Ezhil Nagar and Konnur High Road Fact Finding

As one of the first initiatives of the Transparent Cities Network, the team conducted a fact finding to determine the availability of infrastructure and services at a relocation site based on a request by our local partner Pennurimai Iyakkam.

In November 2014, there was an attempted eviction of a declared slum on Konnur High Road. The residents, with the assistance of Pennurimai Iyakkam (PI), challenged the eviction before the Madras High Court and got a stay order in their favour. In the proceedings before the court, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) submitted an affidavit regarding the infrastructure and services available in the relocation site at Ezhil Nagar. The contents of the affidavit appeared to be misleading, and an overestimation. To verify the claims of the TNSCB, PI requested us to conduct a fact-finding in April 2015.

The team formulated a methodology for the fact finding with inputs from Karen Coelho and Venkat from the Madras Institute of Development Studies. We decided to do a comparative study that contrasted the quantity and quality of infrastructure and facilities available to the residents in Konnur High Road and Ezhil Nagar. This included water, sanitation, education, child-care, health, transportation, livelihoods, and safety. Data collection included interviews with TNSCB representatives at the site of the tenements, the municipal Councillor, residents, as well as staff such as the headmaster at the school. We also did a geographical analysis of distances of these from both sites. The fact-finding report was supported by photographs and maps.

The fact-finding reports were provided to PI for countering the TNSCB’s affidavit. They were also converted to one-page summaries in English and Tamil for dissemination to slum dwellers. At the first Right to City public meeting, other organisations requested that we disseminate these to slum dwellers to make them aware of the conditions at the resettlement colonies. We were also told that the reports improved the manner in which evictions were carried out. Residents of Govindasamy Nagar, another slum where homes were demolished and residents moved to Ezhil Nagar were moved in proper vehicles rather than garbage trucks as used earlier. They were also given food and water free of cost for the first week after the move. The Konnur High Road case challenging the eviction is pending before the Madras High Court, with the stay order operational to prevent further evictions.

Blogs

Ezhil Nagar and Konnur High Road Fact Finding

Livelihoods on the edge over relocation – the case of the Konnur High Road Settlement

Fact Finding Report: An Assessment of Infrastructure and Access to Services at Ezhil Nagar, a resettlement colony adjacent to Kannagi Nagar resettlement colony (May 2015, Tamil)

Fact Finding Report: An Assessment of Infrastructure and Access to Services at Ezhil Nagar, a resettlement colony adjacent to Kannagi Nagar resettlement colony (May 2015, English)

Report of the Fact Finding on Eviction & Resettlement from Konnur High Road To Ezhil Nagar (May 2015)

Attempted Eviction at Konnur High Road Settlement: A Summary (May 2015, English)

Attempted Eviction at Konnur High Road Settlement: A Summary (May 2015, Tamil)