Years roll by but TNUHDB residents’ woes continue

Ongoing case in Madras High Court regarding relocation of slum dwellers to outskirts of Chennai for better living conditions.

It is around seven years since the slum dwellers, residing along the banks of the Cooum in the heart of Chennai, were shifted to Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) tenements at Perumbakkam, Navalur, and All India Radio (AIR) Nagar on the outskirts. However, the woes faced by them continue till date and so is a case filed in the Madras High Court for ensuring better living conditions.

Pennurimai Iyakkam, a non-governmental organisation in Chennai, had filed the public interest litigation (PIL) petition in 2017 against uprooting hundreds of families from the city limits, where they could find livelihood opportunities, and forcibly relocating them several kilometres away. Senior counsel V. Prakash contended that they could be accommodated in alternative government land within the city.

Since the senior counsel complained that the families had been relocated to places which lack basic amenities, the High Court, on May 10, 2018, appointed K. Elangoo as an Advocate Commissioner to inspect the tenements and submit a report to the court with respect to the amenities provided over there. Accordingly, the lawyer inspected the tenements and submitted his report. On October 31, 2018, a Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan (since retired) and R. Subramanian suo motu impleaded 19 respondents, including Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation, the Directorate of Collegiate Education, Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB), the Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection Department, Aavin, and Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.

However, after a lull for about six years, when the PIL petition was taken up for hearing on April 29, 2024, senior counsel G. Thilakavathy, for TNUHDB, claimed that the tenements on the outskirts of the city had been provided with all basic amenities and facilities. But Mr. Prakash disputed the claim and insisted that the Advocate Commissioner be asked to re-visit the sites. The first Division Bench, comprising the then Chief Justice, Sanjay V. Gangapurwala (since retired), and Justice J. Sathya Narayana Prasad, requested Mr. Elangoo to re-inspect the areas and submit a report afresh. The Bench also directed TNUHDB to pay a honorarium of ₹50,000 to the Advocate Commissioner, besides assisting him in all possible ways.

Accordingly, the Advocate Commissioner visited the tenements at Perumbakkam on May 25, 2024, those at Navalur on June 1, 2024, and those at AIR Nagar on June 8, 2024. He submit an interim report to the court on June 11.

The report stated that over one lakh people had been accommodated in 24,660 tenements constructed in 186 blocks, each containing ground plus seven floors, on 200 acres at Perumbakkam. There were multiple access points to this area, but no mechanism had been put in place to conduct checks. “As a result, it has become no man’s land and a hiding place for criminals who commit crimes in the city of Chennai or elsewhere,” he said.

He said that only a few of the 186 blocks had installed closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras through individual associations formed by the residents of those blocks, though many women had complained about lack of safety for girl children even during daytime. “Violence against women has increased over the past seven years. Many of the women demand an All Women Police Station at Perumbakkam,” he added.