CHENNAI: The Kancheepuram district administration has missed its promised deadline of August 15 for constructing 88 houses for Irular tribal families in Katrambakkam and Mannur villages.
The families, who live in huts near waterbodies, have been waiting for the state government to construct houses since 2021 when they received pattas (land titles).
Construction of the houses on identified land in these two villages started in March this year. Senior IAS officer and managing director of Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation (TAHDCO) KS Kandasamy, on May 1, inspected the works and promised the Irulars that the houses would be delivered by August 15.
However, a status update as on Friday shows in Katrambakkam, only the foundation and base level work has been completed in some houses, while in others some pillars have been erected. In Mannur, most house plots have only dug pits with work moving at a slow pace.
Worried at the prospect of spending another North-East Monsoon with snakes and mosquitoes invading their huts, the tribal families have requested the authorities to complete the works before October. Acknowledging the delay, a senior government official told TNIE it would be finished within a month.
President of Sriperumbudur Irular Makkal Nala Sangam and one of the beneficiaries in Mannur Kavitha Thandoni (23) said the officials cited issues with availability of water and electricity supply and hindrance from local villagers as reasons for the delay. “They have promised to finish it by November,” she said.
Adding to the complication, some of the Irular families living near waterbodies in Sriperumbudur, Chinna Yerikkarai and Sriperumbudur Periya Yerikkarai were displaced a few weeks ago as part of the Chennai Peripheral Ring Road project executed by the state highways department. These families are part of the 88 whose houses are yet to be constructed in the two villages.
After the Irular association pointed this out to the authorities including Kandasamy IAS, they promised to set up a few sheds in Thendral Nagar, Katrambakkam village panchayat as a temporary arrangement for the displaced families that have a patta. The work on this too is delayed due to scarcity in the availability of materials, Thandoni added.