Paper short abstract:

Sriperumbudur rose to unprecedented growth in two decades, earning the title 'Detroit of India'. Meanwhile, for the local Dalit population, development was shown as hope for a better life, turned into a nightmare of survival, fear, losing their land, and resources and living in a life of precarity.

Paper long abstract:

"We were happy when these buildings came up, and now it is our nightmare," said an elderly man in Katchipattu village. In less than two decades, Periurban, Sriperumbudur, transformed from a rural area to an SEZ and a satellite town. With more than five hundred companies, industries, real estate and public and private infrastructures grew unprecedentedly, earning the title 'Detroit of India'. This town came up to alleviate the pressure of Chennai city's limited space and industrial expansion. While periurban dynamics is much talked about, the life of local communities is neglected in mainstream discussion, particularly of marginalized people, particularly Dalits. Industries and infrastructures bypass the Dalit population of Katchipattu, restricting their free and easy mobility around. Their traditional agrarian jobs disappeared, their lands were encroached on and taken away, and natural resources were depleted and contaminated, making life a living hell. For the youth, the only option for survival was illegal means of work, earning them the title 'criminal village' and poramboke (the outsider). Despite the development, caste discrimination and alienation of Dalits were very much prevalent. Their identity as Dalits and criminals denied them jobs in industries; meanwhile, they are used for menial, illegal and less dignified jobs that involve high risk by the police, industries and influential individuals, resulting in their arrest, jail terms and even death. The life of the Katchipattu community is an everyday tale of precarity, risk, fear and survival.