Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Focus on housing rights of marginalised communities

CHENNAI: Houses of standard quality and choice of the locality they wished to reside in were the rights of the marginalised persons who were victims of disasters, said speakers at a conference held here recently, on housing rights of the marginalised communities in disasters.

The conference was jointly organised by the Human Rights Advocacy and Research Foundation (HRF), New Entity for Social Action and People’s Action Movement. HRF Director Ossie Fernandes said the affected people must be enabled to build their own houses instead of the government agencies or non-governmental organisations constructing the houses for them.

The State government must stop evicting the marginalised communities from their traditional lands for housing.

It must not impose restrictions on the coastal areas chosen for living by the marginalised people, he said. Pointing out to the recent findings of the HRF, he said most houses constructed in tsunami-affected areas, be it by the government agencies or by NGOs were of sub-standard.

Several people in many tsunami-affected areas still have not been provided with housing facility as promised to them. The representatives of the organisation had surveyed coastal districts, including Kancheepuram and Cuddalore for the findings, he said.

He complained that the lands allotted to most of the tsunami-affected people, including fishing community, dalits and adivasis were either wetlands or in low-lying areas.

A core committee has been formed to draft a memorandum on the deliberations of the conference regarding housing, land rights and rehabilitation of the marginalised communities and submit it to the government, Mr.Fernandes added.

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