Even after a year they moved in, families have a litany of woes, but officials say they take up repair work whenever needed

Given an option, Devi would prefer moving back to Kotturpuram, but all that remains there is rubble of her flattened home.

And building a new one would cost her a fortune.

Her only choice now is to continue living at her new home in the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board tenements in Perumbakkam, which is in a state of disrepair.

Earlier this week, a portion of the cement plaster from the ceiling fell next to her 70-year-old mother, who was sleeping on the bed.

“Luckily, the cement block fell a few inches away from her,” said Devi, who, with her mother, lives in K Block.

Gaping holes

Devi is not the only one complaining. Murugan, who lives on the first floor of the block with his two daughters showed a broken window, which came crashing down when heavy rains lashed the city.

“Whenever there is heavy wind or rains some part or the other of the house breaks,” said Murugan.

Most houses in the block were in a poor state.

Gaping holes in walls, cracks and corroded ceiling, water seeping out of walls, broken toilets and pipes were a common sight.

The elevators in the building too, residents say, need repair.

It has been a year since families moved to the tenements and while they claim to have repeatedly complained to the officials from Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board, no action has been taken.

Officials from the Board, on the other hand, say that they have been repairing the houses.