TIRUCHY: A total of 35 families residing on temple land at Nanthavanam in Thirupparaithurai, along the Tiruchy-Karur highway in Tiruchy district, have announced a boycott of the upcoming Assembly elections, alleging that their settlement lacks basic amenities such as electricity and drinking water.
According to residents, their ancestors migrated from neighbouring districts several decades ago and worked at the Tharugavaneshwarar Temple, residing close to the temple.
The families were evicted in 2010, when the National Highways Authority of India undertook a road-widening project. With no alternative accommodation, the residents were shifted to Nanthavanam – a garden area belonging to the temple – after the intervention of the Thirupparaithurai panchayat authorities.
Since then, they have been living there in makeshift huts. “As the land belongs to the temple, which is administered by the HR &CE Department, no basic amenities such as electricity or drinking water have been provided to us. Our living conditions are worse than imaginable.
Our children are forced to study under kerosene lamps. Though we own mobile phones, we have no way to charge them and have to depend on relatives or friends outside the settlement,” said said K Nagarajan (64), a resident at the settlement.
Despite submitting several representations over the past 16 years to the HR&CE Department, the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board, government officials, and elected representatives, residents said that they are exhausted from repeatedly demanding basic necessities.
Citing the refusal of a no-objection certificate (NOC) by HR&CE authorities, electricity officials have declined to provide power supply, with local civic authorities not ready to provide drinking water supply too, said Sekar, another resident. K Thangaraj, a retired Indian Air Force officer and native of Thirupparaithurai, has been assisting the residents and cited several court verdicts stating that electricity is a legal right and that denial amounts to a violation of human rights.
“Several courts including the Delhi and Madras High Courts have held that a pending landlord-tenant dispute cannot be a ground to deny electricity, which is a basic necessity and an integral part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution. Even though the land belongs to HR&CE, electricity should not be denied as long as people reside there. I have therefore decided to approach the court,” he told TNIE.
The residents have also petitioned Tiruchy MP Durai Vaiko, seeking his intervention. He has written to the District Collector, HR&CE officials, and TNEB authorities urging them to find a solution. When contacted, S Senthamarai, Superintending Engineer of TNPTCL, Tiruchy Metro Division told TNIE that electricity cannot be provided without permission from HR&CE.
“Since HR&CE officials have issued a letter denying permission to provide electricity to the settlement, we are unable to proceed. If the residents obtain a no-objection letter from HR&CE, we are ready to provide electricity immediately,” she said.