CHENNAI: The bridge on Pallavan Salai that bears the heavy flow of traffic throughout the day may not be a cushy place to sleep at all. But, for years, hundreds of residents from the nearby Gandhi Nagar and SM Nagar prefer the concrete bed of the pavement to sleep, not minding the heavy vehicles that move at a breakneck speed late in the nights. This, they say, is far better than being dogged by the swarming mosquitoes that emerge from the dark ravines of the Cooum down below and the frequent power cuts that tend to give them sleepless nights.They complain that the increasing number of mosquitoes is due to the Government General Hospital nearby which dump wastes near the Cooum. Despite repeated requests to government officials to find a solution to the frequent power cuts, the residents claim that none have bothered to help.Forty eight-year-old Noorjahan knew it was a risk to sleep on the pavement yet she had no choice as she found it tough to put her 11-year-old grandson to sleep inside her house, which was bereft of power supply at nights. “I borrow electricity from nearby houses for `200 a month. Still, I face low voltage and frequent power cuts. We have spoken to many government officials to find a solution to our problem but nothing has happened in the past so many years,” said the woman, who had been sleeping on the pavement for the past 11 years.It was no different for 38-year-old daily wage labourer Sasikala, who had been sleeping on the same pavement since her childhood. “I go for sweeping or some construction work and get paid `150 a day. Sometimes, I even travel outside Chennai for work. But every night, when I come back and lie down on the pavement, I’m instantly off to sleep. The noise of the vehicles is not a disturbance as my body pain lulls to sleep soon,” said Sasikala.There are over 10,000 families, most of them daily wage earners, living in both Gandhi Nagar and SM Nagar that are located behind the bridge. Residents start walking on to the pavement as early as 8 or 9pm. But they don’t spread their mats or bed sheets on the pavement until midnight as there would be heavy traffic till then. They would hardly sleep for five or six hours and wake up with the sunrise as traffic starts getting heavier. While some would continue their sleep inside their houses, others get ready for work.While speaking to City Express, Sasikala wakes up her 20-year-old daughter who is nine months pregnant, from deep slumbers. “My daughter was in Erode and has now come here for her delivery. Though I never feared for my life, I have to wake up frequently and keep a watch on my daughter through the night,” said Sasikala.Tricycle rider Muthu (30), who was born and raised in the locality, said he got used to the vibration they all feel when heavy vehicles pass by during their sleep. “There is obviously a lot of vibration when lorries and buses pass by in the night as they go at a high speed. Some even honk a lot but we are used to it. No one cares if we have electricity or not. Cooum adds to our woes, lots of mosquitoes. We don’t even have proper sewage disposal system in our area,” said a worried Muthu.Raj (28), a loadman, is scared to put his five little kids to sleep on the pavement. He said their condition turned worse during winters when they were left with no choice but to sleep inside their houses, having to bear power cuts and mosquitoes.Kala (40), who sleeps in her house, has a different fear. She frequently visits the pavement to check on her only son Vinod Kumar, a mechanic. “I just came to see him. Have not seen him for the past few hours, so got worried,” she said, when City Express met her on the pavement past midnight.The residents thus live in a constant fear of an unknown eventuality, forced as they are to abandon the safety of their shacks and spend nights on platforms. Every morning, they wake up with a hope that it would be a new day with happy tidings. And it is with that hope that they lull their tired bodies to sleep.
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