CHENNAI: After the tsunami hit Chennai in 2004, there was a mass eviction of slum dwellers. More than 5,000 families were packed off to
Semmenchery
,
Kannagi Nagar
and
Thiruvottiyur
. After cyclone Vardah, the fear of another mass eviction is palpable among the slum dwellers left. On Wednesday hundreds of slum dwellers held an agitation at Chepauk, demanding their rights to remain where they have lived for generations.
Since the early 2000s, more than 25,000 families have been relocated and another 30,000 families are set to be displaced in the coming years. A few days before cyclone Vardah was predicted to hit the city, government officials began surveying
slums
to identify families to be moved out. Official sources say that the relocation drive has been suspended due to relief work and could resume in two weeks.
Slum and
pavement dwellers
who work as construction workers, servants, drivers, hawkers and fishermen comprise one-third of the city population but occupy only 2% of the land area.
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