Promise to evicted families in Chennai falls like house of cards
CHENNAI: Bakiyam T, a sweeper at a health clinic, earns Rs 6,000 a month and Rs 4,000 from it goes towards rent. With the remaining amount, the 37-year-old is faced with the impossible task of covering the education expenses of her two children and bringing food to the table.
Bakiyam’s back-breaking struggle for the family’s bare subsistence began in August 2022, when 229 families from Mahalakshmi Nagar and Kudusai Pagudhi, located in Manali New Town, were evicted by authorities for construction of a 9m canal.
Over two years have passed, but, these families have still not been provided with the promised housing allocation from Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB).
Manali New Town was one of the worst affected areas in the devastating 2015 floods and also the 2021 monsoon floods, prompting the Greater Chennai Corporation to initiate the construction of a 9m canal to mitigate inundation by connecting drains from various places, including Manali New Town, Vichoor and Division 16, to the Kosasthalaiyar River via the canal.
To facilitate this, as many as 229 families who had been living along a narrow canal, which then existed in the area, for over four decades were evicted in 2022. They were given assurances of housing allocation in TNUHDB tenements within six months. The new canal in the area has since reduced flooding, providing significant relief to residents in the area. However, the evicted families are yet to receive houses.
Initially, the families were told that they needed to pay `5.5 lakh as the beneficiary contribution to secure housing in the Manali New Town TNUHDB tenements built under the PMAY-HFA/AHP scheme comprising 3,600 units. However, the authorities are now asking them to cough up Rs 10.37 lakh, a sum that is completely out of bounds for the residents, most of whom are daily wage workers.
A suggestion put forward by TNUHDB officials to the families is to wait until the construction of phases 4-7 tenements is completed in the same area, for which beneficiary amount will just be Rs 6.73 lakh for each unit. A TNUHDB official said the construction will take at least 10 more months to get over.
Recalling the eviction, Santhanalakshmi D, a 39-year-old woman, said, “When we were shifted out, the officials promised us housing within six months for payment of Rs 5.5 lakh. They also suggested loan options. Believing them, I moved to a house with Rs 4,000 monthly rent, which has now increased to Rs 5,000. We now survive on borrowed money, and our landlords are already asking us to vacate. We can’t wait any longer for the housing allocation.”
Bakiyam said she is solely responsible for covering her kids’ school fee, house rent, and family expenses, as her husband is not employed. “With just Rs 2,000 a month, it is impossible to manage everything. If allotted a house, the money spent on rent could be used for other essential needs.”
When contacted, TNUHDB Managing Director S Prabhakar told TNIE, “If any department carries out an eviction process, they usually conduct an enumeration of beneficiaries and send it to our department for house allocation. It is not clear whether such a request has been received for this case. It will be checked and appropriate action will be taken.” A senior corporation official said that the matter will be addressed.