Eviction of a slum in Govindasamy Nagar. Photo provided by author. All rights reserved.Men salvaged wooden doors and window frames. Women cried on the street, trying to keep their children away from the rubble and the machinery, as bulldozers tore down homes they had invested their hard-earned money on. Three years of research on slum evictions had not prepared me to watch for the first time, with equanimity, the actual lived experience of decisions made behind closed doors, in the high corridors of power.
Slum evictions and demolitions are not uncommon in Chennai, India. At least 150,000 people have been forcefully removed from their homes to make way for various development projects and beautification drives in the last ten years, according to data collected by the Transparent Cities Network.
Govindasamy Nagar's story is much like the stories of other slums in the city.
