From Deluge to Displacement the Impact of Post-Flood Evictions and Resettlement in Chennai
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
FROM DELUGE TO DISPLACEMENT The Impact of Post-flood Evictions and Resettlement in Chennai Information and Resource HOUSING AND LAND Centre for the Deprived RIGHTS NETWORK Urban Communities GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT GREEN PUBLIC PROCUREMENT: Policy and Practice within the European Union and India Authors: Ms Barbara Morton, Mr Rajan Gandhi Reviewed by: Mr Wandert Benthem and Dr Johan Bentinck (Euroconsult Mott MacDonald) Copy Editing by: Mr Surit Das Suggested Citation: From Deluge to Displacement: The Impact of Post-flood Evictions and Resettlement in Chennai, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities, and Housing and Land Rights Network, Refer to the document on the project website (http://www.apsfenvironment.in/) for the hyperlinked New Delhi, 2017 version. Survey Team: Kannagi Nagar Pothu Nalla Sangam (Kannagi Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association) and Furthervolunteers information from various non-government organizations working in these settlements Euroconsult Mott MacDonald: www.euroconsult.mottmac.nl, www.mottmac.com Study Author: Vanessa Peter (with inputs from Shivani Chaudhry) Information about the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the EEditor:uropa Shivani server Chaudhry(www.europa.eu) and the website of the Delegation of the European Union to India (http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/india/index_en.htm). Published by: LHousingegal notices: and Land Rights Network G-18/1 Nizamuddin West EuropeanLower Ground Union Floor TNewhis Delhipublication – 110013, has INDIA been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The content of thiswww.hlrn.org.in publication is the sole responsibility of the Technical Assistance Team and Mott MacDonald in [email protected] with DHI and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the Delegation+91-11-4054-1680 of the European Union to India. In collaboration with: Mott MacDonald Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities TNo.his 42,document Second Floor,is issued Third for Street the party which commissioned it and for specific purposes connected withMS Nagar,the captioned Chetpet project only. It should not be relied upon by any other party or used for any other purpose.Chennai – 600 031 Tamil Nadu, INDIA Wehttp://ircduc.blogspot.in/ accept no responsibility for the consequences of this document being relied upon by any other party,[email protected] or being used for any other purpose, or containing any error or omission which is due to an error or+91-9941537581 omission in data supplied to us by other parties. Design and Printing: Aspire Design, New Delhi Copyright notice RNeweproduction Delhi, July is 2017 authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, save where otherwise stated. PrintedISBN: 978-81-902569-9-5 in India. This report is printed on CyclusPrint based on 100% recycled fibres This report is printed on CyclusPrint based on 100% recycled fibres ii Contents Acknowledgements iii List of Acronyms and Abbreviations iv Executive Summary v 1. Disaster-induced Displacement: The Aftermath of the November–December 2015 Floods in Chennai 1 2. Overview of Resettlement of Deprived Urban Communities in Chennai 5 3. Ezhil Nagar (Kannagi Nagar) and Perumbakkam: Sites under Study 8 4. The Study Process and Methodology 10 5. Study Findings 14 a. Basic Profile of the Population 14 b. Post-flood Relief Process 15 c. Post-flood Displacement and Resettlement: Violation of Human Rights of Disaster-affected Families 16 d. Violation of Laws and Court Orders 44 6. Response of the Government of Tamil Nadu 49 7. Recommendations and Conclusion 52 Annexures 1. Minutes of the Meeting conducted by Principal Secretary to Government, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, Regarding Comprehensive Child Development Plans in Kannagi Nagar, Okkiyum Thoraipakkam, and Perumbakkam, 30 October 2014 58 2. Letter dated 21 January 2016 from the Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board to Officer on Special Duty (Resettlement and Rehabilitation – R&R) 62 3. Minutes of the Review Meeting Conducted by the Principal Secretary/Commissioner, Corporation of Chennai, on 20 May 2015, Regarding Improvements to be Made in Kannagi Nagar and Ezhil Nagar 68 4. Media Reports on Perumbakkam and Ezhil Nagar 77 The Impact of Post-flood Evictions and Resettlement in Chennai i ii From Deluge to Displacement Acknowledgements On behalf of Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) and Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the flood- affected and displaced persons from the urban deprived communities who participated in this study, for their time, and for raising their issues and concerns with courage and conviction. We salute the representatives of Kannagi Nagar Pothu Nalla Sangam (Kannagi Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association), a community-based organization, for facilitating the study in the relocation settlements of Ezhil Nagar (Kannagi Nagar) and Perumbakkam. We also would like to thank the volunteers from various non-government organizations (NGOs) working in these settlements for initiating the needs-based assessment process in the resettlement sites. We would especially like to acknowledge the student volunteers: Ms Buela J., Ms Divya Bharathy, Ms Joana Loreen Keller, Mr Solomon V., and Mr Younis M. for assisting us with data collection and for facilitating the infrastructure-mapping process. We would also like to acknowledge the written response to this report from the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board. We hope this study will help spread awareness on the egregious issues related to the forced relocation of disaster-affected persons under the guise of safety but, which in reality, is part of a larger framework of promoting segregation and dispossession of the poor from cities, and will help the affected persons to achieve justice and restitution for the violation of their human rights. Vanessa Peter Shivani Chaudhry IRCDUC, Chennai HLRN, New Delhi July 2017 The Impact of Post-flood Evictions and Resettlement in Chennai iii Acronyms and Abbreviations AIR All India Radio AWC Anganwadi Centres CAG Comptroller and Auditor General of India CD Community Development CESCR Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights CMWSSB Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board ETRP Emergency Tsunami Reconstruction Project EWS Economically Weaker Sections GCC Greater Chennai Corporation GoTN Government of Tamil Nadu IASC Inter-Agency Standing Committee ICDS Integrated Child Development Services IT Information Technology JNNURM Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission LCPD Litres Per Capita Per Day LIG Low Income Groups MAWS Municipal Administration and Water Supply MD Managing Director MUDP Madras Urban Development Project NBC National Building Code of India NGO Non-government Organization PDS Public Distribution System RAY Rajiv Awas Yojana R&R Resettlement and Rehabilitation TNSUDP Tamil Nadu Sustainable Urban Development Project TNUDP Tamil Nadu Urban Development Project TNSCB Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board UN United Nations ULB Urban Local Body iv From Deluge to Displacement Executive Summary In November–December 2015, the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India was impacted by severe floods. The District of Chennai was one of the worst affected in the destructive deluge. Those residing on the banks of Cooum and Adyar Rivers, which house the majority of Chennai’s urban poor, were among the worst impacted. The banks of Cooum River housed 14,972 families in 65 settlements while the banks of Adyar River accommodated 9,687 families living in 28 settlements. Based on the announcements of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, on 7 December 2015 and 29 December 2015, families—living along the banks of Adyar and Cooum Rivers and Buckingham Canal—who had lost their homes were to be provided alternative houses in the resettlement sites of Kannagi Nagar and Perumbakkam, located on the outskirts of Chennai. Following the announcements, the Government of Tamil Nadu carried out a series of evictions of the flood-affected households under the guise of ‘post-flood rehabilitation.’ The vulnerability of the urban poor, after the flood, was used by the state to clear the river banks. Of the 9,687 families residing on the banks of Adyar River, the state shifted 3,464 families to the resettlement sites of Ezhil Nagar (Kannagi Nagar) and Perumbakkam by June 2016. Plans were announced to relocate an additional 2,519 families in the month of May 2017. However, because of the change in leadership and the uncertain political scenario in the state, it is expected that the families will be resettled towards the end of July 2017. After receiving reports of human rights violations and the absence of due process in the resettlement of flood-affected families, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC), Chennai, and Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN), Delhi, conducted a human rights research study in the sites of Ezhil Nagar (Kannagi Nagar) and Perumbakkam, in order to identify the gaps in the post- flood resettlement process; to assess and analyse the living conditions at the resettlement sites; and, to explore solutions and propose recommendations to the state. The study uses the ‘human right to adequate housing’ framework provided by Article 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; General Comment 4 (‘The right to adequate housing’)