Protesting against the large-scale eviction of slum dweller from the city to its outskirts, a group of social activists, trade union leaders and students has formed an umbrella organisation called “Right to City Movement (RCM)” to campaign against slum demolitions.
According to RCM members, no new slums have been recognised in the city for 27 years, leaving hundreds of thousands of residents in constant fear of eviction and with no access to basic amenities like water and sanitation.
“At least 20,000 households have been evicted between 2005 and 2009 alone, and many more since then.
Only some of these households were given alternate housing in large-scale resettlement colonies, where livelihood and educational opportunities are limited and access to basic amenities has only come after a decade of their construction,” they said.
Ms Priti Narayan of the movement said that the state had been focusing on resettling slum people outside the city even though 10.42 sq km of unused land existed within the city under the Urban Land Ceiling Act that should be rightfully used to settle slum-dwellers in an inclusive manner.
The RCM will be holding a protest demonstration on Saturday demanding that all the slums in Chennai must be recognised and declared as per the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Act, 1971.
It has also demanded that the project affected communities should be involved right from the beginning through transparent consultations, ensuring their participation in the planning, construction and maintenance.