
MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday sought response from the Madurai district collector on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking basic facilities in the Sri Lankan Refugee Camp in Thiruvathavur, Madurai.
The litigant S Karthik of Madurai stated in his petition that the aforesaid camp was established in 2002, and around 500 families resettled in this camp in small houses roofed with asbestos sheets. In 2014, a 11-year-old girl, Saranya, died after the wall of her house collapsed due to heavy rain. Since then, the residents of the camp have been demanding the panchayat authorities to repair their houses. However, the roofs of a few houses alone were repaired under the Sri Lanka Refugee Right to Life Programme in the financial year 2016-2017. As of now, nearly 520 houses in the camp are in a dilapidated condition without concrete roofs, he said.
Besides, the camp also lacks proper toilet facilities. At present, there are 48 toilets in the camp but only 20 of them are in usable condition. These 20 toilets are insufficient for the current population of the camp, which includes 943 men, 800 women and 289 children, Karthik added. Highlighting the need for several other basic amenities including adequate electricity supply, he sought the above direction.
A bench comprising Justices MS Ramesh and AD Maria Clete issued notice to District Collector MS Sangeetha and directed her to file a counter affidavit at the next hearing on February 13.