CHENNAI: The state PWD authorities and Greater Chennai Corporation officials have begun evicting squatters from the Cooum river bank at Padikuppam Rail Nagar near Mogappair.
Of the 220 families who have put up semi-permanent structures on the river bank, 20 were moved to Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) tenements at Navalur near Padappai on Wednesday. A corporation official said the process began on Monday and that biometric enumeration had been completed and the beneficiaries identified.
The PWD, Chennai River Restoration Trust, TNSCB and corporation have so far cleared squatters from 45 of 54 slums along the Cooum banks. All of them will be resettled in Perumbakkam or Navalur according to their requirements, said the official.
As per the original proposal, squatters from Padikuppam were allocated TNSCB tenements in Perumbakkam on OMR, but the residents opted for Navalur, said a PWD official. A TNSCB official said the families were not keen on the tenements in Navalur too and wanted to be moved to Athippattu, close to their current residence, but were finally convinced.
About 900 families from MGR Colony at Arumbakkam, along the Cooum, have already been resettled in the Navalur TNSCB colony, the official said.
The PWD authorities have widened the Cooum river along most of its upstream portions, and so are keen on quickening the process of rehabilitation. However, a section of workers from various political parties has been trying to misguide the people by giving false hopes that they will be provided housing facilities within their existing habitations, said the official.
Such efforts are already happening at Sathyavanimuthu Nagar off Anna Salai, opposite Island Grounds, the official said, adding that the authorities were also explaining to the residents about the rehabilitation scheme.