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Monday, October 17, 2005
Tsunami victims battle the odds
Ten months after the tsunami hit southern India, nearly 2,200 families in Chennai are back to square one - without a roof over their heads, and with many of their possessions destroyed.
The families are paying the price for the tediously slow response to finding permanent housing solutions in the city. After the tsunami ravaged their homes, they have been living in a school for the past ten months.
Hit by disaster
One residential colony in Chennai has experienced a series of disasters. The first time people were rehabilitated, the entire colony caught fire and two people died.
Now, after the rainfall over the past few days, the entire place lies inundated.
'They said 'stay here for three months', it is 10 months now. It's been the same heat and rain for 10 months,' said Amudha, a resident.
'It's a question of wrong planning and not taking proper care before relocating all these people. See, what was actually missing here is, government did not do a feasibility study of Kargil Nagar; whether it is fit for accommodating 2,200 families,' said Paul Sunder Singh, Karunalaya.
Finding land for permanent shelters has been a laboriously slow process.
'Chennai is a metropolitan city. There is always a scarcity for land and that is the fundamental issue, otherwise there is no problem at all,' said Chandramoham, Collector, Chennai.
Meanwhile, from the school the 2,200 families will now move to shelters built by the government. Built on government land, the shelters have cost an additional Rs 4.5 crore.
But the permanent houses for the displaced families will come up elsewhere and they will be asked to move out again.
Source: NDTV.com - New Delhi,India
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