SC families shocked with allocation of 30 sq. metres of land for building houses in Watrap

People belonging to Scheduled Caste community from Watrap with their petition at the Virudhunagar Collectorate on Monday.

Revenue officials in Watrap have shocked six families belonging to Arunthathiyar community by allocating them a meagre 30 square metres of land for constructing houses after having demolished their hutments built on Government poromboke land.

In a petition submitted to Virudhunagar Collector V.P. Jeyaseelan, functionaries of Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front sought allocation of at least one-and-a-half cents or two cents of land to help them benefit under the State or Central Government housing scheme.

“This small piece of land measuring 30 square metre in Sundarapandiam village would not be useful even to build a proper house,” said State functionary of the front S. Lakshmi.

She said that seven familiies belonging to the Scheduled Caste community had been living on Government poramboke land along the Sengulam irrigation tank bund for nearly 60 years. They had set up tents with used flex banners.

However, following a notice issued by the Upper Vaippar Sub-Division of Water Resources Department, the huts were demolished on January 21 using earth movers.

The family members were given temporary accommodation on a school premises.

Subsequently, the revenue officials allocated the land for construction houses as an alternative site to six families on February 12.

“The families, who were in abject poverty, did not have the wherewithal to construct houses. Even if they need to get assistance under Kalaignar Kanavu Veedu Thittam, they need to have bigger housing plot to become eligible, she said.

“When the families had pleaded with the officials for bigger plots, one of the officials had told them that they had been living on much smaller piece of land with just used flex banners as roof and this was a bigger plot for them now,” Ms. Lakshmi rued.