A slum in Paradip. Telegraph picture

Paradip, Jan. 21: Slack surveillance and lack of regulatory measures have turned the port town into a veritable slum zone, housing thousands of illegal settlers, including suspected Bangladeshi infiltrators.

About a dozen slum settlements have sprouted in and around Paradip civil township in recent years. Shanties have come up at periodic intervals. Yet, authorities seem to have taken hardly any measures to check the mushrooming of these unauthorised settlements.

The bustling township is shouldering the burden of over 60,000 migrants living unlawfully in the slum clusters. For the Paradip Port Trust authorities, besides civil and police administration of the state government, these illegal settlers are a headache. The beauty of the fast-growing township is getting ravaged as unlawful settlements have come up on available vacant land.

“Like most of the growing urban centres, Paradip is also besieged with the tricky issue of illegal slums. We have carried out eviction drive from time to time to keep the town encroachment-free. Besides, the Paradip Port Trust has also undertaken drives to rehabilitate slumdwellers on humanitarian consideration,” said Pravat Kumar Nanda, secretary of the Paradip Port Trust.

“The slumdwellers pose a threat to security and law and order. Some of the slums have turned into havens for criminals. These slums are serious problems to the development of the town,” said Shantanu Kumar Das, sub divisional police officer.