More than 21K families living along Buckingham Canal to be evicted

Chennai

In the order issued a few days ago, the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department has estimated that 21,334 families would be resettled and rehabilitated at a cost of Rs 3,339.92 crore. These include 15,360 families living within the right of way (RoW) along Buckingham Canal and 2,204 families living along the 21 drains linked to it. Also, 2,716 and 1,054 families live within the RoW of Adyar drains and Cooum drains project area.

“The Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) needs to undertake a detailed survey of project affected families which is proposed under the World Bank-assisted ‘Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat Development for Urban Poor’ project. The final outlay for the resettlement and rehabilitation component will be determined after the exact number of families living within the boundary of the waterways,” the order stated.

Pointing out that the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) tenements at Perumbakkam has only 2,000 houses, Venessa Peter, policy researcher at Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), opined that the authorities should find ways to implement proximate resettlement – that is, constructing tenements on the remaining portion of the slum. “Also, even after three years, the families resettled in Perumbakkam are still awaiting basic needs,” she said.

When asked, a Corporation official said the waterways are being restored to prevent flooding in the city. “The families will be provided dwelling units built by TNSCB. The government will bear 90 per cent of the cost, and the families will have to pay only the remaining 10 per cent on a monthly instalment basis,” he said.

Rs 5,439.76 crore allocated to restore Buckingham Canal

While the State government is planning to restore the Buckingham Canal by evicting the slum dwellers, the Greater Chennai Corporation is preparing plans to create walkways along the banks of the waterway between Madhya Kailash and Tiruvanmiyur MRTS.

The government has allocated Rs 5,439.76 crore to restore the canal and its associated drains, and the PWD and Corporation will evict the families in their respective jurisdictions.

As per the government order, the total number of project affected families identified in Adyar and Cooum drains projects as well as Buckingham Canal project have to be corroborated by the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB).

Till October, 11,598 slum families have been evicted from the banks of Cooum river, 4,418 families from the banks of Adyar river and 1,752 families from the canals maintained by Greater Chennai Corporation. In total, 17,768 families were evicted from the waterways within the civic body limits.

However, several of them in Semmenchery and Perumbakkam are forced into unemployment as they have been thrown out of the city and taken far from where they earned their living. School students are also dropping out.