THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was after midnight, and my house was flooded,” recalls Saraswathy P, an inhabitant of Karimadom colony, one of the notorious slums in the capital city. Recently, the covered sewer running in front of her house had started overflowing, inundating the entire colony with filth and sewage waste. “It was a nightmare. My husband had to call my son, who lives far away, to carry me outside,” says the 67-year-old, who has a limp.
Like Saraswathy, hundreds live in the colony with the constant fear of flooding. After every rain, the colony gets inundated with filthy water and sewage waste, overflowing from nearby drains and sewers. A rehabilitation project was launched in 2008 to give housing units to all in the colony. It was supposed to be completed by 2014. Now, even after nearly 15 years, the project drags on, in part due to the apathy of officials.
“Where will we go when the colony floods? I live alone in this house. I cannot just leave my belongings. I sat on a chair till morning until the water reached knee-deep,” says 66-year-old Santhakumar T, one of the main beneficiaries of the BSUP rehabilitation scheme. Shahida K, who lives in a dilapidated house in a low-lying part of the colony, was seen stranded inside her home as the entire alley was filled with filth. “I lost all my possessions. Even if we die here, nobody is going to know. The authorities don’t care about us,” laments the 75-year-old.
“When we asked for help, we were told to move to relief camps,” says Suharban. The 44-year-old was as agitated as she was emotional. “I live alone here. How can I leave everything and go?” she asks. According to her, none of the authorities have visited the colony after the deluge. “All politicians want are our votes. When it is election time, they will come with sweet promises. We live in filth here,” she points out. Suharban has been waiting for the promised home for the past 15 years.
“The construction of the new flat has begun, but I’m not on the list. I have lost all hope in the system. How long should we wait? We will all die here, drowning in the filth,” Suharban adds.
Rehabilitation project
Following complaints after the flood, the Corporation on Thursday moved around 25 families to a recently completed community hall in the Karimadom colony. “Since I became the councillor, I have been constantly following up on the rehabilitation project. It was supposed to be completed by 2015. Eight years have passed since the deadline, but the work is far from over. This screams gross apathy on the part of officials,” says K K Suresh, Manacaud ward councillor. “One of the remaining flats, part of the project’s phase four, will begin soon. Around forty families will be moved here,” he adds.
As per the initial plan, the project is aimed at rehabilitating around 560 families. Over the years, owing to encroachment, the population density has shot up. “The beneficiary list was illegally amended multiple times since the project was launched. I have raised this issue with the authorities, but nothing happened. Now, there are around 1,300 families in the colony,” says Chalai Mohan, a resident of the colony.
According to him, the timely completion of the project would have helped address the issue. “Now, the government will have to rehabilitate more families,” Mohan adds.
Karimadom Pond rejuvenation
The Karimadom pond, clogged with refuse from slaughterhouses, garbage, and septage waste, is posing a serious health threat to the families residing in the colony nearby. Though several projects were drawn up and lakhs of cash earmarked to clean the pond, “no progress was made,” says Chalai Mohan. Recently, the Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Ltd had taken up the project, but they left it halfway following objection from the irrigation department, in whose possession the pond remains. Tonnes of slaughterhouse waste is dumped in the pond every day. The irrigation department is unable to undertake any cleaning activities because they don’t have land to dispose of tonnes of silt removed from the pond. As per norms, they should have land within a 5km radius.