CHENNAI: For the last five months, 32-year-old Saravanan, a fever surveillance worker, has been visiting the house of 75-year-old Jagadambal in Mandaveli every day. The regular visits made Jagadambal clear about what exactly to expect from Saravanan — from his usual ‘eppdi irukeenga paati’ (how are you) to more serious questions like whether she had cough, cold or breathlessness.
Now, Jagadambal does not have a house to call her own. It has been four days since her house at Kuppaimedu was demolished by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board to make way for a new structure. Having no money on hand to take a house on rent, she and her family of four are now living in a tarpaulin tent put up near the debris of their erstwhile home.
However, Saravanan still keeps coming, and has also been bringing food for Jagadambal’s family for the past four days. “How could I not? They are like my own family. I have been going to their house (for fever survey) for more than five months,” says Saravanan.
Living in Thiruvanmiyur with his wife and child, Saravanan was recruited as a temporary worker for survey after he was laid off in a BPO firm. With officials turning a blind eye to the families camping in the open and nowhere to go, Saravanan felt it was not enough to help only Jagadambal and her family. “There are many people here, around 500.
If it is just for them (Jagadambal’s family), I can bring food. I needed more help to get food for all the others,” he adds. A fan of actor Dhanush, he approached the star’s fan club in the city, which helped him arrange food packets. “I pick up the food packets from the association office and distribute them here. I don’t see this as an extraordinary favour. I feel responsible (for their well-being); I feel like I should do more,” Saravanan beams.
Evictees struggle to find alternatives
As reported earlier by TNIE, there were 344 houses at the tenements in Mandaveli. The Board, along with police officials, is in the process of demolishing these houses to build a new structure with 500 houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The residents are expected to be accommodated in the new buildings, if they pay Rs 1.5 lakh per house, as installments over a period of 20 years.
While some people have found lodging in their relatives’ houses, others are camping alongside the debris. “Even today, I went and checked out a house for rent. They are asking for a deposit of Rs 40,000. So, I returned silently,” says Prema, a former resident of the Kuppaimedu tenements. She says she has now approached a moneylender for help. “He has promised to give us Rs 20,000 on a monthly interest of
Rs 2,000. If that comes through, we will be able to get a house for rent,” she says.