The slum dwellers from areas like the Dhakuria Rail colony, Rajdanga canal bank and Naskarhat were to be allocated flats under the Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme and the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY).

Take the case of Subala Sardar, whose family was evicted from a shanty in the Dhakuria Rail colony in 2005. Sardar was told by the local CPM leaders that she would get a flat in Nonadanga within a year. Believing the Left leaders, she moved to Nonadanga with a dream of owning a house there. “After moving to Nonadanga nearly four years ago, we have been leading a life of vagabonds,” said Sardar.

Like Sardar’s, there are nearly 20 such families who are yet to be allocated flats as promised. They live on a damp land that gets waterlogged in the rainy season. Their only fault, they say, is that they did not join the CPM.

Although some families have moved to other areas, around eight families continue to live in hutments on the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) land in Nonadanga.

Under the BSUP and the VAMBAY schemes, 50 per cent of the cost of construction was to be borne by the Centre and 30 per cent by the state. A senior civic official said the Centre has been releasing the fund on time and there is no fund crunch for the scheme. He, however, added that political bias seemed to be the only reason for delaying allocation of flats to these families.

“We have asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the KMDA to rehabilitate these families several times, but no step has been taken so far. Since they are Trinamool Congress supporters, they have been deprived of their houses,” said Ratan Dey, Councillor, Ward 93, from where the slum dwellers were evicted.

A CPM leader, however, blamed the affected families for not cooperating with the government on the resettlement issue.

“We tried to register all the illegal settlers so that they can get houses under the schemes. But many of them began protesting against the eviction drive. Now they are coming to us asking for flats. Their allegation is baseless,” said Rabin Deb, former government chief whip who was closely associated with the schemes.

“We will wait for a few more months and if nothing happens, we will launch an agitation under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee,” said Dey.