Plea challenging clearance of slums in Chennai rejected

Dismissing the plea which sought immediate action to provide individual decent housing with patta to slum dwellers, who had been shifted to Thoraipakkam, Kannagi Nagar, Perumpakkam, Semmencherry and Ezhil Nagar, the first bench comprising Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan, directed the petitioner to approach the Government with a specific plea and precise data. 

Making an oral observation that court cannot interfere with the policy decisions of the Government, the bench said there is an elected Government in place to look at these issues and the court cannot be made to run the government. 

The petitioner Arungunam Vinayagan, appearing as party-in-person submitted that Chennai has around 27 lakh slum dwellers of which a majority belonged to SC/ ST community. But in the pretext of beautifying Chennai, the inhabitants were relocated during 1980 and 1984 to areas like Thoraipakkam, Kannagi Nagar, Perumpakkam and Semmencherry. Though the people were residing in natham land, Tamil Nadu Housing Board land, Tamil Nadu Slim Clearance Land, Adidravida Welfare land and Boomithan lands, they were displaced from their original habitation to blocks as small as 160 to 220 square feet. 

He submitted that the manner in which the blocks have been built shows utter lack of sensitivity to their privacy and was no better than an open prison with people forced to live in small rooms.