CHENNAI: Evictions at Sathyavani Muthu Nagar were temporarily suspended on Monday after 120 families were evicted on Sunday. While some residents believed that the suspension was due to VCK chief Thol Thirumavalavan’s intervention and the reported ensuing dialogue with Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, officials said that they had not received official instructions to suspend evictions until May.
“Evictions have been suspended because the city police were engaged in election work and there was shortage of transportation,” said an official who did not want to be named. Residents had sought time until May to be evicted since many of the students belonged to the first generation to complete schooling. They also sought an in-situ housing so as to safeguard their livelihood.
Now, they are to be resettled at the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board tenements in Perumbakkam 30 km away. As part of Cooum river restoration project under the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust 2,092 families are to be evicted from Sathyavani Muthu Nagar, in batches.