: The Madras High Court on Thursday
ordered notice to the Tamil Nadu government on a PIL from CPI-M seeking to restrain the authorities from converting slum clearance board apartments into COVID-19 isolation wards.
A Special Bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice PT Asha also directed the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board not to cancel the allotment orders issued to 1,500 families in the city.
According to central Chennai secretary of the party G Selva, as the flats which are 45 years old are under re- development as they have become completely unsafe to occupy in 2018.
While the affordable lot has rented houses in the nearby areas, around 200 families are staying in makeshift houses near the apartment complex without power, water and sewerage connections.
The re-development has been completed and the beneficiaries were waiting for allotment as per orders already issued by the board. "But we were told that the government is considering converting the entire apartment complex into COVID-19 isolation wards," advocate R Thirumoorthy said.
The flats were already allotted to the beneficiaries who are without a proper place to live in. Therefore, the action of the authorities is unacceptable. Moreover, the place in KP Park chosen by the authorities is not fit for establishing COVID-19 special ward in the light of the guidelines issued by the National Centre for Disease Control, he added.
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