CHENNAI: Subha waits for the shop keepers to down their shutters every day so that she finds a nook to rest her tired head after a hard day. The 28-year-old third generation pavement dweller earns upto Rs 125 a day by selling flowers which is enough to buy food for her family that lives on the pavement of one of the busy roads of Parrys. They have been ‘residing’ in the same place, below a transformer and adjacent to a public toilet, for three generations and even Subha was born there. As governments have not been able to change their fate much, their ordeal remains much the same.With the launch of Action Aid’s ‘Wall Street Campaign’, aiming to bring dignity for the pavement dwellers, women folk like Subha have come forward to share the story of their lives — a tale of toil and harassment by the day and abuse by the night. With the sky for shelter, women and girls are prone to sexual advances by almost every passerby.Subha said, “As we live in one of the busy areas of the city, many a time the men passing by mistake us for prostitutes.” She went on to say, “There were many occasions when men have asked me to escort them, for which, they were ready to pay `100. It pains me every time this happens, this is an unfortunate experience many women who live on the pavement face.”Neelavathy (24) from Broadway, who sells food in a basket, said, “My mother had three daughters. To keep us safe in the night from the prowling passersby, she used to remain awake the whole night. The only time she got some sleep was in the evening after she finished her work in the roadside food stall. Only after getting all of us married can she now sleep in peace at night.” “Sometimes we are woken by some random men who would be tugging at our clothes. At times, they come and lie down close to us on the road. We often lose our sleep for the rest of the night. Fear keeps our eyelids parted throughout,” says Subha.After the campaign, Neelavathy feels that they are more empowered now. “The moment we suspect that a man could be up to some mischief, we alert people in the community. There were occasions when we ganged up and beat up such lecherous men.”Another problem the women were candid about was the lack of toilet facilities, which would turn worse during their menstrual period. Subha said, “I have two little girls and I’m worried about them. Even as a young person, these were the days I really wished I had a house of my own, so that I have some privacy to clean myself. Every time we use the pay-and-use toilet, we end up spending more money.”A sample survey carried out by ActionAid among 2,500 pavement dwelling families shows that they are involved in 196 different trades, thereby earning their living and actively contributing to the economy of the city. Vanessa Peter, a Programme Officer for Action Aid, said, “This survey actually dents the commonly held perception that pavement dwellers are a lazy lot and they deserve what they get. In fact, that they are actively contributing to the economy. Through this Wall Street Campaign, we are working to create awareness among the public to treat them with dignity.”Though the recent 2010 Chennai Corporation statistics keep the number of pavement dwellers at 11,000 in the city, the 1989-90 statistics from a CMDA survey had held that there were 40,000 homeless in the city. A similar study by Action Aid in 2003 too had put the number of pavement dwellers at 40,000. At least 75 per cent of these homeless are living as families for generations on the city’s pavements.A roof above head still remains a fantasy for these pavement dwellers, though that does not deter them from dreaming that the new government will find them a home near their place of work.
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