Chennai: Construction workers living on pavement for three generations finally get homes to call their own

CHENNAI: After living on the footpaths for three generations, the family of Sivagami moved to a new multi-storey apartment built by the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board in Mangalapuram.

The 38-year-old was among the beneficiaries of the labour department's exclusive housing scheme for registered members of the TN Construction Workers Welfare Board (TNCWWB).

Excited to have a roof of her own and never to worry about rain or shine, Sivagami said their parents lived on the footpath in and around Ayanavaram and she endured the suffering since her child till yesterday.

“It was my dream to have four walls and a roof over our head for my family,” said the mother of two.

Sivagami’s younger sister Pushpa and seven other construction workers have been allocated tenements in Mangalapuram under the free housing scheme for construction workers launched by the state labour department.

Under the scheme, the welfare board paid Rs 4 lakh for beneficiaries to the TNUHDB (registered) to allocate the tenements to them.

“I started the process to get a house when my daughter was two years old. She is now 17 years and the journey to reach here (the house) was not easy. Until a few years ago, we had no proof of our existence. Now, I have an address for myself and my children,” said Sivagami with her daughter next to her, who was thrilled to move into a single-bedroom house on the third floor of a multi-storey tenement.

Rainy days are a nightmare for the pavement dwellers, said Sivagami’s husband V Mari and her brother-in-law M Selvam.

“There will be no one to help us when it is raining heavily. We took refuge in the bus depot and slept in the stationed buses during night hours for our safety. On one such occasion, the flood and heavy rain toppled the bus in which we were sleeping. Luckily, we escaped with minor injuries,” said Mari.

He, however, said there were more than 100 families living in and around Ayanavaram bus depot two decades ago and took solace under the trees in the railway quarters in the vicinity during night hours. But they were often chased away by authorities and police. This forced many to migrate to the outskirts of Chennai and neighbouring districts.

“Life was uncertain all these years. Now, the house gave a lot of hope,” said another beneficiary, who did not want to be named and urged the government to relax the norms to provide housing facilities for street dwellers, keeping their children's future in mind.

It may be recalled that DT Next carried an article ‘Political limbo: Families lives under pavements, in rented portions amidst delay in handing over homes’ on October 22 last year, highlighting their plight.