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Little room, hefty rent: Life at illegal hostels
Overcrowded, expensive and unsafe — these unauthorised hostels are a cash cow for those who run them, but are an unsafe option for scores of working women in the city.
By
migrator
migrator
Chennai
Chennai is home to hundreds of illegal women’s hostels that have been sprouting at an alarming rate. With rampant overcrowding and absolute lack of security, these hostels compromise the safety of the women, especially when the authorities have no inkling of how to deal with them.
At midday, Canal Road in Thiruvanmiyur, a side street ensconced away from the chaotic traffic of LB Road, sports the stamp of a sleepy suburban locality, with apartment complexes dotting both sides of the road, housing middle-class families. But take a closer look, and one would see that these apartments have been converted into an illegal ladies hostel, and overcrowded to its tipping point.
According to the Tamil Nadu Hostels and Homes for Women and Children (Regulation) Act, 2014, any person desiring to establish, maintain or conduct hostel, lodging house or home for women and any person who is running such an establishment, has to apply for a licence from the collector, following an inspection by a team comprising district social welfare officer, a representative from the health department, personal assistant (accounts) to collector and the tahsildar or deputy tahsildar of that jurisdiction. The licence has to be applied within six months since the establishment of the rules in 2014 - which thousands of ladies hostels have failed to apply for. However, gaping holes in enforcement, has rendered this act toothless.
In this single street, there are more than ten hostels (mostly for women), but not a single one has a name board or is registered — as mandated by the authorities. This scenario is not restricted to Canal Road but has become common all across the city, with overcrowded, illegal hostels mushrooming at such a rapid pace that the authorities are left clueless on how to deal with the malaise.
Two years ago, when Ranjitha M, a 25-year-old, had moved to the city from Madurai, she visited a handful of the city’s registered hostels, an experience which left her sorely disheartened. “I visited a registered women’s hostel in Guindy but was appalled to see that in one room, there were at least 4-5 girls, with little or no space to move. Because of the overcrowding, the entire place was a mess. Left with no option, I found a hostel (without a name board) where I stayed for a few months, till I found an apartment. Though the ‘illegal’ hostel had better facilities when compared to regular ones, there was still overcrowding,” said the content writer.
With thousands of women coming to the city from various parts of the country for education or work, the demand for housing options had skyrocketed. In such a scenario, those operating these unregistered hostels, stand to gain monetarily — but at a huge cost to the public exchequer. “These hostels are being run illegally at prime residential areas, with domestic connections for power supply, paying the residential property tax and without licences and other trade fees.. All this is causing a huge loss to the government exchequer,” said O Unnikrishnan, secretary of Canal Road Association, who has filed several complaints with various authorities to shut these hostels or move them to a commercial locality.
Overcrowding is common in most of these unregistered hostels, as about four to five people share a room and have to pay Rs 4,000-5,000 per month each, making it a highly lucrative business. This clearly violates the Tamil Nadu Hostels and Homes for Women and Children (Regulation) Act, 2014, which clearly mandates a space of 120 square feet per woman.
Many of these establishments put the women inmates at risk, as they have no CCTV cameras or security guards. Ramesh K* (name changed on request), a resident of Kerala, had enrolled his daughter, who had gained admission at a city college, at a women’s hostel in Gopalapuram. “We had paid Rs 5,500 as rent for a month and a deposit of Rs 6,500. But I was worried about the lack of security and more importantly, lack of space. The girls had no space to keep their bags and were directed not to close their room’s door. In fact, my daughter said that girls from the dormitory used the bathroom in their room! At least four or five people used to live in a room, which forced me to find another place for my daughter,” said the businessman.
Overcrowding in such cramped spaces can be lethal in case of a disaster. Unnikrishnan pointed out that large-scale cooking happens in these houses, with scant regard for safety. “These hostels prepare large quantities of food, without any safety precautions such as a basic fire extinguisher, in a residential, overcrowded space. This poses a serious fire accident risk. In one of the apartments, there are at least a hundred inmates, which could be dangerous if there is a fire.
The fire safety guidelines have been flouted too,” said the retired professional and social activist, who has been petitioning various government authorities to shut down these illegal establishments. .
In addition to the Tamil Nadu Hostels and Homes for Women and Children (Regulation) Act, 2014, the Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1939 and Public Health Act, 1939 mandates a licence for those operating lodging houses, which involve cooking of large amounts of food. The Food Safety and Standard Act 2006 mandates that no person can undertake any food business without a license, failing which a fine up to Rs 5 lakh and imprisonment up to six months is the penalty.
But, the Tamil Nadu Hostels and Homes for Women and Children (Regulation) Act, 2014, has no penalty clause, rendering it toothless — which has enabled the mushrooming of these illegal women’s hostels in every nook and corner of the city — a problem that has overwhelmed the authorities. An official from the Social Welfare Department, which under the collector, has to enforce these stipulations, said that they don’t have the manpower to deal with the sheer amount of violations. “Whenever we receive complaints, we give closure notices, asking these establishments to cease until they have a licence. But these hostels are mushrooming across the city, where it is not possible for officials from the department to identify and act. We also have several other pressing issues to deal with. What is required is a team comprising officials from Revenue Department, Social Welfare Department, local body and the police to systematically visit and crackdown on these illegal establishments,” said the official.
As the officials grapple with the situation, the security and well-being of thousands of women is at risk — one which may prove to be costly or fatal in the future.
What does the law say?
- The Tamil Nadu Hostels and Homes for Women and Children (Regulation) Act, 2014, lists the rules and regulations for establishing and operating hostel/lodging house/home for women
- Application must be submitted to the district collector, following which an inspection by a team including the District Social Welfare Officer, Health Department official, PA (Accounts) to collector, and the tahsildar or deputy tahsildar
- But the Act has been rendered toothless by the absence of penal clauses
- The Act stipulates 120 sqft per woman. However, it is common to find four-five inmates in each room
- These hostels, often situated in crowded residential areas, fail to follow the fire safety rules. Though food is prepared for a large number of people, not even fire extinguishers are available
- A Social Welfare department official admitted that they did not have the necessary manpower to conduct inspection
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