Where relief goes down landlords’ pockets

Most of the tenants here are unorganised labourers, with fishermen in minority. After a spree of such money-grabbing from the landlords, the tenants are a tired lot. Though they fear for their safety if they confront the owner, the simmering anger is obvious.

What has added fuel to fire is the fact that when several tenants opted to shift out of their former residences, the house-owners refused to return the rent advance.

‘‘The authorities gave me a token sum of Rs 4,000 as relief to cover damages to my belongings, but my landlord literally snatched it from my hands,’’ complained Parvathi, a domestic help.

Sonia, another resident, alleged that her landlord got the relief money for all the

10 houses she had rented out, thereby pocketing a hefty Rs 40,000.

‘‘If anyone confronts the landlord, he will be asked to vacate the house immediately and will lose the rent advance. Now, we do not have any document in proof of advance payment,’’ said Sonia.

However, there have been some ‘reasonable’ house-owners too, who have willing handed over half the relief money to the tenants.

Some others give the tenants a ‘choice’ whether they need the rent advance or the relief money.

Many residents have complained that they do not have their ration cards to claim relief money, as the owners had possession of such cards taken in their names. ‘‘While we have lost all our belongings and have been rendered homeless, our landlords are only adding insult to injury,’’ lamented Veni, another resident.

The landlords themselves give out several reasons for their action. ‘‘I have rented out four houses and all of them have been destroyed. While officials gave me the relief towards damages of my other belongings, there was none to compensate for damage to my houses. The only means I have to repair my houses is to ask my tenants to hand over at least half the relief money,’’ said Mukundan, a house owner.