The families evicted from M.A. Sahib Street in Triplicane following an order of the Madras High Court have expressed concern over demand of ₹5.5 lakh per family by the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board for the allocation of houses in an alternative location.
While the board and the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) are planning to arrange the amount as loan through a private financial institution, the families said the monthly instalment of about ₹5,000 to ₹6,000 was too high.
Around 52 families living on the land belonging to the GCC on M.A. Sahib Street were evicted this week following an order by the High Court in a petition filed by an individual. With the court asking the officials to get the families evicted by Wednesday, they were moved out before an alternative location could be allocated.
The families were temporarily offered accommodation in a community shelter nearby. However, many have refused to go there. “We are not comfortable going there owing to safety concerns. Hence, my sister and I have taken shelter in a friend’s place for few days while my father and brother sleep on the streets. Our belongings are lying in the open and getting spoiled in the rain,” said G. Kanchana of one of the evicted families.
Pointing out that her family relied mainly on the salary of ₹7,000 a month earned by her father who worked as a security guard, she said that it was impossible for them to pay a monthly instalment for taking a loan of ₹5.5 lakh.
P. Chandru, another resident, said that while they were fine with going to the houses earmarked for them in Vyasarpadi, the government should consider subsidising the beneficiaries’ contribution. “We have to repay the loan and pay monthly maintenance charge of ₹750 to TNUHDB. It is impossible,” he said.
G. Selva, secretary, Chennai central unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said the government should have made alternative arrangements in advance before demolishing the houses since the court had given three weeks time. Arguing that the demand of ₹5.5 lakh was unreasonable, he said the government should consider subsidising the entire amount as the evicted families had been living on M.A. Sahib Street for generations.
S. Madan Mohan, chairperson of Teynampet zone in which the street is located, said the residents had to be evicted by Wednesday to comply with the court order.
He said although the court had not mentioned about providing alternative housing to the families, the government had ensured that they were provided housing elsewhere.
Subsidy given
He said that the government was providing a subsidy of ₹8.5 lakh per housing unit. “It is the rest that we want the families to pay for which loans are being arranged,” he said.
An official from the TNUHDB said the beneficiary contribution was more as the eviction was not done as part of the Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust or other such projects. “The houses being allocated to them are newly built and are of good quality,” the official said.
