The people of Bhojaraja Nagar have lost count of the
number of lives lost on the railway track that runs along their slum. Being hit
by trains is common for these people who have no other choice but to carry
plastic pots to the other side of the track to collect water.
With over 1000
houses sandwiched between the railway track next to Basin Bridge and the Cooum,
Bhojaraja nagar is comfortably ignored even by the residents of neighbouring
localities. The community has been living without their own supply of water for
over sixty years.
The expected stink of the Cooum is not what welcomed
me into the slum as I crossed the tracks. Surprisingly I was drawn in by an
aroma of freshly fried fish and hot sambar made by Rajeshwari, a 15 year old
who cooks and sells her food for a living. Rajeshwari’s father is unemployed as
he lost his leg after being hit by a train. There were a few women laughing
loudly and chatting as they had just finished their lunch at Rajeshwari’s eatery.
Their wide smiles were a warm welcome into the slum.
Asking if I could sit down and talk with them, I was
served some sambar rice with fish fry twenty minutes into the hilarious
conversation. The light hearted nature of the conversation about really serious
and sensitive issues was startling. They seem to laugh about it, not cynical
even in the least of its sense.
“This baby lost her mother last week while she tried
to cross the track,” Anita, one of the women at the eatery pointed at the baby
next to her. A couple next door are now raising the child who was found wailing
on the track, covered in blood. She says, “It has become somewhat common for
us. So many people die but the lucky ones like me escape”. She slowly lifted up her Sari to show her
swollen and hurt left knee and continued to describe her encounter with a
speeding train.
The main reason for these slum dwellers to cross the
track is to fetch water from the other side. If water is made available the
number of times they cross would rapidly decline making the situation much
better.
An obvious question one might raise would be about
help from the state or NGOs for water availability in a slum where most of them
own a ration and aadhar card. Though there have been multiple attempts to set
up water pumps here, it is either locked up by the local politicians or is
broken by the slum dwellers themselves. “A few months ago a private NGO set up
eight pumps here. Three of them are always locked by the local politicians who
open it only when they need it. The other five were broken by our people due to
fights over water,” says Mallika, a slum dweller. “It is just that we don’t
have direct control over the pumps and even if we do, it ends up being
extremely insufficient for all the families here,” she added.
The slum does not have any constructed toilets because
of the lack of availability of water. They find it easier to carry just a mug
of water than building toilets which will need a lot of water to be used and
maintained. “Why do we need toilets when
we have the entire railway track that could be used?” laughs Poongavanam as she
goes on to talk about the space allotted for men and women for defecation. “The
first floor where the track runs is for women and the space here, the ground
floor is for the men. This is our toilet,” she adds. A lot of pregnant women,
children and older people find it really hard to use these spaces along the
tracks. The risk of being hit by a train is increased with events like these.
If the slum’s issue of water unavailability is dealt
with, the intensity of their problems would surely reduce but, not until an
alternative safer route is created. The only way to reach Bhojaraja Nagar slum
is by crossing the railway tracks through a broken compound wall that’s
currently designed with tattered posters of Chinamma.
“We do know the
timings of the trains that pass by but, that doesn’t seem to make it any
different,” said Anitha. The children in the slum cross alone everyday to go to
school. “Waiting for our kids to return home crossing the track is something we
are always tensed about,” she added.
With the New Year round the corner the people of
Bhojaraja nagar slum had just begun setting up lights and sounds required for the
celebration on the 1st of January. The gathering at Rajeshwari’s
eatery was to discuss about the programmes and games that were to be conducted.
“We have a few dance and singing performances. Then
there will be a music system that would play the latest tamil songs thoughout
the day,” Mallika smiles. “Last New Year my husband was alive; he died this
year being hit by a train as he fell down drunk next to the track. The close
knit community that we are today helps us stay positive amidst our problems,”
she added.
The festivity at the slum truly brought out the
resilience of these slum dwellers that have been facing their own problems,
which now includes rebuilding after Cyclone Vardah as well.
Their last
words to me, before I crossed the track to merge with the chaos of North Madras
were, “Be careful while you cross the track” (Pathu track cross pannu ma.
Jaakratha).
