CHENNAI: A monumental goof-up by the state government has put three sections of people of the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) flats in Thailavaram at the risk of turning against each other. In 2018, the first batch of people had paid Rs 8.15 lakh each to book 480 flats in the first phase of the scheme. Now, 268 houses are occupied in the first phase that extends from blocks A to H, all by residents, of whom most are first-time homeowners.
Last year, the occupants were in for a shock when they saw a newspaper advertisement by TNUHDB, inviting families from economically weaker sections to book houses in the second phase of the settlement, which have houses of the same size and design as their own, for a price of Rs 4.2 lakh, nearly half of what they had paid.
Even as the two groups of residents were trying to make sense of what could have happened, a third group of 128 families, evicted from the slums of Kotturpuram’s Chitra Nagar along the Adyar, were resettled in phase II free of cost, as they got subsidies under the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust.
“When we asked why the beneficiary contribution was brought down to Rs 4.2 lakh, we were told that the house rate was subsidised by the government under the PMAY Affordable Housing for All scheme for economically weaker sections. Most of us are also eligible for the subsidy, but when we asked the bank while taking the loan, TNUHDB had said the houses were not eligible for subsidy,” said Ravishankar, a house owner in the first phase.
TNIE has a copy of the letter given to one of the residents of the first phase by the branch manager of a public sector bank stating the PMAY subsidy cannot be sanctioned for the particular scheme. At the time of purchase, the first batch of residents said they were told by the board that the cost of units in the second phase was over Rs 10 lakh each due to the higher quality of materials and so, they had opted for the slightly cheaper houses in the first phase.
“How were the first phase houses not eligible for the subsidy as we had to pay Rs 8 lakh? We also fall under the same EWS bracket,” Ravishankar added. In addition, the residents here said they have not been given the sale deeds yet. Since the occupants are not in possession of the sale deeds, they won’t be able to sell the house, if needed, to any other persons. Since June, 64 allotments have been given for the second phase of houses that are sold for Rs 4.2 lakh each. Now, occupants in the first phase have been fighting for a refund, or at least, an answer to their question.
Aware of their frustration, families who bought the houses for Rs 4.4 lakh have been avoiding eye contact and conversation with the first-phase residents. They worry they may have to pay the same price, as only a few weeks are left to take possession of their houses. However, they have briefly united after the families of Chitra Nagar were dropped off here in June.
Enter Chitra Nagar residents
When TNIE visited the Thailavaram flats on Tuesday, the demarcations were clear between occupants of the rows of identical boxy houses. Families who were considered encroachers of the Adyar river were evicted for the Adyar restoration project carried out by the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust from Kotturpuram and brought here last month to occupy blocks I and J in the second phase of the buildings. There was an air of uneasiness around them.
“Nobody has openly shown us any hate but we don’t feel welcome here. We understand that some of the other families might be frustrated because we got the same houses for free whereas they had to pay Rs 4-8 lakh to get them. What we would like them to understand is that we did not ask to be moved from our homes in Kotturpuram, the government evicted us,” said Manikandan M, who used to work as a security staff in Kotturpuram and is yet to find a new job.
Dhanam Ragini, mother of two children under five years of age, said she was met with hostility even in the government primary school right outside the buildings.“When I went to the school, they stared at me and said ‘don’t come here in your nighties’. I then changed into a salwar and went today, but I was made to wait for two hours and no one came to meet me although they knew I had been waiting. Yesterday, my three-year-old accidentally entered one of the classrooms to meet the other students when we were waiting, and the teacher dragged her out by the hand with clenched teeth,” she said.
These families, however, said they are open to initiating a conversation with their neighbours, if it would help them get in their good books. Said Manikandan as he let out a laugh, “Maybe we should start a ‘Vaanga Pazhagalam’ programme so that they can see that we are good people and there is no need to be afraid of us.”
73-year-old Marimuthu is aware of the fact that living in the same kind of houses do not make them equals. “In a few days, we will be called for menial jobs in and around the settlement,” he said. When contacted, a senior official of the board said that the difference in prices were due to the difference in funding patterns in the two phases.
“For the first phase, the project funding was with a central grant, which we initiated as a pilot. For the second phase, there was both state government and central government grants. The state government may decide on the grants based on the availability of funds, it is not the board’s call,” the official said.
Moreover, the official said, the first batch of residents were aware of the price of the house before they approached the board. “However, they had asked for some infrastructure improvements which we will be taking up wherever possible,” he added.
No sale deed yet, say residents
The residents here said they have not been given the sale deeds yet. Since the occupants are not in possession of the sale deeds, they won’t be able to sell the house, if needed, to any other persons