As many as 22 north Indian families residing on a poramboke land at Vendipalayam were asked to have free food from the Amma canteen at Marapalam here, after they complained of non-availability of essential commodities.
Most of the families are from Rajasthan and earn their livelihood by selling fancy items at the railway station, bus stand and other public places in the city. They have been living in shacks on the poramboke land without any basic amenities for the last five years and there are 70 persons in total.
“We fetch drinking water from the pipeline that supplies water to the plants in the roundabout,” said a 32-year-old woman. She said that they used to leave for work around 6.30 a.m. every day, leaving their children in the tent. “There has been no income in the last two months and we managed with the wheat flour bought with our meagre savings,” she said.
On Friday, many women went to Panneerselvam Park and other parts of the city in search of food. But they were sent back by the policemen. A volunteer provided them food packets and they returned home. They said that 15 days ago policemen provided them essentials and they had exhausted those a few days ago.
“Our children are starving and we are forced to go in search of food,” another woman said.
The Hindu took up the matter with Corporation Commissioner M. Elangovan who immediately deputed an Assistant Commissioner to look into the issue. Later, Mr. Elangovan said that all the 70 persons would be given free food at the Amma canteen, which is about two km from Vendipalayam.
“We have asked one or two persons to collect food from the canteen and distribute it among themselves,” he added.