Demolition drive: 383 structures cleared from Cooum banks

A senior Corporation official said that the demolition of these structures was carried out under the Auto Nagar Scheme. “As many as 120 shops from South Cooum River Road, Pudupet and 263 shops on Dams Road, West Cooum River Road and East Cooum River Road, Chintadripet, were demolished. These included shops, nine temples and five churches,” added the official.

Under this scheme, all the 383 shops, which were on the river banks, were allocated a space in Auto Nagar in Oragadam, developed by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB). Tracing the history of the scheme an official involved in the restoration, said that this was initially mooted in 2009 for the elevated corridor project, which was later shelved. “When the detailed project report (DPR) for the Cooum ,eco-restoration was being done, we initially found 458 shops on the right side of the river. Later, enumeration put this number at 383, for the first phase of the scheme. Allotments have been given for these shops,” said the official. 

The allotments entitle the person to 350 sq feet of space in Auto Nagar in Oragadam, where space of 300 sq feet is given free of cost, for which Rs 9.89 crore has been allocated to the TNSCB. The beneficiary has to pay Rs 629 per sq feet for the remaining 50 sq ft, which roughly worked out to be Rs 31,500. “The beneficiaries don’t need to pay it at one go. They will get the allotment after a down payment of 20% of this amount. The rest can be paid in instalments over a period of three years with a 12% interest, much like an EMI,” added the official.

Activists, however, think that this move by the government will kill the local economy. Vanessa Peter, a social activist working with displaced urban communities in these settlements, said, “These little auto spareparts shops contribute immensely to the local economy. We don’t know what kind of facilities have been provided in Auto Nagar.”