Residents in the old residential blocks of Dooming Kuppam in San Thome ( off the seaside) can look forward to moving into new ones in the near future.
The TN Slum Clearance Board has been, over time executing plans to demolish the old residential blocks it had built decades ago for residents on the Marina kuppams, from the Light House end, southwards and accommodate original residents in the new blocks.
In recent times, residents of Nochi Kuppam and Nochi Nagar were accommodated in newly built apartments in the blocks.
Now, work is in the final stages in blocks that offer some 500 flats south of Nochi Nagar. All those with legal documents showing they were residents of Dooming Kuppam will be given residences in the new blocks. The final stages of allotment has been on now, said residents here.
However, people who live in makeshift as well as built-up houses and huts alongside the Dooming Kuppam blocks illegally have also been demanding housing.
Residents say that such people have been told that they will be considered for housing in the southern fringes of the city where the Board has built blocks to house such displaced families.
Social workers who work in this kuppam zone say that many people are willing to move to the suburban fringes.
Once the relocation is fully complete, the old blocks of Dooming kuppam will be demolished and new ones built to accommodate families in the next kuppam.
The newly built flats are small in size; one small bedroom, a balcony, a hall, kitchen space and bathroom. So many residents convert balconies into spaces to stock goods or turn into kitchens.
