CHENNAI: A normal day starts with a long walk for most residents of Sathya Nagar. Like many other slum areas, limited access to drinking water and toilets have been perennial problems of the residents here. COVID-19 pandemic just added a few more troubles to their kitty. Located in Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar zone, a hotbed of the viral infection, Sathya Nagar has less amenities to help its residents tide over the crisis.
"We have to walk 1 km everyday to access the toilet that is in the B section of the settlement. Our children defecate in the open because they won’t walk that far," said Annakili R, a resident of Sathya Nagar ‘C’ section. Two weeks ago, a person from the area tested positive, she added.
Tell-tale numbers
Of the 701 containment zones listed as on May 16, at least 170 are in slums. Of these, 21 were ‘untenable’ and located in unsafe areas such as near water bodies or rail tracks. On May 23, the officials brought down the number of containment areas to 594 thanks to a new guideline stating that only areas with five or more index cases or infected families will be called containment zones.
Meanwhile, several developed (having concrete structures) and undeveloped slums continue to throw up COVID-19 cases. This could have far-reaching consequences unless Corporation’s slum-focussed containment plan addresses limited access to water and poor sanitation, say experts. They fear untenable slum areas like Sivarajan Puram, Gurusami Nagar and Kumarasamy Raja Puram in Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar are at greater risk.
Safe distance ‘watered down’
As the summer is reaching its peak, lack of access to water can seriously undo the containment works carried out by the Corporation, warns experts.Annakili said that they are receiving water once in alternate days. We are trying our best to maintain social distance while waiting to fetch water from tanker lorries. "But, if the water lorry is not coming frequently, no one here will bother about social distancing," she added.
Space crunch
According to Vanessa Peter, a policy researcher at the Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities, in 1,131 city slums surveyed under Rajiv Awas Yojana, 60 per cent of residents were found to be staying in houses smaller than 215 square feet, making social distancing a challenge in itself.
Geetha said there is a lack of political will to move towards equity. "People residing in slums constitute about 30 per cent of the city’s population. But, they live in 2-3 per cent space in the city," she added.
When contacted, Corporation officials said "solid plans" to contain the spread in slums are already being undertaken and are expected to show results shortly. A senior Corporation official told Express: “We are concentrating on 1,979 dense habitations in the city including slums. The slums all have access to basic water and sanitation facilities.” He added that medical officers of PHCs have been asked to identify people from slum areas who have been tested positive, and follow up on their health conditions.