With their houses pulled down, 25 families still live inside dilapidated wedding hall in TVM
Demolished in 2018 for promised housing, twenty-five vulnerable families in Thiruvananthapuram now endure squalid, cramped conditions in a wedding hall, suffering severe neglect, raw sewage leaks, and broken government promises.
Demolished in 2018 for promised housing, twenty-five vulnerable families in Thiruvananthapuram now endure squalid, cramped conditions in a wedding hall, suffering severe neglect, raw sewage leaks, and broken government promises.
Demolished in 2018 for promised housing, twenty-five vulnerable families in Thiruvananthapuram now endure squalid, cramped conditions in a wedding hall, suffering severe neglect, raw sewage leaks, and broken government promises.
Thiruvananthapuram: On one side of the colony is a massive garbage dump of the Corporation, and on the other, there is overflowing raw sewage. Adding to this are mosquitoes, flies, rats, and snakes, along with an unbearable stench. It is in the very heart of this capital city, which is racing towards high-tech standards, that a significant population, including children and the infirm, is leading a miserable existence.
The poor 25 families of Karimadam Colony, who once lived peacefully and calmly in secure homes, are now forced to reside in conditions akin to a cattle shed. Years ago, they trusted the government's word and vacated their own dwellings. Now, they have neither homes nor the promises fulfilled by those who made them. Their lives plod on, completely abandoned and forgotten. Their plight could be resolved with just a fraction of the funds allocated for major development projects. Their homes were pulled down in 2018 with the promise of new houses. Even after 8 years, around 200 families still don't have homes. Among them, 25 families have been temporarily accommodated in the Karimadam Wedding Auditorium.
These families are living in dormitory-like rooms, barely 100 square feet in size. Around a hundred people are accommodated in rooms divided by makeshift partitions. These rooms are deprived of basic amenities like water and light. For over a hundred residents, there are only two toilets available. Families are living on both the ground and upper floors of the wedding auditorium. Alarmingly, the toilet on the upper floor leaks, with raw sewage dripping directly into the living space of a bedridden patient on the floor below.
These families include individuals suffering from cancer and those who have undergone surgery. Many have fallen ill as a direct result of living amidst the filth. When their own homes were demolished, the promise was that new houses would be provided within a year.
Those who believed this promise have been suffering for years. To date, not even the preliminary construction work has begun, and they have no idea when it will commence. With no authorities paying any heed and unable to even lodge a complaint, these families are living in agony.