It´s not always ´Slumdog Millionaire´

Just near the famous Marina beach is Nochikuppam slum that houses 13 hundred huts where around 5 thousand people live below poverty level. Among them is 35 year old Nandani who sells fish to earn her living. The scorching heat of the summer makes her life more difficult as her husband can´t find fishes in the ocean. "We don´t have enough money to have two meals a day," says Nandani. She adds that "It´s difficult to run the family."

ALCOHOLISM: THE MAJOR PROBLEM

Nandani lives under the global poverty line with her three children and her husband. The family earns Rs 50 a day. But all the money is spent by her alcoholic husband. "My husband drinks all the time. Alcoholism has been one of the major problems in the area", says a concerned Nandani. The fishermen were enjoying playing cards in the afternoon while Nandani was speaking about the effects of alcohol in her family. Most of the fishermen seem to be drunk in the day time.

Fisherwomen complain that their husbands are alcoholic and subject them to domestic violence. Their husbands would beat them after getting drunk. The women in the slums are voicing that alcohol should be banned. Laxmi, a woman in her mid 40s living in the slum, says, "Government should ban liquor."

POOR HEALTH QUOTIENT

Nochikuppam was badly hit by the Tusnami in December 2004. Thousands of people were displaced and lives were lost. Though they are lucky to have re-established themselves, their way of living hasn´t changed. People here are suffering from tuberculosis, dysentery and AIDS. "Every month 2 to 3 cases of HIV are registered," says Jaya, "but most of the people here don´t want to talk about the disease." The government hospital is 10 km away from the slum. The living condition in slum is unhygienic and contrary to all norms of planned urban growth. A lot of flies will cover any passerby if s/he stands there for few seconds. Jaya says, "This has been a factor in accelerating transmission of various air and water borne diseases." The open drainage in the slum area has exposed them to the risk of several diseases.

NO LIGHTS OF EDUCATION

Though the national census shows the data of 80 per cent of the slum population to be literate in the area, they aren´t sending their children to school. Lamxi says, "we don´t have money to send our children to good school and the local school is of no use. But the children in the slums have big dreams to become doctors, scientists, policemen and engineers. Vishnu a grade VI student says, "I want to be a scientist and invent things like steam engine."

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

According to a report titled ´Slums in Chennai: A Profile´ by Dr C Chandramouli, IAS, director of census operations, Tamil Nadu "Chennai has the largest slum population in Tamil Nadu where 10,79,414 persons are reported to be slum dwellers. The total slum population of Tamil Nadu in the selected 63 municipal towns as per the census of India 2001 is 2,838,366."

As the government is planning to destroy the unmanaged houses in the slum to restructure the town, the people here are going to lose their home. Though their uncertain future haunts them, they have no other options left. The government has said that it will relocate the slums. But the question always remains that will relocation lead to any improvement in the standards of their living and health?