KOCHI: In the early hours of Wednesday, the abandoned streets of Manappattiparambu were jolted into sudden activity. With the assistance of the police, the officials of the Kochi Corporation and the Health Department arrived at the area to evict the 100 or so migrant families settled there. Within three hours the police managed to bring down the little huts and shacks. The belongings in them were also removed. The corporation’s move came after several complaints were raised by the residents and business houses in the area. “The migrants have become a social problem. Anti-social activities thrive there. The children of the migrants are a nuisance since they are into anti-social activities. They also pose a health threat,” said Rakesh Kumar, a resident in the area.But the evictees had another story to tell. As the houses came down, they have been left in the streets. In the absence of shelters, mothers were feeding their newborns on the road side and beside open drains, little children were seen sleeping on the ground and men and women could be seen discussing the steps ahead.“Allah Jane,” said Eid Mubarak, when asked where the evictees are going to move next. Eid has seven members in his family, including his 60-year-old mother who is a heart patient. For the past five years Eid and his family have been coming after the Diwali season to sell ‘dholaks.’ “After Diwali and Holi, no one buys ‘dholaks’ there. So we used to go to various temples and festivals to sell them. On some days we make `100 to 200. But some days there is no sale. As the cost of room is high we stay in the streets,” he says. But Eid and his family have been luckier of the lot. The migrants from Andhra Pradesh had all gone to work in the early hours. “They did not know about the eviction. The corporation could have at least informed us. We could have moved at least some of our belongings. Now, when the labourers return in the afternoon they will have nothing left in their dwelling places,” said Lakshmi Srinivasan. Lakshmi, one of the early migrants in the area, now lives in a rented house. Lakshmi has one acre of land in Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh. She and her husband came here 15 years ago. “The farm was not giving us anything. This is the only way to bring up the children,” she says.On the basis of a PIL filed by advocate Kaleeswaram Raj in the High Court in the context of an earlier eviction at Manappattiparambu, the state government had come under heavy criticism from the court for not implementing the Unorganised Workers Security Act-2008 and the Interstate Migrant Workers 1979 Act. “Both the LDF and UDF governments have failed to abide by the directives of the court. Under the order, the labourers and their families have to be provided night shelters, various health facilities and identity cards. If that had been done, these people would not have been left here in the first place. After failing to take up action, the corporation has now gone and destroyed whatever homes they had,” said Kaleeswaram Raj.
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