CHENNAI: It’s never a good time to be forced to leave a place that you call home and asked to start afresh in a new location. For 2,092 families at Sathyavani Muthu Nagar in Park Town it’s a double whammy as they see it. Not only the eviction started two days before the New Year, the residents claim that due to this the education of children is likely to be affected, a point that officials disagree with. They claim that on Saturday night a meeting was organised with school students to make sure their education is not affected due to the eviction drive. The residents are evicted under the Cooum River Restoration Project by Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT).
The houses of these families are said to come under the Cooum’s right of way. On Sunday morning, when evictions began, unrest prevailed briefly after the police detained three persons, two of whom belonged to CPM. Isai Arasu ‘Ambedkar’, an auto driver known for his folk songs on resettlement and modern untouchability, was one of them and was allegedly beaten up in custody, alleged locals. “We had planned the protest, but even before we started, the police picked up the three men,” said Damodaran, a local. “We had told them clearly that we do not oppose the eviction. We only sought time until May when the board exams would be over. Many of the students here would go on to become the first generation to finish school. That is all we want,” said Damodaran.
The evictions, one of the largest in the city so far, is to occur over a span of around 15 days and around 150 families would be evicted each day. The officials said they began the evictions only after a series of meetings with stakeholders and only certain ‘anti social elements’ were looking to create unrest. “Even last night we had a separate meeting for school students to ensure their education is not disrupted,” said an official on, who did not want to be identified.
“We are only evicting families that come under the right of way. There are another 2,000 families in the area who do not come under the right of way. So, they have not been enumerated and we have no plans of removing them,” the official added.Around 100 police personnel were deployed in the locality.
“Isaiarasu created public nuisance and disturbed peace. Hence, we took him under preventive detention. He’ll be released by evening,” said Triplicane police.
VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan who visited the area, said evicting children during mid-academic year would lead to increase in dropouts. “The government should arrange transport and other facilities to help students come to school until exams are over,” he said.The evicted families were relocated and given allotments to TNSCB tenements in Perumbakkam. Those in Perumbakkam have already been complaining of loss of livelihood and lack of basic amenities including water.