ration shop getting longer. What do we do, the ration shop in our complex is always closed. We have to go there since it is the nearest. They must divert their anger at the government. They must understand that we did not come here by choice,” he said.
Sometimes, however, like on Sunday, the squabble gets out of hand with casteist slurs thrown into the mix.
“They want to assert power over us. Their insults are almost always caste-based,” said Muthulakshmi, whose roadside idli stall was allegedly damaged by a local who sells ‘fast food’.
“I set this shop up because I lost my livelihood after being brought here. Now that too has been damaged. We’ll go back to the banks of Cooum sooner or later,” she added.
According to policy researcher Vanessa Peter of the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), it is not uncommon for host communities to feel threatened by the sudden influx of hundreds of new residents.
“It is up to the government authorities to facilitate the process and ease the transition for both communities involved. But what actually happens is that once resettled, they receive little assistance from authorities,” she said.