COIMBATORE, December 25, 2010
Wall adjoining Dalit colony creates controversy
V. S. Palaniappan
A seven-foot high and one-km long wall built between a colony of
Dalits and a new layout is turning into an issue of untouchability
here.
Residents of Nagarajapuram, a Dalit colony at the
Veerakeralam-Vedapatti border near the city, alleged on Friday that
the wall had denied them direct access to a main road. Alleging that
the wall was a symbol of discrimination, the Tamil Nadu Untouchability
Eradication Front has taken up the issue with the government and
district authorities.
On directions from the State government, District Collector P. Umanath
deputed two Tahsildars — Lakshmikanthan (South) and S. Sundararajan
(Coimbatore North) — to carry out an inspection on the site. They
inquired with the residents in the colony and also inspected the
layout being developed by a realtor on the other side of the wall.
District Convenor of the Front U.K. Sivagnanam said hundreds of Dalit
families had been living in Nagarajapuram since 1976.
The local residents said that the real estate promoter probably feared
that the sites may not fetch good price if Dalits had access to the
main road through a link road in the upcoming layout. The link road
should connect the colony with the main road that stretched from
Thadagam Road to Thondamuthur.
The residents claimed they had been told that there was no link road
passing through the layout. The area adjacent to the wall was
earmarked for a reserved site. A park was to be created on it.
Jyothimani, a resident of the Dalit colony, said that for reaching the
main road now, the residents were forced to take a detour for more
than a km. The other long route to the main road could not be used by
women because of a liquor shop on the way, she said.
After inspection, Mr. Sundararajan said a surveyor had been sent to
measure the boundaries and ascertain the exact position of the
compound wall. The local body concerned would be asked to check
whether the layout was an approved one and whether the roads and
reserved sites had been handed over to it. Justice would be rendered,
Mr. Sundarrajan added.
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