ERWADI : It's been 10 years since 28 people were tragically killed in a fire that engulfed a private 'home' for the mentally ill in Erwadi on August 6, 2001. Since then, for the patients and caregivers who throng the Quthbus Sultan Syed Ibrahim Shaheed Valiyullah Dargah here, not much has changed.
Famed for its curative powers, the dargah attracts thousands of visitors every year, many of whom come hoping desperately for a cure for their loved ones. Some stay with their relatives and look after them, others abandon them at or near the dargah. Uncared for, ill and vulnerable to abuse, those abandoned wander about, surviving on begging. If they turn violent, they are tied or chained up.To deal with this to some extent, in 2008, the then collector of Ramanathapuram commissioned a proposal for a treatmentcumrehabilitation centre to be set up in Erwadi on government land. The proposal was submitted by a NGO in Madurai to the collectorate. It suggested setting up a centre that could house about 200 abandoned mentally ill people to provide them with treatment and help rehabilitate them through vocational training. The administration was willing to provide a 22,000 sq feet plot near the Erwadi Primary Health Centre, according to the proposal. The estimated cost of setting up and running the centre for three years was over `4 crore.
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