CHENNAI: Angry that the promise of allotting houses in the newly constructed tenements was not fulfilled, the residents of Chitra Nagar at Kotturpuram, living in the houses built under the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY), blocked the Gandhi Mandapam Road on Saturday.
According to them, 195 families living in the VAMBAY houses were assured by the DMK regime that they would be allotted houses in the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) tenement complex in Kotturpuram. Though enumeration was completed, the promised allotments did not materialise. Reports that the houses were already allotted to others made them furious, leading to the protest.
The single-room VAMBAY houses were constructed in 2004 to rehabilitate people living along the banks of the Adyar river. Over two decades later, the buildings have become unsafe and uninhabitable.
V Saraswathi of Chitra Nagar said portions of roofs frequently fell from the dilapidated structures and sewage water often flowed back into their toilets. With only a single room available, families were forced to carry out daily activities in cramped and unhygienic conditions, she added.
I Jamuna alleged that a young girl suffered injuries on her face after a portion of a ceiling collapsed while she was using a toilet. Similar incidents had occurred repeatedly, including a recent collapse inside a living room, she claimed.
Another resident, J Amudha, said most families depended on daily wage and domestic work and wanted housing close to their livelihoods in Kotturpuram and neighbouring areas. She added that living conditions worsened during the monsoon, with leaking roofs, sewage backflow, water entering homes, and mosquito infestation.
KR Kadhirmurugam of the AIADMK, the Councillor of Ward 170, said these residents were among the worst affected during the 2015 floods and had been seeking alternative accommodation for the past four years.
According to him, the Kotturpuram complex comprised 1,800 houses, of which 1,454 had been allotted to residents of older tenements, 88 to families evicted from encroachments, and 60 have been earmarked for residents of Sathya Nagar in Saidapet. The remaining 195 houses should be allotted to Chitra Nagar residents as originally promised, he said.
Responding to the allegations, a TNUHDB official said Blocks I and J in the complex have been earmarked for the 195 Chitra Nagar families. The official said the enumeration process was under way and that allotments were pending because some residents had not submitted the required documents. The houses would be allotted after all eligible beneficiaries completed the documentation process, the official added.