Kerala: Twenty years on, evicted await home
130 families were evicted from Muthalakulam as part of their rehabilitation project
KOZHIKODE: Even as the new Government took charge, the 130 families who were evicted from Muthalakkulam and others from various parts of the city more than twenty years ago, do not find any ray of hope to get a roof over their head in the near future. The construction of flats as part of their rehabilitation project is still moving at a slow pace citing technical glitches in the Kalluthakadavu flat construction.
These families who are currently residing in various parts of the city including the roadside connecting Chungam and Butt Road and the Dhobi Ghana are living in an unhygienic condition and lack basic amenities like drainage, potable water and electricity. In addition there is frequent water-logging which makes them vulnerable to all kinds of communicable diseases.
According to Corporation Mayor Thottathil Raveendran, the rehabilitation has been delayed due to technical issues cited by the engineering section. Besides, the sanctions for various stages of the project is also getting delayed. “We have brought the issues to the notice of the State Government and an assurance to take up the project and complete it in due course has been received from the Public Works Department”, he added.
These families, mostly washermen were evicted in July 1994 and taken to Abhalamandiram in Kalluthaankadavu and later shifted to various other rehabilitation centres in 2010 with the assurance that they would be given a flat of 450 square feet space in two years. “For the last six years we have been living in the same unhealthy and pathetic condition and authorities have not taken the initiative to provide us with some basic facility”, said Latha S, a member of one of the 13 families living in the premises of Government LP School, Chungam.
“It seems that the Corporation is more interested in completing the work of a retail market and a shopping complex near the flat at a much faster pace while the construction of the flat moves at a snail’s pace. During the monsoon, it was very difficult to identify the courtyard from the drain and the common toilet is filthy,” she added.