From tent to shoeboxes

Fisherfolk in many villages refuse to move into shoddy temporary structures
By Max MartinKancheepuram:

It has all the trappings of something that has had an auspicious beginning – ribbons studded with penants and mango leaves, melons smeared with saffron, and bunches of bananas. But beyond the decoration and the inaugural plaque, this colony of 45 shoebox-like black boxes remains uninhabited. Not a single soul.Fishermen in several villages along the coast of Kancheepuram have refused to shift into the windowless light-roof cubicles – of roughly 120 square feet – that the government has built for them as temporary shelters.Bang beside the East Coast Road, at Patipulam, about 20 minutes drive away from the famous Mammalapuram shore temple, huge banners welcomed ministers and the local member of the state legislative assembly to the inaugural of the temporary shelters on January 14, the day of the harvest festival Pongal.After the inaugural show, over the weekend, the shelters remained absolutely empty. Similarly, villagers in several villages in the area have refused to move into these shacks and preferred to stay on in tents and hutments along the coast.“They are hot and they stink,” said Thasappa Sekar of Selavanakuppam in Kancheepuram, who refused to move into a light-roof structure. Besides the style of the hutment, he and his neighbours found the new location offered to them across the road inconvenient.An inspection of the sheds confirmed the fisherfolk’s reservations. The corrugated cardboard coated with tar - and brown primer paint in some instances - give a peculiar smell and the structures do not have any well-deifined ventilation – exept the door and sometimes a narrow gap under the roof shoddily built up over a wooden frame.The walls can be torn away easily.In Puthu Edayur village in Kancheepuram, the temporary shelters are located on a low, wet ground, where water would come out if one presses the ground hard enough with foot. “Years ago we came here to rescue villagers trapped in a flood here,” recalled Thasappa Sekar, fisherman.In most cases villagers have not choice.At Elanthope village along the same highway, B Muragan (60) lives in a tent supplied by a charty that came soon after the tsunami. Most of his village has been washed away and the government is all set to shift the people to a set of shoeboxes. “It is only for a while, I hope,” said Murugan.Eager to meet evacuating relief camps by before the Pongal— harvest festival –government herded thousands of people into temporary shelters – made of tin sheets, light roof and other such material.State governments has also been pushing tin sheets supplied from Gujrarat, reportedly rejected leftover from the Kutch cyclone rehabilitation efforts, fishermen said.Fishermen said that besides becoming virtual ovens these shelters could be health hazards as winds could blow away these roofs and cause injury. Aid workers said that such injuries were recorded in Bangladesh during cyclones, when tin sheets and steel pipes that held them together became missiles.The Indian Express reported that the issue of rehabilitating fishermen in temporary shelters was discussed between senior officials and NGOs. S Jaibal, head of Nagapattinam Fishermen’s Union said that the government had agreed to provide shelters with roofs made of lightwood or artificial pulp material.‘‘Thatched roofs were suggested but were struck down because of fire hazards,” Jaibal told The Indian Express. “Senior officers who were present in the meeting had assured us that the roofs would be of lightwood. But they have suddenly changed their decision. It is not acceptable.’’A Government Resolution issued on January 6 through the Revenue Department, said: ‘‘The Collectors are given specific instructions that the design of the temporary structures and the location is acceptable to the fishermen in each habitation. It should not be seen as a government plan to forcibly relocate them though many have expressed the desire to relocate.’’But what happens on ground is a clear violation of this directive