Pullad (Pathanamthitta): As dusk falls, Nandu and Yadu hesitate to leave. They say that they won’t go anywhere leaving their mother alone. But because of insistence from their deaf mother, who cannot bear even a speck of dust falling on her children, they eventually give in, setting off to spend the night at another home. Inside the crumbling house, Bindu tries to sleep with a heavy heart.

This is the scene that moves anyone to tears at Anthaliman Thottungal House in Pullad. Bindu’s husband, N. Madhu, a loading labourer, passed away 5 years ago. Until then, the family, which had been living in a rented house, moved into their ancestral home. The two-room-and-kitchen house was already in a dilapidated state.

Three weeks ago, heavy rains caused part of the house to collapse. The roof began to leak badly, and soon it rotted and completely fell off. Bindu, with her limited hearing ability, sends her children every evening to her friends’ houses to sleep. She now cooks in one corner of the collapsed kitchen, where the stove is set up. Bindu spends the night in the only remaining room, which could crumble at any moment.

Following a complaint to the district collector, officials inspected the house and told Bindu it was unsafe to stay. However, with no financial means to rent another place, she continues to live in the dangerous building.

Her elder son, Nandukumar, completed his degree with the financial help from his grandmother. Yadu Krishnan, who finished Plus Two, had to abandon further studies due to lack of financial support. Bindu occasionally takes up daily wage work to feed the family.

While alive, Madhu had approached authorities several times for help to build a house. The panchayat had promised funds for repairs, but knowing it was pointless to patch up a house in such ruin, the family didn’t accept the amount. Authorities say a report was prepared and submitted to the panchayat after a complaint to the village office. They also clarify that Bindu can be granted a house only if her name comes up in the PMAY priority list for Ward 4.