Residents of the tenements built by the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) in Vyasarpadi, North Chennai face several challenges. The homes are cramped, barely providing enough space for two people. There are no recreational areas for children to play and for adults to relax.
Additionally, the narrow, unsafe roads with speeding vehicles pose a hazard for children living nearby. The drains are often clogged and sewage is seen overflowing onto the congested lanes.
So, how do people feel about living here? One resident laments that the living spaces in the resettlement site make them feel that there is no future or means to improve their lives. “Are we refugees? The government seems to give the message that all we should do is work and sleep. There is no scope for doing anything else here.”
Read more: Chennai families caught in a debt trap as they await new tenements from TNUHDB
Most of the people living here were evicted from their original homes and resettled in the TNUHDB high-rise tenements.
As part of the activities at the storytelling workshop for citizen journalists conducted by Citizen Matters in Vyasarpadi, we created this video. It highlights the constrained spaces in the Vyasarpadi resettlement site and need for better housing solutions.