Accommodated with no basic amenities

CHENNAI: The living conditions of thousands of slum dwellers who were relocated to Kannagi Nagar and Semmanchery were in no way better than the people suffering without houses.There were no basic amenities in the locality — no drainage system, no hospital and no roads. A few people who were unable to withstand what the experts called ‘structural violence’ due the displacement, have even committed suicide.“In Semmanchery, at least two girls committed suicide due to depression. The place is not safe for women. They can’t go out in the evening,” said Kannan of Semmanchery.“We are deprived of our employment opportunities. Youngsters, who were not able to find proper employment, have become addicted to alcohol and drugs,” said Gopal, a youngster in the locality.“For work, we need to travel 40 kilometres a day for which we need to start around 6am from Kannagi Nagar. If we go half-an-hour late, there’s no job for that day,” lamented Rajini of Jothima Nagar.Rajini has relocated his family from Semmanchery to Jothima Nagar mainly to get a proper source of employment. “Though I have to spend half of my salary for house rent, at least I am able to get regular work and my children are studying in a good school,” he added.But many people like Saraswathi of Kannagi Nagar are still suffering due to bad living conditions. “Look at the backyard. Can you see the water stagnation there? It has been that way for many months and is causing fever among children,” she said.There was no piped water connection to the houses. People living on the first and second floors had to fill the water outside and climb up two floors. “We don’t have a government hospital here. There is one private hospital that charges `200 for a consultation even for an ordinary fever,” said Kavitha.There is a school in the area but it doesn’t have even the basic facilities. Ironically, all the displaced people were dalits but none of the dalit political parties have taken up the issue, said the youngsters of Kannagi Nagar.“Without conducting any public hearing, the previous government has displaced thousands of people from the slums located near the Cooum river for implementing projects like Cooum beautification, Chennai Port — Maduravoyal elevated expressway and coastal elevated express way,” said R Geeta, advisor of Unorganised Workers’ Federation.MG Devasahayam, retired bureaucrat and urban development expert, had, on his own, held a public consultation and submitted an alternative plan for the city. “I have submitted the alernative city planning proposal to the Chennai Corporation but they have not taken any action,” said Devasahayam.According to the central government policy on slums, even if the government relocated slum dwellers for implementing any project, it had to relocate them within three kilometres from the place where they originally stayed, so that their livelihood didn’t get affected, he added.