slum dwellers

TNSCB floundering to implement in-situ project

A view of the dilapidated TNSCB tenement, Nochikuppam. Photo Courtesy: The Hindu

TNSCB guilty of violating NBC norms in the Perumbakkam project

A view of the multistoried Perumbakkam Resettlement Colony built by Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board. Photo Courtesy: Annie Divya, Researcher, Citizen consumer and civic Action Group.

CAG finds TNSCB in violation of the TN Slums Act

 

A post-eviction scene at a slum in Ennore, Chennai. Undeclared slums like this are frequently subjected to forced evictions in contravention of human rights and national and international laws. Photo Courtesy: Jacintha Chitra, Researcher, Citizen consumer and civic Action Group

The TCN@CAG team on 22nd December 2015, attended another hearing of the case related to the cleaning of Chennai’s waterways filed by Mr. Edwin Wilson at the southern bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Chennai. The counsels for Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT), Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), industries charged for polluting the Cooum (namely, Madras Fertilizers, Chennai Petroleum and Ennore Thermal Power Plant) and the petitioner were present in the court for the hearing.

As the community outreach team at CAG is closely following the developments related to the Cooum River Eco-restoration project, the team attended another hearing of the case related to the project at the southern bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Chennai on 18th November 2015.

The community outreach team at CAG recently learnt about the Government’s plan to evict 14,200 households from 58 slums located on the Cooum river banks in the guise of the Cooum River Eco-restoration Project. After a thorough perusal of the project documentation, we see it as a plan not to clean the waterway but as an excuse to raze the slums and develop the riverfront.