VISAKHAPATNAM: THE death of a four-year-old boy under the debris after the roof of his house caved in owing to heavy rain at Chittivalasa near Bheemili a few days ago will appear to be the tip of the iceberg, if you pay a visit to the colony where the former employees of the nearby jute mill are living.
Thousands of workers have been living in some 460 houses dotting the bylanes in fear as majority of the dwellings are on the verge of collapse. After the factory closed down in 2009, are left to fend for themselves. All these years, neither did the GVMC nor the people’s representatives come up with any solution to the issue, despite several pleas, say the residents.
Post-closure, hundreds of families were left with no authority to ask and even express their concerns. Seven years later now, the ceilings of the majority of houses hanging dangerously, while the walls have developed cracks.
As most of the houses were built 60 to 70 years ago, 30 to 40 houses had already collapsed during rainy season in the last seven years.
At present, almost 40 per cent of the inmates, who are mostly senior citizens, have shifted to their children’s houses and let out their houses. Around 500 persons still reside since they don’t have any option.
“Till the mill ran, the authorities used to repaire the houses when we made a complaint. But after it was closed, we are jobless. We neither had own houses to go nor jobs so that we could shift to rented houses, said A Satyanarayana, a retired employee of the mill. Some residents tried to temporarily restore their houses with beams supported by pillars.
“None of officials helped us. We spent around `3,000 to arrange beams a year ago, but this is not enough,” said a housewife from the jute mill quarters. The locals said to repair a house completely, it would cost about `30,000 to `70,000. But almost all of them being NREGS workers, security guards, auto-rickshaw drivers and other daily wage labourers, none is in a position to undertake repairs.
According to the locals, they have sought the help of GVMC and even their constituency MLA Ganta Srinivasa Rao. “All our pleas fell on deaf ears. The official say they can do nothing as it it a private property. The Jute mill authorities are indifferent as the mill was closed down long back, said the locals.
“Even mild showers inundate our house. We are even scared to invite our relatives to our houses. We are not sure when the roofs will come crashing in ,” said Janakamma.
In the recent incident, the house owner Bujji invited his daughter and grandson, and in the night the ceiling collapsed.
CITU and Iykayacharana committee member of jute mill quarters S Appalanaidu said: “The civic officials told us us to shift to some other houses. Almost all the residents depend on daily wages, how can they afford to pay huge rents? Every rainy season two or three houses collapse. We want the officials to shift the residents to safer places,” said Appalanaidu.