COIMBATORE: The Irular tribals in Kandivazhi settlement in Periyanaickenpalayam have not had a good night’s sleep in a long while for fear of one day being buried in their beds with the roof having fallen over them. Such is the condition of the 20 houses built under the rural housing scheme a few decades ago. The roofs of the houses are crumbling and seem to be just one downpour away from collapsing.
The houses are a relic of the late chief minister M G Ramachandran’s tenure. Over the years, the residents have managed to acquire all the basic amenities. The settlement — that houses around 80 people — has good drinking water, electricity supply and even individual household toilets. However, all is not well with the houses themselves. The hut-like houses built in concrete are visibly fragile, having weathered years of living and bad weather. The steel rods in the roof were laid bare years ago; they are mostly rusted now.
With the monsoon having set in, they are now forced to contend with the leaking roofs and seepage through the walls. Waking up in the middle of the night to wipe up the water collected inside the house has become a regular part of life. With the house having become unreliable as a means of shelter, the people have taken to spending most of their time outdoors, says M Karthika, mother of a newborn. Some of the tribals have migrated to other areas to escape the doomed houses, she adds.
Project foiled by added costs
The residents’ only way out of this veritable death trap is the Chief Minister’s Solar Powered Green House Project. The district administration allots Rs 2.10 lakh for each tribal family to help them build concrete houses. However, the additional costs involved have made it a prohibitive exercise for the beneficiaries. Activist Joshua GPN notes that the extra costs could amount to as much as Rs 1 lakh; these residents do not have the means to afford it.