Taking up the cause of slum dwellers facing eviction due to infrastructure projects, well-known social activist Medha Patkar called on the Governor, K Rosaiah, on Wednesday and presented a petition seeking justice for the affected people.

“Ongoing and impending evictions of slum communities from the city”, she said were being  carried out “without adhering to due process of law and just rehabilitation”.

“One of the waterways projects costing Rs 10,000 crore is being planned by the government without a proper public consultation. In the name of tackling pollution of water flowing into channels and water bodies, the government seems to evict the habitats of the poor on the banks of the waterways. Due to this displacement, livelihood of those people will get affected,” she pointed out in the petition.

Speaking to Express, the Convenor of the National Alliance of Peoples Movements said, “We are surprised to know that the government is not following the due process of law and instead uses Rajiv Awas Yojana forms for faking their consent of resettlement. The principle of in-situ rehabilitation enshrined in RAY and TN Slum Areas Act, 1971, are being ruthlessly flouted.”

She visited many clusters like Kannagi Nagar and Semmanchery to ascertain the living conditions of the ‘rehabilitated’ people. Her two-day itinerary includes a visit to the violence-hit Dalit enclave in Marakkanam, besides extending solidarity with the anti-nuke stir at Kalpakkam.