Tamil Nadu   

Low-cost houses for hosiery workers, the need of the hour

TIRUPUR: The upgradation of Tirupur Municipality into a Corporation has raised high expectations among the business community and residents of Tirupur. The elevated local body has to address a host of issues pertaining to the infrastructure needs of this rapidly growing city.

“All we need is better infrastructure. We have entrepreneurship, an established industry and workforce. What we need is better roads, drainage and bridges. In short, the town needs to be beautified,” says A. Sakthivel, president of Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA).

With the local body elevated as Corporation, TEA has appealed to the Government to establish a Police Commissionerate and increase police strength to regulate traffic and prevent crimes.

As the Government plans to construct five more rail overbridges across Tirupur, the demand to desilt the Noyyal river and construction of bridges across it has received a boost. Various trade bodies have been asking the Government to lay roads along the Noyyal, which divides the town into two.

Since the town with a vehicular population of two lakh adds around 200 vehicles every day, MDMK town secretary K. Sivabalan demands that all roads should be widened by removing encroachments on either side.

Though the city has earned world acclaim, unapproved layouts and slums abound. As many as 175 unapproved layouts across the city cry for basic amenities such as roads, drainage, water and streetlights.

The simplified scheme for regularisation announced by the Government a year ago received overwhelming response fetching a revenue of Rs. 7.17 crore from 17,963 residents. But these layouts require over Rs. 60 crore for basic amenities. Councillors cutting across party lines have been consistently demanding special allocation for these layouts. Though a bitter reality, one third of the population or around one lakh residents of the town live in 87 slums in sub-human conditions.

The municipality has now taken up works in 27 slums but the residents of 60 other slums do not have basic amenities.

CITU State secretary M. Chandran demands construction of low cost houses for workers, besides a 100-bed multi specialty hospital by the ESI Corporation. “Migrant hosiery workers are leading a pathetic living here. Due to exorbitant house rents, thousands of workers are forced to live in tiny (10’ X10’) houses (known as line houses locally).

A major portion of their revenue goes to rent, which ranges around Rs.1,000 a month for a 100 sq ft house,” he complains. In the costly town of Tirupur, workers often return to their native places resulting in a huge shortage of workforce.

“This is mainly because of poor living conditions. All members of the family have to toil to lead a decent living here. The Government through its Housing Board should launch a massive low cost housing project for labourers,” he demands.

Noting that the Corporation will complement the export industry, M. Ramu, a trustee of Valam, a citizen’s initiative to create infrastructure, wants a master plan to cope with future growth.

He wants creation of ‘Tirupur Development Agency’ for better coordination among all departments.

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