CHENNAI: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has demanded an Action Taken Report from Tamil Nadu within the next four weeks (by June end) about alleged human rights violations in the relocation settlements of Kannagi Nagar and Semmanchery.The NHRC’s directive to the State comes in the wake of a letter filed by M Perumal of Citizens Rights Forum alleging gross human rights violations in the relocation settlements (Kannagi Nagar and Semmanchery) housing 1.03 lakh displaced urban poor in Chennai.In a letter sent to the Tamil Nadu government, the NHRC has sought the ATR report by June end, an NHRC spokesperson told Express from New Delhi.“We sent a letter to the State government on May 11 seeking an action taken report by June end,” the spokesperson told Express.Perumal’s letter states that the urban poor were forcefully evicted from their homes in the city and relocated to settlements in suburban areas resulting in a denial of their basic rights. A fact-finding mission conducted by a host of rights organisations found that forced evictions had taken place in the middle of the academic year during a period of heavy monsoons. People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Tamil Nadu, along with Citizen Rights Forum, Forum for Securing Land and Livelihood Rights of the Coastal Communities (FLLRC), Kannagi Nagar Podhu Nala Sangam and Kannagi Nagar Pengal Sangam were part of the fact-finding team, Perumal stated.Not only had forced evictions taken place, but Kannagi Nagar and Semmencherry settlements to which the people had been relocated, lack basic amenities such as public distribution system, Integrated Child Development Services, Public Health Centres and schools, Perumal said. There were complaints that children had died because of lack of hospital facilities. In fact there is no PHC in the vicinity of one of the sites housing more than 75,000, he said.There are only 15 government Integrated Child Development Services centres (anganwadis and balwadis) when there should have been 150. More than 7,000 of the displaced lack access to the public distribution system.The directive from the NHRC comes in the wake chief minister J Jayalalithaa having taken a strong stance on evictions, dubbing the Slum Clearance Board a “slum eviction board” during her election campaign. She had criticised the DMK government for toying with the livelihood of slum dwellers , stating the AIADMK was opposed to slum dwellers being displaced to far off places.Meanwhile, a PUCL report says more than 1.8 lakh slum dwellers face immediate eviction under six projects.
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