THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Their hut was bulldozed to give way for their neighbour’s new car. That was nearly a year ago. The hapless couple Maniyan and Baby have been spending their life on the footpath in front of the Secretariat ever since. When Express met the couple on Friday, Maniyan, a chronic asthma patient, was too tired to speak. His wife Baby explained how the authorities were turning a blind eye to their year-long suffering.The Maniyan-Baby couple and five other families, evicted from the ‘puramboke’ land at Plamoodu Bund colony, had started their strike for a piece of land on December 10, 2010. Of these, three families, who had other choices, left them.The remaining are Maniyan-Baby, Radhamani and Kamalamma. They have managed a room for the bedridden Kamalamma at a neighbour’s house. Radhamani, a Kudumbashree member, goes to collect waste to bring home the daily bread, while Maniyan and Baby strike the whole day in front of the Secretariat.Baby does some work in the evening to find food for them. Four lives are pleading for the mercy of the authorities for a shelter.While giving the order for demolition, the High Court had directed the Revenue Department to find alternative land for the evictees. A copy of the order in hand, Baby, a heart patient, is running from pillar to post seeking the mercy of the authorities.Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had intervened in the issue back in June. He had directed the District Collector to take immediate action. The Collector, in turn, had asked the Tahsildar, Pattom, to submit a report. “But the Tahsildar’s report was not enough to allot the land, they said. I was asked go to the Pattom Village Office on Monday,” Baby said.In the midst of the strike, Maniyan was hospitalised owing to asthma. “The doctor said that nothing more could be done, so we came back here. The medicines and inhaler cost a good amount. Some policemen and passersby give us money sometimes,” Baby said.“Last Onam, a policeman gave us Rs 100 for lunch. Otherwise, it would have been just another day of hunger,” Baby said. Police took away their cot and two chairs during the drive to clear out makeshift tents from the footpath in front of the Secretariat.“We won’t go away even during rain. We just sit here,” said Baby. In the evening, Baby and Maniyan go to their old place and sleep on the veranda of some neighbours’ house.
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