By Haritha John
This is the third in a four-part series where TNM surveys the lived realities of the migrant communities in Kerala.
Jaigan Bibi rummaged through the debris of what was once her home, searching frantically among the broken scraps of metal and discarded belongings. “This fridge was working,” she said, pointing to the motorless shell lying in the dust. All the materials they used to construct their makeshift shelters were scattered around, leaving no trace of their homes. On August 12, the sound of bulldozers echoed through the small migrant settlement in Kalamassery as municipal officials razed the makeshift homes where Jaigan, her family, and five other migrant families had lived. What remained was not just shattered metal but the broken livelihoods of people who had built their lives from scratch.
Jaigan hurried to a neighbourhood area where she works as a househelp, pointing out at least 10 scrap-collecting tricycles discarded in a compound. “Look at this—the rims and spokes are all broken. They can’t be fixed. We brought the raw materials from Bengaluru and assembled them here. It costs Rs 22,000 to get a tricycle like this,” she lamented. She then rushed to a nearby shed to show a pile of ceiling fans used by the families, now dumped after being destroyed by the authorities using bulldozers.
When the homes of the five migrant families were demolished, none of the adults were present. They had gone to the Legal Services Authority seeking help to halt the municipality’s actions. The terrified children, who remained behind, watched silently as the bulldozers razed everything to the ground.
This story was originally published in thenewsminute.com. Read the full story here.
