Grief, fear and desperation on Vincent Road
A police official pacifies women residents who complained of problems in adding their names to the list of occupants in the buildings, at a Coimbatore Corporation school on Vincent Road in the city on Sunday. (right) A girl clambers on to a vehicle loaded with her family’s belonging during the evacuation from the houses.A comb, a rubber ball, broken plastic buckets and twisted steel utensils stick out from an open land on which a more than 30-year-old block of flats collapsed on Friday on Vincent Road at Ukkadam in the city, killing 13 persons and injuring more than 10. These prove a grim reminder of the tragedy and also warn of the lurking danger for nearly 10 such other apartment blocks on this road.About 30 feet across the road on Sunday, survivors try to identify and salvage property such as home appliances that escaped the brunt of the collapse. A few feet away, a roar erupts from a school compound where the people evacuated from weak Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board flats on this stretch demand alternative space to stay.“How long do the officials expect us to stay in marriage halls and schools,” protests Khaja Hussain, who works for a solar-powered appliances unit in Pollachi. “There are women and teenaged girls in our families and how do you expect them to stay for long in schools and marriage halls,” he asks.
Grief, fear and desperation hang heavily in the air at the Coimbatore Corporation’s Middle School on Vincent Road, about 100 feet from where the building collapsed. So is the case in the other schools and marriage halls where close to 100 families have been accommodated. A group of women air their woes and present their demands to officials.Food is being cooked nearby but no one is interested in it, as the residents desperately keep appealing to officials for proper accommodation. Children who do not understand the gravity of the situation drink water from pipes in the school while their parents pour out their woes.
Under the severely damaged roof of school structure, a group of men note down names and addresses of the occupants of the flats so that the claims for alternative houses can be handed over to the district administration.A woman complains to a police officer that people who do not own any flat are also giving their names. With her sleeping daughter slung over the shoulder, another woman also registers a similar complaint. The officer patiently assures them that everything for their benefit is being done.Even as this goes on, people pulled out of their houses wonder how long they will have to live in temporary accommodation like refugees. Maria, another resident, says: “We have been here for almost two days. Now, we do not know where we are headed.”
After the fateful Friday, the police, revenue and Coimbatore Corporation officials are saddled with the task of preventing further catastrophes, providing food for the displaced people and tackling anger that often surfaces among them.Pointing at the heavy police presence in front of a couple of blocks close to the site of the collapse, an official says entry for residents is banned even to remove valuables. Plans are on to involve fire and rescue services personnel to remove these and hand them over to the owners. Safety of the people gets top priority, he says.Amid the sorrow and anger, defiance also surfaces from the residents. They insist on new and strong structures in place of the weak buildings.
Mr. Hussain says: “We cannot move out of this place (Vincent Road). We do not believe that the buildings are weak because of the nearby tank (Valankulam). People like me who work in Pollachi find this place convenient to live in because it is close to the bus stand. It helps when we return home very late in the night.”Officials point out that even the present structures’ position is as good as encroaching the tank.The Ukkadam Police Station’s foundation itself had been difficult to build a few years ago as there was loose clay soil up to 20 ft because of the tank.They fear that re-settlement at another place may become an issue.
