Number of slum dwellers in BD increases by 60.43pc in 17 years

The number of people living in cities without access to civic amenities has increased by 60.43 per cent in the last 17 years. According to the latest census on slum dwellers and floating population conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) last year, 2.23 million people live in slums across the country. Of them, 1.14 million are males, 1.09 million females, and 1,852 transgender people. The results of the census, third of its kind in the country, were published Monday. The second census, conduced in 1997, had found 1.39 million people living in slums. Most of those who relocate to cities to earn their livelihood after losing their land and houses to river erosion or other reasons take shelter in unhealthy and densely populated slums, according to a news agency.