Chennai water-body restoration evictions and Perumbakkam resettlement
- Government and regulators Government of Tamil Nadu: The programme is water-body restoration and flood prevention.
- Communities and civil society Citizen Matters (flood audit report): Displaced families were placed in the path of floods; Perumbakkam flooded six times in nine years. Citizen Matters
- Press and investigations The Caravan: Three resettlement sites were built on a flood plain, marsh and lake basin and were submerged in December 2015. The Caravan
Since 2015, 19,817 families have been evicted from 83 settlements in Chennai, 95 per cent of them for water-body restoration. Of these, 12,045 families were resettled at Perumbakkam, which flooded six times in nine years.
Citizen Matters, January 2024.
Status As of January 2024 (latest source reviewed): 19,817 families evicted since 2015; Perumbakkam extended by 1,152 homes; no penalty reported.
- 19,817 evicted families — Homes and settlements Citizen Matters
- 12,045 families resettled at Perumbakkam — Repeated flooding of the resettlement site Citizen Matters
What happened
Citizen Matters reported in January 2024 that since 2015 a total of 19,817 families had been evicted from 83 settlements in Chennai, and that 95 per cent of the evictions were for the restoration of water bodies. The state government of Tamil Nadu described the programme as water-body restoration and flood prevention.
Of the evicted families, 12,045 were resettled at Perumbakkam. The Caravan reported in 2016 that three resettlement sites in Chennai had been built on a flood plain, marsh and lake basin and were submerged in December 2015. Citizen Matters reported that Perumbakkam flooded six times in nine years (2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023) and that the settlement was nevertheless extended with 1,152 more homes.
SEJ (Undark) reported in August 2020 that of a first batch of 2,092 families from the banks of the Cooum river, 500 had moved to Perumbakkam, about 30 km away, and that 60,000 families had been relocated in the previous forty years.
No penalty or sanction is reported in the sources reviewed.
- 2015Evictions for water-body restoration begin; three resettlement sites submerged in December 2015
- 2016The Caravan reports resettlement sites built on flood plain, marsh and lake basin
- 2018Perumbakkam floods (also 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023)
- 2020SEJ (Undark): 500 of 2,092 families from the Cooum river moved about 30 km to Perumbakkam
- 2024Citizen Matters: 19,817 families evicted from 83 settlements since 2015; Perumbakkam extended by 1,152 homes
What was said
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
The programme is water-body restoration and flood prevention.
Displaced families were placed in the path of floods; Perumbakkam flooded six times in nine years.
Citizen MattersThree resettlement sites were built on a flood plain, marsh and lake basin and were submerged in December 2015.
The CaravanHow it looked
Shown
- The evictions were presented as 'restoration of water bodies' and flood prevention.Government of Tamil Nadu
Recorded
- 19,817 families evicted from 83 settlements since 2015; 95% of evictions for water-body restoration.
- 12,045 evicted families resettled at Perumbakkam, which flooded in 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023; extended by 1,152 homes.
- Three resettlement sites built on flood bed, marsh and lake basin, submerged in December 2015.
- 500 of an initial 2,092 families from the Cooum river banks moved about 30 km to Perumbakkam; 60,000 families relocated over the previous forty years.
Who gained
Reached nature or the ground
Gained elsewhere
Responses on record
- tamil-nadu-government (2015–2024): Describes the programme as restoration of water bodies and flood prevention.
In court and with insurers
Lawsuits and rulings
Insurers
What nature saw
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
What we don't know
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
- Disputed Do the evictions protect families from flood risk?
Court
- None on record No court case on record.
Record
- None on record Who benefited from the land cleared by the evictions: the sources reviewed do not say.
- None on record No penalty is reported for the siting of resettlement housing in flood-prone areas.
Did the harm stop?
Not on record: the settlement at Perumbakkam was extended with 1,152 homes after six floods.
Who paid?
The evicted families, resettled at a site that flooded six times in nine years.
Sources
Press and investigations
- Sixty-Thousand Evictions in the Name of EnvironmentalismSEJ (Undark) · 2020-08
- Placing the Poor in the Flood PathThe Caravan · 2016
Communities and civil society
- Marooned and abandoned: displaced families were put in the path of floodsCitizen Matters · 2024-01
Connected cases
- India exempts critical mineral mines from public consultation India · 2024–2026
- Government of Tamil Nadu (Government) — here: State government; carried out the evictions; there: Asked for the exemption to be withdrawn