And their fears are not unfounding. Though the slums in these areas are still under water, following overflowing of an estuary after incessant rains lashed the city, no preventive measures like distribution of medicines or spraying of disinfectants had been taken up by the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) till Wednesday evening.

These dwellers were evicted, after their slums -- violating the road alignment norms of the corporation -- were demolished from the Athwa Lines, Majura Gate and Sardar Bridge areas.

Residents, most of them labourers working in textile units of the city, have migrated from either Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, UP or Rajasthan in search of work.

``This is the third time in four years that water has crept into our huts,'' says Ellanna Yakkanna, who was shifted here three years ago. Hanumanta Bangappa, too, has lost most of his belongings.

Sulabai Rambhau Marathe, a housewife, has other complaints. ``We were fast asleep when the water entered. I was asked to shift to the municipality school, where they are providing shelter and food. But I can't shift because then everything in my house will be stolen.''

And the figures are justifiably true. Of the 30,000-odd affected just 600 have agreed to shift to safer places. Meanwhile, children can be seen playing in the water, while a few enterprising women go about washing leftover clothes using the accumulated water.

The SMC, meanwhile, has been doing all possible to restore normalcy. ``We have shifted more than 650 affected people to municipality school no 13 and 14 as well as ITI school no 3,'' says S R Sukhadia, a civic engineer stationed at the area. The engineering and fire services departments have been maintaining a round-the-clock vigil in the area since Monday night, he adds.

Although the rains stopped this morning, most huts are under water, not because of the rain, but because of the high tide, says Assistant Engineer J D Raval. ``Even if we pump out the water it keeps coming in with the tide,'' he points out.

However, even as it seems life would return to normal after a few days, the possibility of an epidemic breaking out cannot be ruled out. And an outbreak could sound trouble for the civic body, which is trying to cope up with loss of property.