Slums: The Magnitude of the

Problem
Demolitions and the government’s consequent announcement of de-listing
these illegal settlers from electoral rolls is a way of effacing without
recognition an entire category of citizens, some of whom are reluctant
migrants from elsewhere who provide essential services to the city. In
Mumbai out of the total population of 11 million about 55% constitute its
slum population and occupy about 12.85 % of the city’s total land area. It is
also important to note that a greater portion of thee lands on which slums
are located today were previously uninhabitable and it is through the efforts
of the slum dwellers that these lands were “reclaimed” and rendered
habitable. Approximately 5.5 to 6 million live in slums in the most unhygienic
and filthy conditions and another one million live on the pavements. It is also
estimated that nearly 2 million people live as tenants in rented premises, a
large number of which are old and dilapidated structures, including ‘chawls’.
As a result we find that nearly 8.5 million of the city’s population lives in sub-
standard or unsafe housing conditions under the abuse and continuous
threat of displacement. Today it is said that about 82 % of the population live
in one room abode. This housing situation blatantly exposes the continuing
indifference, neglect and lack of the will of the government towards housing
and living conditions in the city.

Also as many studies have already established, blame for the deteriorating
quality of life in the city lies elsewhere and not in the mushrooming of slums,
that in any case takes up only 12.85 % of land (this, however, is real estate
worth over Rs 80,000 crore). The myth that slums are causing an untold
pressure on the already limited resources available also falls flat on its face
since what Mumbai has witnessed is the proliferation of slums which have
minimal access to even the most basic of civic services such as water,
electricity, schools, health facility, sanitation, toilets and, of course, shelter
and land.

It is quite alarming that in the name of urban renewal, the cited solution to
make urban areas more “beautiful” and “habitable” is slum demolitions. This
has lead to a large-scale dispossession of minimum property and other
obvious loss of food security, shelter, livelihood, nutrition and education
among others. In other words the continuous struggle for survival of the slum
dwellers has taken an even more precarious turn. It is clear that the
presence of slums offends the middle-class and elite having their own
notions of sanitation and hygiene, which cannot accommodate the slum
dwellers.

However, it must be remembered that slum demolitions have been taking

place for decades now and it is just the justification that changes. From the
moralistic position that “illegals” and “encroachers” should not be rewarded
at the cost of tax-paying law-abiding citizens (read middle-class and elite) to
the oft-stated lament that slums are draining the limited resources of the city
to the justification that it is for the benefit of the slum dwellers that they are
getting evicted to the need to keep the city “clean” and “beautiful”. Today
the justification is that Mumbai needs to be developed into a Global City on
the lines of Shanghai and as such this requires the ejection of squalor i.e.
slum dwellers. This is similar to the eviction drive in the early 1980s when
the vision for Mumbai was Singapore and then too slum dwellers found no
place in its vision.

Notice of demolition

The eviction of huts, whenever necessary according to the law, can only be
done so in accordance with the law.

The Slum Act clearly lays down that before any intended demolitions the
concerned slum dwellers must be served with notices informing them of the
intentions of the Municipality and also offering an opportunity to them to
make a case for themselves. This, however, has not been done in most of the
slum demolitions carried out from December 2004 onwards.

When the question of removal of huts constructed by pavement dwellers

over municipal land again arose in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation v.
Nawab Khan Gulan Khan, in 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that the
municipality could remove the huts by following a reasonable procedure. ‘It
is for the Court to decide in exercise of its constitutional power of judicial
review whether the deprivation of life or personal liberty in a given case is by
procedure which is reasonable, fair and just or if it is otherwise.’ The Court
further held that in case of encroachment of recent original the necessity to
follow the procedure of principles of natural justice can be obviated but
where the corporation has allowed settlement of encroachers for a long time,
reasonable notice of two weeks or 10 days and a personal hearing should be
allowed before removal of encroachment.

It is a matter of principle accepted by the Courts as seen in Olga Tellis v.

Bombay Municipal Corpn. and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation v. Nawab
Khan Gulan Khan that the serving of notice if mandatory before eviction.

Use of police force

The use of police force in slum demolitions is a standard practice and

excessively so in the present demolitions that have taken place. Needless to
add any opposition to the demolitions by the slum dwellers is met with lathi
charges and bullets. What we have seen in the demolition from 8th
December is …

Impact on people

What is worse is the manner in which the demolitions occur. In the past, the
demolition squad would come with sticks and axes and manually break down
the structure. This gave the "encroacher" the time to save his or her
belongings. Today, there is no such luxury. Bulldozers and earthmovers
appear overnight aided by the police. Within a few hours, structures that
have been built by the poor incrementally over years are flattened. There is
little time to save anything. Sometimes even the papers that would establish
that the hutment existed before the cut-off date are flattened with the
structure.

The plots where the demolitions took place are being policed and slum
dwellers say that even temporary structures, built with bamboo poles and
plastic sheets, are being pulled down. Thousands of children have not been
able to attend school because of the demolitions, parents are afraid to go to
work and leave what little they have salvaged of their belongings in the
open, and old people are suffering the cold nights without a roof over their
heads.

Impact on Children
The impact of the demolitions on children, to put it simply, is immense and
unconstitutional and also in contravention of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in
resolution 44/25 of 20th November 1989 and entered into force on 2nd
September 1990. According to the Convention;

1. Article 16.1 states:

"No child shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his or

her privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his
or her honour and reputation".

2. Article 19.1 states:

“States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social

and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or
mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment,
maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of
parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the
child.”

3. Article 27.3 states:

"States Parties in accordance with national conditions and within their means
shall take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for
the child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material
assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition,
clothing and housing".

The evictions have infringed on all these articles and actually endangered
the children in every which way. Now the children are in a situation where
they are without any shelter, education and no guarantee of food and
nutrition. Further the children are also in a position where any access to
health services is restricted totally. The anganwadis and balwadis that were
running in some of the demolished slums have also been stopped causing
further problems for the children.

It is also pertinent to note that the children, approximately about 1.25 lakhs
in number, fall under the definition of a child in need of care and protection
according to Chapter I of the the Juvenile Justice (Care And Protection Of
Children) Act, 2000, where Sec 2 (d) defines a "child in need of care and
protection" also to include a child who is found without any home or settled
place or abode and without any ostensible means of subsistence.
It is imperative now that the State Advisory Board constituted under Sec 62
of the said Act to move immediately and evolve ways to ensure the
protection of these children. The law provides that the role of the Board is to
advise that Government on matter relating to the establishment and
maintenance of the homes, mobilisation of resources, provision of facilities
for education, training and rehabilitation of child in need of care and
protection and juvenile in conflict with law and co-ordination among the
various official and non-official agencies concerned.

Livelihood

According to Article 19(1) (g), all citizens have the right to practice any
profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business. Most of the slum
dwellers who have been evicted were, prior, to the evictions, engaged in
different trades through self-employment to working as daily wage labourers.
This hand-to-mouth existence of the slums dwellers has now been totally
destroyed and they have been denied of these livelihoods. Most of the
earning members of the dishoused families have not been able to earn a
living post the evictions.

With the defining of the word ‘life’ in Article 21in a broad and expansive
manner, the Court came to hold that the ‘right to life ‘guaranteed by Article
21 includes the right to livelihood. The Right to livelihood of pavement
dwellers comes into danger during times of evictions. Most of them work in
places close to their areas of settlement, and evictions and relocations would
disturb this right.

In Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corpn. (1985) 3 SCC 545,572, when the
squatters and the pavement-dwellers were sought to be ejected by the
respondent, without due process of law, they invoked the jurisdiction of this
Court under Article 32. A Constitution Bench held that their eviction from the
dwellings would not only result in deprivation of shelter but would also
inevitably lead to deprivation of their means of livelihood which means
deprivation of life in as much as the pavement dwellers were employed in
the vicinity of their dwellings. Right to life under Article 21 includes right to
livelihood, and if this right were to be affected without reasonable procedure
established by law, it would be violative of Article 21. ‘The conclusion,
therefore, in terms of the constitutional phraseology is that the eviction of
the petitioners will lead to deprivation of their livelihood and consequently to
the deprivation of their life.’

Taking recourse to Article 39(a) (which requires the state to direct its policy
towards securing that all citizens, irrespective of sex, equally have the right
to an adequate means of livelihood) to interpret Art 21, the Supreme Court
included the right to livelihood in its ambit. The Court also held that ‘The
State may not by affirmative action, be compellable to provide adequate
means of livelihood or work to the citizen. But, any person who is deprived of
his right to livelihood except according to just and fair procedure established
by law, can challenge the deprivation as offending the right to life conferred
by Article 21.’

Therefore by this judgment, what Article 21 insists is that such deprivation

ought to be according to procedure established by law which should be ‘fair,
just and reasonable’. Thereby, anyone who is deprived of his right to
livelihood without just and fair procedure established by law can challenge
deprivation as being against Article 21. This means that the municipality
must give anyone they seek to evict a notice and hearing.

Right to Food

Towards ensuring food security and in establishing every citizen’s Right to

Food the Supreme Court has overseen the announcement of the following
schemes as per it’s Orders in PUCL vs. UOI and others (Writ Petition 196 of
2001):

(i)Annapurna Scheme

This scheme has been transferred from the Central government to the State
plan in the year 2002-03. Under this scheme food grains are distributed to
the destitute/senior citizens covered under National Old Age Pension Scheme
(NOAPS). The beneficiaries will be supplied 10 kgs of rice per month free of
cost under the scheme. The beneficiaries for this scheme are selected by the
District Collectors. “Annapurna” ration cards, different in colour from other
ration cards, are supposed to be printed by the Collectors and issued to the
beneficiaries for supply of 10 kgs of rice free of cost through Public
Distribution System shops.
(ii)Integrated Child Development Services Scheme

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) targets the most

vulnerable groups of population including children up to 6 years of age,
pregnant women and nursing mothers belonging to poorest of the poor
families and living in disadvantaged areas including backward rural areas,
tribal areas and urban slums. The identification of beneficiaries is done
through surveying the community and identifying the families living below
the poverty line. The objectives of this scheme are to improve the nutritional
and health status of school children in the age-group of 0-6 years and also to
enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and
nutritional needs of the child through proper nutrition and health education.
The ICDS centres or Anganwadi would be the centre of convergence of all the
services.

(iii)Mid-day Meal Scheme

The main aim of this scheme is to work towards universalization of primary

education by increasing the enrolment, retention and attendance while
simultaneously improve the nutritional standards of the children in the
primary classes.

(iv)National Social Assistance Programme

It includes three components:

1. National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS)

2. National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS)

3. National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS).

The Panchayati Raj Institutions are the implementing authorities. The PRIs
along with the Municipalities may also be involved in monitoring and in
following up delays in sanctions and disbursement.
The scales of benefit under the NSAP would be as below:

•National Old Age Pension Scheme (NOAPS): Rs.200/- per month. Age-65
years and above. Must be a destitute with a very small or no source of
income. Of this Rs.200/- Rs.75/- will be contributed by the Central
Government and the remaining will be contributed by the state government.

•National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS): Rs.15, 000/- in case of death of the
primary breadwinner to the bereaved household. Out of this the Central
Government share will be Rs.10, 000/- and the remaining will be contributed
by the state government. The ‘primary breadwinner’ will be the member of
the household -male or female- whose earnings contribute substantially to
the total household income. The primary bread winner must be more than 18
years of age and less than 65 years of age. The family must be one which is
below the poverty line. The money will be paid after local enquiry to the
“head” of the household.

•National Maternity Benefit Scheme (NMBS): Rs.500/- per pregnancy up to

the first two live births. The woman must be more than 19 years of age and
must belong to a family below the poverty line. It is desirable that the child
receives one dose of oral polio and BCG vaccination at birth and the first
dose of DPT and polio in the sixth week.

(v)Targeted Public Distribution System

The TPDS was introduced in June, 1997 as a revised form of the former PDS
with special focus on the poor. The State Government shall issue distinctive
ration cards to Above Poverty Line, Below Poverty Line and Antyodaya
families and shall conduct periodical review and checking of the ration cards.
The ration card- holder shall be entitled to draw essential commodities from
a fair price shop on weekly basis.

(vi)Antyodaya Anna Yojana

This scheme is a part of the Public Distribution Scheme where people under

certain specified categories are identified and food grains are provided to
these people who hold the Antyodaya cards. The PDS (Control) Order, 2001
defines "Antyodaya families" to mean those poorest families from amongst
Below Poverty Line (BPL) families identified by the State Governments and
entitled to receive food grains under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana. These
people are provided separate ration cards.
The Supreme Court in its order dated 02.05.2003 directed that the following
group of people under his scheme:

●Aged, infirm, disabled, destitute men and women, pregnant and locating
women, destitute women.

●Widows and other single women with no regular support;

●Old persons (aged 60 or above) with no regular support and no assured

means of subsistence;

●Households with a disabled adult and assured means of subsistence;

●Households where due to old age, lack of physical or mental fitness, social
customs, need to care for a disabled, or other reasons, no adult member is
available to engage in gainful employment outside the house;

●Primitive tribes.

The forceful evictions and demolitions of houses of slum dwellers have

violated peoples right to food. Not only have people lost their livelihoods but
also many have lost whatever meager savings and possessions they had.
Left with no shelter people including the old, children, pregnant women, etc.
have been forced to stay under the open sky in cemeteries, graveyards and
garbage heaps, etc. The effect is that many families are now struggling to
manage even one square meal a day. This effect would have probably been
less had the food security network mandated by the Supreme Court in PUCL
vs. UOI and others (WP 196 of 2001) been put in place and running.
However, even whatever little was implemented, has been halted with the
evictions.

According to surveys conducted by the NAPM post the evictions, it was found
that schemes such as the TPDS, Old Age Pension Scheme, Maternity
Benefits, Annapoorna, Antyodaya Yojana, ICDS and Mid-day Meal for school
going children etc. for example while almost all families are eligible under
the Antyodaya Anna Yojana but they are not getting any benefits under this
scheme.
Shri N.C. Saxena, Commissioner appointed by the Supreme Court in this
matter, in his letter dated 04.05.2005 to the Chief Secretary, has clearly
articulated these concerns. He has stated that “…the slum demolitions have
created a grave humanitarian crisis of food security of the erstwhile slum
residents. Even in normal time, they live with low-end underpaid uncertain
livelihoods. After demolitions, the precarious subsistence of the residents
stands further threatened, and I request that this gets the highest attention
of the state government”. In the same letter the Commissioner has gone at
length to draw the attention of the state government to the various schemes
that hadn’t been implemented in the slums that were demolished.

Cut-off date

Progressive governments have taken it on themselves to set a “cut-off” date

for rehabilitation of slum dwellers. Instead of getting to the bottom of the
problem, which is that of finding ways to increase the affordable housing
stock in the city, successive governments have resorted to piecemeal
solutions of which the most has been to set a "cut-off" date — that is a date
after which no encroachment on public or private land will be tolerated.
Except that the Government has been selectively tolerant even as this "cut-
off" date has edged forward and now stands at January 1, 1995. The parties
that form the present State Government in Maharashtra, the Congress and
the Nationalist Congress Party promised that this date would be further
extended up to 2000. But having won the election and formed the
Government, they have hastily backtracked.

The "cut-off" date essentially means that the Government will not be
responsible for people who have encroached on land after that date. Those
who can establish that they set up house before that date are entitled to
either alternative accommodation, free of charge, if that land is needed for
any other public purpose or can bring in a developer to construct formal
housing on that land. This was part of the Slum Redevelopment Scheme
(SRS) brought in by the Maharashtra Government in 1998. It was premised
on the recognition that slum dwellers had invested in developing the land
and the structures. So the "free" house was notional as it was essentially to
compensate for their labour in making the land on which the slum stands
habitable. In any case, once the slum dwellers moved into their "free" house,
they had to pay charges to the housing society. So the security of tenure
came at a price.
On paper, the Government's stand on a cut-off date might sound reasonable
if you argue that it is not the job of governments to provide houses for
everyone. But in reality it translates into denying people basic rights just
because they are poor. For while the Government can have a tough policy on
structures built illegally on public lands, it cannot have the same attitude
towards the people living in those structures. These are citizens of this
country. They cannot be pushed out on the street, or forced to "return" to
their so-called native place just because there is work available but nowhere
to live in the city.

Further, in the Relief Road case it is difficult to appreciate the Court's

endorsement of a cut-off date of 1st January 1995 for being eligible for an
alternate accommodation. It is patently ultra vires Art.19 and Art.14 of the
Constitution. It also means that the rich can always come into the city and
acquire any place of his choice, while the poor and the homeless can never
enter this city. Moreover all human rights are indivisible and the government
cannot say that they will recognize these rights up to a certain date and not
beyond that date. Further it is inconsistent with the observations of the
Supreme Court in Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Appellant V. Nawab
Khan Gulab Khan And Others. To quote from the judgment,

“Article 19(e) of the Constitution provides to all citizens fundamental rights

to travel, settle down and reside in any part of Bharat and none have right to
prevent their settlement. Any attempt in that behalf would be
unconstitutional. The Preamble of the Constitution assures integrity of the
nation, fraternity among the people and diguity of the person to make India
an integrated and united Bharat in a socialist secular democratic republic.
The policy or principle should be such that everyone should have the
opportunity to migrate and settle down in any part of Bharat where
opportunity for employment or better living conditions are available and,
therefore, it would be unconstitutional and impermissible to prevent the
persons from migrating and settling at places where they find their livelihood
and means of avocation. It is to be remembered that the Preamble the arch
of the Constitution which accords to every citizen of India socioeconomic and
political justice, liberty, equality of opportunity and of status, fraternity,
dignity of person in an integrated Bharat. The fundamental rights and the
directive principles and the Preamble being trinity of the Constitution, the
right to residence and to settle in any part of the country is assured to every
citizen. In a secular socialist democratic republic of Bharat hierarchical caste
structure, antagonism towards diverse religious beliefs and faith and
dialectical difference would be smoothened and the people would be
integrated with dignity of person only when social and economic democracy
is established under the rule of law. The difference due to caste, sect or
religion pose grave threat to affinity, equality and fraternity. Social
democracy means a way of life with dignity of person as a normal social
intercourse with liberty, equality and fraternity. The economic democracy
implicits in itself that the inequalities in income and inequalities in
opportunities and status should be minimised and as far as possible
marginalised.”

The Court further held that,

“As held earlier, right to residence is one of the minimal human rights as
fundamental right. Due to want of facilities and opportunities, the right to
residence and settlement is an illusion to the rural and urban poor. Articles
38, 39 and 46 mandate the State, as its economic policy, to provide socio-
economic justice to minimise inequalities in income and in opportunities and
status. It positively charges the State to distribute its largess to the weaker
sections of the society envisaged in Article 46 to make socio-economic
justice a reality, meaningful and fruitful so as to make life worth living with
dignity of person and a equality of status and to constantly improve
excellence.”

Dalits

It is important to take note of the fact that a predominant number of slum

dwellers are dalit or Muslim. This is not a matter of astonishment since,
especially in the case of Dalits who are born into the circle of poverty. Thus
in the urban context generations of Dalits are born and bred in slums while in
the rural context the reality if of landlessness and next-to-no economic
opportunities. Thus we see that even those migrating into Mumbai and
forming its poor are Dalits. The National Commission on Urbanisation in 1988
states that”…there is a much higher incidence of poverty among scheduled
castes and tribes than is warranted by their proportions in the general
population of the city.”

In such a context it is imperative to examine whether the state has taken

any special care to address the needs of slum dwellers as Dalits and not only
looking at them through the lens of legality.
This in fact is the opinion of the Supreme Court in Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation, Appellant V. Nawab Khan Gulab Khan And Others, where it
observed that,

“The State and consequentially the local authorities, are charged with the
constitutional duty to provide the weaker sections, in particular the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with socio-economic and political
justice and to prevent their exploitation and to prevent them from injustice.
The Union of India have evolved Indira Avas Yojna Scheme exclusively to
provide housing accommodation to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes and separate annual budgets are being allotted in that behalf by
Parliament and the appropriate legislatures in allied matters. In that behalf,
in implementation of the housing scheme evolved for them, the budgetary
allocation should exclusively be spent for them and should not be diverted to
ally other projects or similar schemes meant for others. The Planning
Commission has evolved the principle of allotment of a specified percentage
for the overall development of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
As a facet of it, the annual budget including for housing accommodation is
being prepared and passed by Parliament. Similarly for other schemes
covered by the State budgets. Therefore, when the State, namely, the Union
of India or the appropriate State Government or the local bodies implement
these schemes for housing accommodation of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes or any other schemes, they should, in compliance with the
mandates of Articles 46, 39 and 38, annually provide housing
accommodation to them within the allocated budget and effectively and
sincerely implement them using the allocations for the respective schemes
so that the right to residence a to them would become a reality and
meaningful and the budget allocation should not either be diverted or used
for any other scheme meant for other weaker sections of the society. Any
acts in violation thereof or diversion of allocated funds, misuse or
misutilisation, would be in negation of constitutional objectives defeating and
deflecting the goal envisioned in the Preamble of the Constitution. The
executive forfeits the faith and trust reposed in it by Article 261 of the
Constitution.

28. Similarly separate budget would also be allocated to other weaker

sections of the society and the backward classes to further their
socioeconomic advancement. As a facet thereof, housing accommodation
also would be evolved and from that respective budget allocation the
amount needed for housing accommodation for them should also be
earmarked separately and implemented as an ongoing process of providing
facilities and opportunities including housing accommodation to the rural or
urban poor and other backward classes of people.
29. It is common knowledge that when Government allows largess to the
poor, by pressures or surreptitious means or in the language of the
appellantd Corporation "the slum lords" exert pressures on the vulnerable
sections of the society to vacate their place of occupation and shift for
settlement to other vacant lands belonging to the State or municipalities or
private properties by encroachment. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes who are settled in the allotted government properties/houses/plots of
lands are compelled or driven by pressures to leave the places to settle at
some other place. This would have deleterious effect on the integration and
social cohesion and public resources are wasted and the constitutional
objectives defeated. It would, therefore, be of necessity that the policy of the
Government in executing the policies of providing housing accommodation
either to the rural poor or the urban poor, should be such that the lands
allotted or houses constructed/plots allotted be in such a manner that all the
sections of the society, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward
Classes and other poor are integrated as cohesive social structure. The
expenditure should be met from the respective budgetary provisions allotted
to their housing schemes and in the respective proportion be utilised. All of
them would, therefore, live in one locality in an integrated social group so
that social harmony, integrity, fraternity and amity would be fostered,
religious and caste distinction would no longer remain a barrier for
harmonised social intercourse and integration. The facts in this case do
disclose that out of 29 encroachers who have constructed the bouses on
pavements, 19 of them have left the places, obviously due to such pressures
and interests of the rest have come into existence by way of purchase. When
such persons part with possession in any manner known to law, the
alienation or transfer is opposed to the constitutional objectives and public
policy. Therefore, such transfers are void ab initio conferring no right, title or
interest therein. In some of the States law has already been made in that
behalf declaring such transfers void with power to resume the property and
allot the same to other needy people from these schemes. Other States
should also follow suit and if necessary Parliament may make comprehensive
law in this behalf. It would take care of the third question raised by the
appellant. The Union Law Commission would examine this question.”

Availability of land within city

The so-called shortage of residential land is a myth especially in the core of

Mumbai since there is a enough vacant land that can be utilized for slum
rehabilitation and re-housing except that the ownership of the lands rest in
the hands of some very powerful elite against which the state has refused to
take action despite obvious illegalities therein. The powerful real estate
lobby also plays a critical role in ensuring that vacant lands are not freed up
for utilization for slum dwellers. The National Commission on Urbanization in
1987 reported that 91 individuals in Mumbai own 55% of vacant land.

In 1970, the state government had acquired 50,000 acres of land from
farmers and small holders and handed it over to the City and Industrial
Development Corporation (CIDCO) for the development of Navi Mumbai
(interview with Mrinal Gore in The Asian Age, January 29, 2005). 4,850 acres
of land still lie vacant and can be used for rehabilitation; under the ULCRA,
the state government can acquire these lands, but thus far, the latter has
been hand-in-glove with the builders.

Clearly what can be inferred is that while the lands are available there is no
political or bureaucratic will to utilize these available lands for housing slum
dwellers.

Lands available on enforcement of Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act

of 1976:

The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act of 1976 sought to control land
speculation and to achieve a more equitable distribution of land by putting a
ceiling of 500 sq. m. on vacant urban land in Mumbai that could be held in
private ownership. All the land in excess of this ceiling was supposed to be
returned to the government, which could use it for housing the poor.
Optionally, the owners could seek exemption, mainly under Section 20 or 21
of the Act, for the excess vacant land on the condition that the said land
would be used to build one-room tenements for the weaker sections % of the
land (as per the GR of 1986). The objective of the Government Resolution
dated 22nd August 1986 is clearly laid down in the guidelines of the
government resolution. “This Government has been seriously considering as
to how best the objective of creating appropriate housing stock which will be
within the affordable means of poor can be achieved. The Government is
convinced that with a view to making the dwelling units affordable, the price
to be ultimately charged is the most relevant and crucial factor. Further, this
housing stock has to be made available within a reasonable span of time, in
larger numbers of appropriate quality.” Thus, clearly, the objective of the Act
was putting in place a process by which affordable housing stock would be
made available for the urban poor within a reasonable span of time.
However, this has not happened. Some of the major owners of vast stretches
of vacant land in Mumbai are charitable trusts of big industrialists and
businessmen. The Act was often by-passed by using the ‘exemption clause’
by manipulation and getting permission from the Corporation to build,
leading to a total defeat of the stated objectives of the Act. These restrictions
actually reduced the supply of formal land. As a result of such criminal acts,
while the housing stock meant for the rich people went up, but there was no
corresponding increase in the housing stock meant for the poor people in the
slums who are mostly employed by such rich people as their servants,
drivers, security guards etc.

Large tracts of vacant land which was supposed to build a predominant

number of houses as of 25 sq.m., which being of the nature of one-room
tenements for the weaker sections of the society, were converted into
sprawling townships meant for the rich and the famous. One such blatant
example is that of Hiranandani Constructions where more than 500 acres of
land in Thane and Mumbai which were to house one-room tenements for the
weaker sections in 70% of the land, i.e. in 350 acres, not a single one-room
tenement was made for the weaker sections.

Lands reserved for construction of houses for the dishoused people:

Lands that have been reserved as HD lands as per the Development Plan
and meant for housing the dishoused have also been openly used for other
purposes even though housing for the poor is one of the main lacunae in the
urban policy of the state.

One such example is that of a huge shopping mall by the name ATRIA that is
coming up in Worli area on a plot of land which was reserved for housing the
dishoused.

Mill lands:

The other source of available and un-utilized vacant land that is highly
contested is about 500 acres of Mill lands. According to an article on the
web, there are 58 cotton mills in Mumbai, of these 26 were deemed sick and
were taken over by the government of India. Out of these, 25 are managed
by National Textile Corporation (NTC) and by Maharashtra State Textile
Corporation (MSTC). Remaining 32 mills continue to be in the private sector.
Even after taken over, these mills continue to be sick. Textile mills hold 400
to 500 acres of land just in the heart of Greater Mumbai. NTC alone having
275 acres in its possession.

Regulation 58 of the new DCR which came into force in March 1991, provides
for development of sick and/ or closed cotton textile mills on condition that
one third of the land is given to the BMC for public amenities and 27-37 %
(depending on the area of the mill) is given to the MHADA and PSU’s for
housing. The remaining lands could be developed by the owner for
residential and commercial uses as may be permissible under the DC
regulation in force.

The DC regulation of March 1991 intended to regulate the development of

cotton textile mills so as to generate open spaces and public houses for the
city, in a manner, which would create coherent urban form. Such
redevelopment that has occurred has been in a piece meal and haphazard
manner on a totally commercial basis, without any portion of the land
becoming available either for low income housing or for public amenities. On
29th February 1996, Maharashtra government had instituted a study group
under the chairmanship of Architect Charles Correa to have an integrated
development plan for the development of textile mills. In June 2000 state
government cleared the proposals to sale of surplus mill land of NTC as per
DCR.

Earlier this year, NTC sold five of its properties in Mumbai - Jupiter, Mumbai,
Apollo, Kohinoor 3 and Elphinstone – for 2,021 crores. Kohinoor Mills No 3,
one of the defunct textile units at Dadar here, was bought for Rs. 421 crores
by Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi's son and others, while the Mumbai
Textile Mills were sold to the Jwala group – a joint venture between the Delhi
based DLF group and the Mumbai-based Akruti Nirman group - for Rs 702
crores.

Obviously now there is absolutely no talk of housing for the poor on these
lands.

Parity

An issue that needs to be looked into is the multiplicity of projects that have
been undertaken and the different standards for the rehabilitation of the
slum dwellers affected by these. While on one hand the government, after
reneging on its election promise of rehabilitating slum dwellers upto
31.12.2000, has now moved a Letter of Motion in the Relief Road seeking the
Court’s permission to up the cut off date to 31.12.2000. On the other hand,
the rehabilitation plan for Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) lays down
that the slum dwellers who were covered by the survey to enumerate the
project affected persons will be rehabilitated. Therefore, the cut-off date is
said to be December 2004 (???)!

Access to basic amenities prior to eviction…water, electricity, PDS, roads,

toilets, schools, PHCs, etc.

This again is a critical issue that needs to be taken much more seriously than
it is. The forcible eviction of slum dwellers implies the forcible denial of
access to basic services and many constitutional rights.

Election promises reneged on…

The last issue that we have taken up is the accountability of political parties
with regard to their elction promises. The Congress party during the election
campaign and in its Manifesto have clearly promised housing and
regularisation of encorachments upto 2000. It is a fact that the seats that the
Congress won in Mumbai were due to these promises to the slum dwellers.
However, now the Congress appears to be reneging on its promises.

Half of Bombay lives in Slums

Since the beginning of the city, slums have been a part of Bombay's
landscape. However, the first official enumeration of the population living in
slums was performed only in 1976. It found 2.8 million people in 1,680
settlements all over Bombay. The total population was then 5.9 million.

A second count in 1983 found 1,930 settlements. They contained 4.3 million
people in 924,572 households. The number of people living on pavements
was estimated to be 700,000. These two populations accounted for about
half of Bombay's citizens.

Recent estimates claim that about 40% of the city's population live in 3.5%
of its area. The population density in these enclaves then come out to be
400,000 persons per square kilometer! On the other hand, the 1991 census
calculates a density of 16,400 persons per square kilometer in the slums of
Bombay.

These numbers do not capture the human cost of slums, they give only an
idea of the magnitude of the problems of low-cost housing in urban India.

Where are the slums?

In the 19th century slums grew around the mills and other places of
employment. Now they grow in any empty space. Although older slums in
Byculla, Dharavi and Khar were initially separate villages, with their own
traditional industries, most people who live in slums work outside them.

Data from the 1984 survey

fraction of
on land owned by
slums
50% Private
18% BMC
16% State government
Maharashtra Housing
9%
Board
6% Central government

Mumbai's slum life poses world problem

This year, for the first time in human history, there will
be more people living in towns and cities than in the
countryside. That is the conclusion of a new study
from the Population Division of the United Nations.

And the steady migration of people from rural areas to cities

brings huge problems in its wake.

Few places demonstrate this as clearly as Mumbai in India.

Mumbai - according to the UN - has a population of 19 million.

And the UN forecasts that total will rise to more than 26
million by 2025.
Sanitation is poor in
At that point, it would be the most heavily populated "urban Mumbai's best-known
agglomeration" in the world, apart from Tokyo and its slum
surroundings.

Mumbai's increase in population will partly be caused by increasing life expectancy and
partly by migration from other, poorer, parts of India.

Although Mumbai is India's commercial capital and rents for luxury apartments are some of
the highest in the world, it is estimated that more than half the city's population live in
slums.
And controversial plans to redevelop the slums highlight some of the problems faced by
mega-cities around the world.

Open sewers

The biggest and best-known slum in Mumbai is Dharavi. It is a

chaotic warren of narrow alleys where tiny homes and
workshops sit side by side.

There are public toilets and water taps, but sanitation is poor
with open sewers along the alleyways.

As Mumbai has expanded, the 600 acres of land which

Dharavi occupies has become increasingly valuable real
estate. So the idea was born that Dharavi could be
redeveloped.

The slum tenements would be torn down, part of the land

sold for commercial property development and some of the
profits used to build high rise blocks and workshops for the
Dharavi community. Workshops are a
prominent feature of
The man who has been driving the scheme forward for over a Dharavi
decade is Mukesh Mehta.

He made his fortune by building luxury homes in the US and now describes himself as a
"social entrepreneur", determined to bring improved healthcare, education and job
opportunities to Dharavi, as well as big profits for the property developers chosen to take
part in the scheme.

But there is fierce opposition to the scheme within Dharavi. Rajiv Korde is 40 and has lived
in the area all his life. He speaks with pride of the community spirit and the tolerance
between the slum's many different religious groups.

He is not opposed to the idea of redevelopment. But he argues that the current proposal is
too generous to the property developers and does not provide enough for the Dharavi
community.

Suspicious residents

There is a fierce argument about numbers. Mukesh Mehta's redevelopment plan envisages
building new apartments for 57,000 families.

The campaigners claim that there are something like 90,000 families living in Dharavi now,
so not everyone will be accommodated.

The new apartments will be provided free. But some Dharavi residents are suspicious that
charges for water and electricity may be more than they can afford.
"The government are interested in the land, not the people,"
says Rajiv Korde.

"Without the consent of the people, the government can't

start this project. We have a democracy and consent is
compulsory."
The development plan
Mukesh Mehta remains confident that the redevelopment will
go ahead. has sparked protests by
Dharavi residents
Property developers have submitted detailed proposals on how they would participate in the
scheme and a short list of participants is being drawn up.

"There is a small vested interest group which is trying to disrupt this project," maintains Mr
Mehta. "Apart from that, there is a huge amount of support for this project throughout
Dharavi."

And Mr Mehta believes that the idea of what he calls "public-private partnership" could be
used to redevelop big city slums in other parts of the world.

Urban challenge

Solutions to the problems caused by the urbanisation of the world's population are certainly
needed. The prospect of ever-larger cities alarms many governments around the world.

And as well as finding ways to improve the quality of life for rural migrants to the cities,
many development specialists argue that more needs to be done to divert investment
towards impoverished rural areas.

Darryl D'Monte, a leading Indian writer on environmental issues, argues that the big
underlying issue is the rural poverty which drives people to the cities.

"The more you invest in cities, the less you are investing in the countryside and you are just
perpetuating the problem," he argues.

And it is certainly one of the great challenges of the 21st Century. The United Nations report
concludes that the number of people living in urban areas will rise from 3.3 billion in 2007 to
6.4 billion in 2050.

That means about 70% of the world's population will be living in cities. And by then, the
urban area of Mumbai will have reached an almost unimaginable size.

Mumbai Slums

Statistics made available by the World Bank recently, won’t sound all that
alarming to most Mumbaikars but will surely raise an eyebrow of many living
outside Mumbai city. But what can one do or say…afterall “Yeh Hai
Mumbai, Meri Jaan”.

Here is a look at some Mumbai stats and facts.

1. Almost 54 per cent of Mumbaikars live in slums today.

2. Another 25 to 30 per cent live in chawls and footpaths.

3. Remaining 10 to 15 per cent, live in buildings, bungalows or high-rises.

Future of the city…

Sources say that factors like the halt to the slum demolition scheme, the
unhindered migration into the city, antiquated housing laws and sky-
rocketing real estate prices, will see slums overtake the Mumbai skyline, in
another 20 years.

From being known as slum capital of the country, Mumbai is now all set to
become the slum capital of the world.

Show me the Money….

In fact, Businessworld magazine’s WhiteBook of Marketing of 2005 clearly

indicates that contrary to popular belief, Mumbai does not have the largest
number of elite (top socio-economic class). Mumbai’s A-class measures only
14.8 per cent compared to Delhi’s 25.4 per cent, Chennai’s 16.3 per cent.

Migration has to stop

It is estimated that 100 to 300 new families come to Mumbai every day and
most land up in a slum colony or just erect a shanty on the nearest available
footpath.

Professor R N Sharma, head of the Urban Studies unit in Tata Institute of

Social Sciences says that Mumbai is undoubtedly disintegrating into slums.

“Thanks to migration, the city’s population is rising rapidly. Already 67 per

cent of the city works in the informal sector. If the World Bank estimate of
the city reaching a population of 2.25 crore by 2025 is true, slums will be
everywhere.”

But all you read is not always true

However, A Jockin of SPARC, the NGO that works for slums, said that the
rehabilitation process is the only way out. “This talk about Mumbai having
predominantly slums is rubbish. Already 67 per cent of slums on railway land
have been re-settled. The airport project and the rehabilitation near Mithi
River is also happening at a good pace. These figures of slum population
rising is not true.”
Rehab is the way out

Former housing minister Nawab Mallik also agrees that rehabilitation is a big
draw to get rid of slums. “But the market push needs to be there to make it a
success. If the market forces do not push real estate, Mumbai could just go
the slum way.”

Slums in the Mumbai have existed from before. The slum areas of Mumbai have
never undergone in the proper planning and facilities such as the water,
construction, sewage and drainage system which has led the place for the poor
population in the slums of Mumbai. Slums in Mumbai have started to rise in the year
1950. The slums in Mumbai has turned tripled since the independence of India. It
really seems to be very amazing that in Mumbai which is called as the commercial
capital of India is having big section of slum which has been put in the poor- ism for
the enthusiastic travelers.

Dharavi: the biggest slum in Asia

Asia's largest slum Dharavi is located in Mumbai. The readers will be shocked to
know that the Dharavi has now turned to the sub city which was earlier the marshy
dumping land. The area is having the 530 acre of land which is having the 100,000
residents. In the slum of Mumbai, there are 18,000 people are crowded into the
single acre (0.4 hectares). Dharavi is the slum which is termed as the "largest slum
of the Asia" but the slum at Mexico is the "largest slum in the world" as it is having
the four times as many people as in Dharavi. In the year 1976, government has
passed the Urban Land Act which was meant to enlarge the land in the urban area
on the middle and lower class, and it has worsened the problem of slum. Situated in
the east flank of the Mahim station and the area is dominated by the plastic and
metal recycling machinery of the 13th compound.

Slums of Today
The 60% of the population of Mumbai which is approximately 7 million people of
Mumbai are putting up at the slum areas of Mumbai. The areas are neighbouring
Byculla, such as Mahim, Parel, Dadar, and Matunga where people people can not
even find space in roads. The condition in the slum areas of Mumbai slums is
terrible. The residents of the slum areas in Mumbai are used to tackle the everyday
issues of the slums like lack of water, constant migration, no sewage or slid waste
facility, lack of public transport, pollution and housing shortage.

In 1985 the government has tried to rectify the problem and to work on the Slum
Upgradation Project. All the Upgradation project are targeted only on the 10-12% of
the slum population. The slum growth rate is much more than the growth of the
general growth of the urban areas in Mumbai. The city is getting the name of
'Slumbay'.
Slum Tourism in Mumbai is the way that helps the travelers to explore the slums of
Mumbai. The world is waiting to know the life of the slum people. The life of the
people is full of struggle for the existence in the suburb of Mumbai. There are many
such tour packages are organized to the slum dwellings which almost caters to the
50 tourist at a time. Tourist can also opt for the half an hour long morning tour and
for a two and half hour tour to the area.

This year, for the first time in human history, there will be more people living in
towns and cities than in the countryside. That is the conclusion of a new study from
the Population Division of the United Nations. And the steady migration of people
from rural areas to cities brings huge problems in its wake.

Few places demonstrate this as clearly as Mumbai in India.

Mumbai - according to the UN - has a population of 19 million. And the UN forecasts

that total will rise to more than 26 million by 2025.

At that point, it would be the most heavily populated "urban agglomeration" in the
world, apart from Tokyo and its surroundings.

Mumbai's increase in population will partly be caused by increasing life expectancy

and partly by migration from other, poorer, parts of India.

Although Mumbai is India's commercial capital and rents for luxury apartments are
some of the highest in the world, it is estimated that more than half the city's
population live in slums.

And controversial plans to redevelop the slums highlight some of the problems
faced by mega-cities around the world.

Open sewers

The biggest and best-known slum in Mumbai is Dharavi. It is a chaotic warren of

narrow alleys where tiny homes and workshops sit side by side.

There are public toilets and water taps, but sanitation is poor with open sewers
along the alleyways.

As Mumbai has expanded, the 600 acres of land which Dharavi occupies has
become increasingly valuable real estate. So the idea was born that Dharavi could
be redeveloped.

The slum tenements would be torn down, part of the land sold for commercial
property development and some of the profits used to build high rise blocks and
workshops for the Dharavi community.

The man who has been driving the scheme forward for over a decade is Mukesh
Mehta.

He made his fortune by building luxury homes in the US and now describes himself
as a "social entrepreneur", determined to bring improved healthcare, education and
job opportunities to Dharavi, as well as big profits for the property developers
chosen to take part in the scheme.

But there is fierce opposition to the scheme within Dharavi. Rajiv Korde is 40 and
has lived in the area all his life. He speaks with pride of the community spirit and
the tolerance between the slum's many different religious groups.

He is not opposed to the idea of redevelopment. But he argues that the current
proposal is too generous to the property developers and does not provide enough
for the Dharavi community.

Suspicious residents

There is a fierce argument about numbers. Mukesh Mehta's redevelopment plan

envisages building new apartments for 57,000 families.

The campaigners claim that there are something like 90,000 families living in
Dharavi now, so not everyone will be accommodated.

The new apartments will be provided free. But some Dharavi residents are
suspicious that charges for water and electricity may be more than they can afford.

"The government are interested in the land, not the people," says Rajiv Korde.

"Without the consent of the people, the government can't start this project. We
have a democracy and consent is compulsory."

Mukesh Mehta remains confident that the redevelopment will go ahead.

Property developers have submitted detailed proposals on how they would

participate in the scheme and a short list of participants is being drawn up.

"There is a small vested interest group which is trying to disrupt this project,"
maintains Mr Mehta. "Apart from that, there is a huge amount of support for this
project throughout Dharavi."

And Mr Mehta believes that the idea of what he calls "public-private partnership"
could be used to redevelop big city slums in other parts of the world.

Urban challenge

Solutions to the problems caused by the urbanisation of the world's population are
certainly needed. The prospect of ever-larger cities alarms many governments
around the world.

And as well as finding ways to improve the quality of life for rural migrants to the
cities, many development specialists argue that more needs to be done to divert
investment towards impoverished rural areas.

Darryl D'Monte, a leading Indian writer on environmental issues, argues that the big
underlying issue is the rural poverty which drives people to the cities.

"The more you invest in cities, the less you are investing in the countryside and you
are just perpetuating the problem," he argues.

And it is certainly one of the great challenges of the 21st Century. The United
Nations report concludes that the number of people living in urban areas will rise
from 3.3 billion in 2007 to 6.4 billion in 2050.

That means about 70% of the world's population will be living in cities. And by then,
the urban area of Mumbai will have reached an almost unimaginable size.

In the last few decades, there had been a tremendous growth in emerging
countries like India, Brazil, Mexico and China. This had been mainly due to a
rapid expansion in the manufacturing sector.

Thus, there had been a massive immigration of workers to cities and

production centers. These new workers cannot afford housing. This is what
gives rise to slums, as the homeless make temporary shelters which get
transformed rapidly into semi-permanent housing colonies. People migrate to
cities because the comparative poverty and hardship involved in their
alternatives (ie. subsistence farming) is worse.
Dharavi Slums, Mumbai, India

According to UN-HABITAT, a slum is defined as a run-down area of a city

characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure
security. It is estimated that one billion humans live in shanty towns. One in
every three people in the world will live in slums within 30 years
unless governments control unprecedented urban growth, according to a UN
report.

Europe faced the same problem of slums during the Industrial Revolution and
after World Wars. Due to the rising population, the number of slum dwellers
is rising. One billion people worldwide live in slums and the figure will likely
grow to 2 billion by 2030. Slums have been a major problem in Mumbai,
Mexico City and Sao Paolo. 55% of the population of Mumbai live in
slums, which cover only 6% of the city’s land. Slum growth rate in
Mumbai is greater than the general urban growth rate.

Migration brought the proportions needed to expand the economy of these

cities. The reason these slums come up is that there is a severe lack of
public transportation in developing countries. Cheaper accommodation is
available very far from the centers of production, but the workers cannot
travel so far. Hence, slums were formed very close to the industrial areas.
Mumbai Slums

Another major hurdle in providing cheap accommodation to worker class is

the arbitrarily set FSI (Floor Space Index) limit set my muncipalties, which
create an artificial shortage of housing units, thus raising its costs. Poor
migrants have no place to go other than to live in slums.

Slums are semi-permanent shacks which provide housing to the poor. They
are unplanned, and thus lack drainage and drinking water facilities. This
might lead to piling up of excrement and garbage. There is no electricity
either, but is generally stolen by hooking wires to electrical poles. Add to it,
there is an increased strain on the limited infrastructure and resources of the
region, which might lead to deterioration of services.

Overstretched Infrastructure, Mumbai Trains

There have been many efforts by various governments to eradicate slums.
But none of it seems to work. Poverty and hunger forces people to migrate to
wherever they can make a living. You cannot stop free movement of people.
No city in history worth remembering has ever prospered by closing
its doors and denying itself to those who seek it.

In the article Urbanization: A Majority in Cities, UNFPA says,

The world is undergoing the largest wave of urban growth in history. In 2008,
for the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population will be
living in towns and cities. By 2030 this number will swell to almost 5 billion,
with urban growth concentrated in Africa and Asia.

Government-subsidized public housing

Slums become breeding grounds for unlawful activities and criminals due to
lack of opportunities and a vast disparity in the standards of living of people.
As more and more rural folks migrate to cities, the problems would only
exacerbate. Government-subsidized public housing is not the solution.
Government subsidies, infact, worsen the problems of slums, as they attract
new people looking for free homes.

Rent Control laws do not work either. They worsen the situation by artificially
lowering the rents. This does not make homes more affordable to slum
dwellers, but infact increases its consumption and reduces supply as new
projects would not be undertaken where the return on investment is low or
negative.
Sometimes, the government steps in and says that rents shall not exceed
“xx dollars” a month. The consequence of such indirect housing subsidy, of
course, is that those tenants who are most fortunate will expand into living
quarters more spacious than they would consider necessary at the
competitive market price. Most tenants who can find two rooms for the price
of one will occupy the two rooms instead of one.

Slum clearing campaigns periodically throw tens of thousands out of their

only shelter, while planning agencies and state land ownership makes the
production of adequate housing impossible.

The solutions to these problems as I see it are…

1. Development of industrial areas in smaller towns and help in their

development so people don’t have to migrate to large cities.
2. Improvement in local transportation so that people can spread outwards
instead of living near production centers.
3. Revocation of FSI limits and Rent Control acts which impose undue shortages
of housing and thus force the formation of slums.

A LOOK AT SLUM PROBLEMS

The constitutional machinery in Bihar is sheer failure.Here are some
solutions to bring derailed Bihar on track

The picture that conjures up in our minds, when we

talk about slums, is that of a dirty, unhygienic
cluster of impoverished shanties with long lines of
people crowding around a solitary municipal water
tap, bowling babies literally left on street corners to
fend for themselves and endless cries and found
voices emanating from various corners. Most of
them are engaged in eking out their daily lives,
always below the poverty line, by working as
construction labourers, domestic helps, rag pickers
and chhotus in neighbourhood dhabas. Though their
living conditions are utterly unhygienic, gloomy,
dismal and dehumanized, many of them still dream
of improving the quality of their lives.

The majority of slum dwellers identify themselves

with the city rather than with their native place and plan to settle
permanently in the city. In spite of poor conditions in slums, second
generation residents who are not nostalgic about their rural background -
feel that life in slum is reasonably tolerable and city life is probably better
than rural life.

They greatly value improving their working situation through getting a better
job, yet have low aspirations and have an optimistic view of their chances of
improving their socio-economic status.

Many of the younger generation, irrespective of gender, income level and

educational attainment express their regard for education and foresee
upward social mobility for their children by educating their offspring as much
as possible.

Our slums are indeed very dingy, dark and dismal. But the dark clouds are
now fading. Despite the inaction of civic authorities, and despite the efforts
of politicians and slum mafia to keep slum dwellers to remain docile, there
are definite signs of younger slum dwellers to improve the quality of their
lives. Silver linings are now becoming visible.

Plentiful of these was available in rural areas. They were encouraged to

come to cities and work. People, who migrated to the cities and found work,
brought their cousins and rest of the families to the cities. Unable to find
housing and afford it, they decided to build their shelter closer to work.
Thousands of shelters were built for the migrating labourers. Conniving
governments provided electricity and drinking water. Politicians looked at
the slums as vote bank. They organized these unauthorized dwellers into a
political force; hence slums took a bit of a permanent shape. More slums
developed as more population moved to the cities. By mid sixties Mumbai,
Kolkata, Delhi, and all other large cities were dotted with slums.

Recent years have seen a dramatic growth in the number of slums as urban
populations have increased in the Third World. According to a recent UN-
Habitat report, 327 million people live in slums in Commonwealth countries
almost one in six Commonwealth citizens. In a quarter of Commonwealth
countries (11 African, 2 Asian and 1 Pacific), more than two out of three
urban dwellers live in slums, and many of these countries are urbanizing
rapidly.

Why ???

Slums are the products of failed policies, bad

governance, corruption, inappropriate regulations,
dysfunctional land markets, unresponsive financial
systems and a fundamental lack of political will.

Each of these failures adds to the toll of people

already deeply burdened with poverty. This
frustrates the enormous potential for human
development that opportunities in urban life offer.

Urbanisation has created a number of problems like shortage of dwelling

units, mushrooming growth of jhuggis, encroachment of public land and
expansion of unauthorized residential colonies. The rapid growth of
urbanization is creating a number of problems. Whenever a big project is
commenced, a lot of workers migrate to towns in quest of employment. With
no proper place to live, they usually encroach public land and the sites
earmarked for various developmental projects. This causes expansion of
jhuggis and unauthorized colonies.Thus building enormous pressure on civic
services and creating major bottlenecks in the proper development of cities.

Problems

People residing in slums face many problems like

improper sanitation, unhygienic environmental
conditions, social, economic, health, educational
and cultural problems and many more. The basic
problems inherent in slums are Health hazards

Lack of basic amenities like safe drinking water,

proper housing, drainage and excreta disposal
services, make slum population vulnerable to infections. These further
compromise the nutrition requirements of those living in slums.

It is projected that more than half of the Indian population will live in urban
areas by 2020 and nearly one third of this urban population will be slum
dwellers. The ongoing process of rapid urbanization has deleterious
repercussions on health and nutrition, especially for children. Malnutrition in
young children has long-term negative effects on physical and cognitive
development. The major causes of childhood malnutrition in slum population
are inappropriate child feeding practices, infections, improper food security
and suboptimal childcare besides poor availability and inadequate utilization
of health care services. Addressing nutritional problems of urban poor is
essential for overall development of the country.

Lack of sanitary conditions

Poor sanitary conditions and poor quality of water
lead to illnesses like diarrhoea and other water
borne diseases, affecting the life expectancy of
slum dwellers. According to a recent case study,
water and sanitation diseases are responsible for 60
per cent of environmental health. Among water
borne diseases, diarrhoea disproportionately affects
children under the age of five. Poor health among children adversely affects
the attendance rate at schools.

In dense, overcrowded urban conditions it is often difficult for people to find

space to build latrines. Many have to defecate in the open or share whatever
limited facilities are available which tend to offer no privacy, safety or
hygiene.

Because of human waste and refuse collecting in stagnant pools spread

disease and contaminate water sources. The problem is made worse during
the rainy season when rubbish and excrement are washed into cramped
living areas.

In these conditions it is virtually impossible to remain healthy and clean.

Diseases spread rapidly among the crowded conditions and the little money
that slum dwellers earn often has to be spent on medicines to help the sick
recover.

Often these settlements are unofficial and so, without any legal tenure, the
people living there are not entitled to get connections to basic facilities like
water and sanitation. These settlements are also vulnerable to demolition as
governments reclaim the illegally occupied land for other usages.

Social problems

The slum environment is the perfect breeding ground for a wide range of
social problems. High unemployment often causes men to stay around the
home growing increasingly frustrated with their pathetic situation and the
worsening poverty.

Cramped conditions mean that there is nowhere to go when tensions rise, a

factor that regularly leads to domestic violence. Sometimes the situation
goes to the other extreme, where people abandon their homes, lured by the
prospect of oblivion through alcohol or drug abuse. Once people develop
such problems the prospects of finding work diminish. They fall deeper into
poverty and the cycle continues.

Child labour

Many children in the slums start work at a very early age with no prospect of
getting any education. They make money by rag picking (trawling through
rubbish dumps to retrieve anything that can be sold), selling newspapers in
traffic jams, peddling drugs or begging. They are at risk of exploitation as
well as all the health problems that accompany their lifestyles. Incest and
abuse can occur and child marriages are still encouraged in some areas.
Internal and external corruption

Some people manage to achieve a high status within slums and establish
themselves as slumlords. They are often allies of certain politicians and gain
control of sizeable chunks of the community land. By renting out the land,
they make huge financial gains while everyone living in the slum struggles to
survive on their meager earnings. The slumlords form elaborate links with
local politicians, government officials and the police, and slum dwellers
become dependent on them for the smallest of amenities. They have little
empathy with the slum residents and exploit them by charging highly
inflated prices for illegal electricity and water supplies or for constructing
huts.

The men do not like to see the women becoming more powerful through
forming women's groups as one of their main concerns is keeping the slum
dwellers helpless and under their control.

The sheer volume of people living in slums causes them to be obvious

targets for politicians wanting to increase their percentage of the vote. Slum
inhabitants are often promised all kinds of support and improvements in
return for political allegiance, but their trust is regularly abused.

Gender Inequality

Female babies in the slums of India can face

discrimination and poor treatment from their very
first moments, if they are given a chance of life at
all; although gender specific abortion is illegal in
India, it is still practiced in some places.

Male children are seen as a blessing and indulged in

many areas of Indian society. Children born into the
deprived and harsh environment of the slums may
not be as fortunate, but male babies are still given
better treatment than the girls. Boys tend to be
healthier as they are given better food in greater
quantities, and they are also more likely to be sent
to school.

In contrast, girls are seen as a drain on precious resources as they will one
day get married and their contribution towards the family will end. To make
up for this, they are forced to work from an early age and any ambitions
regarding schooling or future careers are discouraged.

With that kind of start in life, it's difficult for women within the slums to find a
voice. They are used to getting little support from their embers and are not
usually considered worth consulting on family matters.

The sheer volume of people living in slums causes them to be

obvious targets for politicians wanting to increase their percentage
of the vote.

Solutions

Problems of the slum can be dealt by little initiative

taken by the government, NGOs and employers.
Some of the possible solutions can be

Countries need to recognize that the urban

poor are active agents and can contribute to
national growth.

Local authorities and national governments should collaborate with the

organizations of the urban poor in upgrading slums and providing
alternatives to slum formation. Whenever a worker migrates to a city for
work his employer must ensure that he is provided with appropriate
accommodation. This should be the responsibility of all big and small
employers.

Managing cities require local solutions. Local authorities need to be

empowered with financial and human resources to deliver services and
infrastructure to the urban poor. Cities should draw up local long-term
strategies for improving the lives of slum dwellers.

Local governments should develop strategies to prevent the

formation of new slums. These should include access to affordable land,
reasonably priced materials, employment opportunities, and basic
infrastructure and social services.

Public investments must focus on providing access to basic services

and infrastructureWorking with the urban poor, cities need to invest in
housing, water, sanitation, energy, and urban services, such as garbage
disposal. These services and infrastructure must reach the poor living in
informal settlements.

Role of the government and the NGOs. In a usual scenario a migrated

laborer secures a job with security agencies, waste management service
providers, contractors, householders etc. They usually employ slum dwellers
as rag pickers, sweepers, construction labors, masons, carpenters, domestic
helps etc. For such migrating labors there should be a centralized labor
registration center where they can register themselves and secure their
labor ID number. These centers should have direct contact with prospective
employers and they should try to find suitable jobs for these workers
according to their skills. These migrated labors should also be allotted
dwelling units and the accommodation expenses should be borne by their
respective employers. The dwelling units should be located on the outskirts
of the town and transport facilities should be made available to the workers
in order to make commutation easy for them. Locating proper dwelling units
on the outskirts would minimize the proliferation of dingy slums in the city.
Along with these arrangements certain regulations should be made by the
government:

• A minimum wage rate should be created for workers immigrating to

town.

• Computerized ID numbers should be allotted to the laborers for

maintaining records.

• ESI dispensaries and counseling services should be provided in

dwelling areas. All labors should be centrally registered

• Strict rules should be formulated to prevent the misuse of funds.

• Aim for 1 Lakh units of construction every six months.

• Import high volume construction machinery from China for the speedy
construction.

• Factories with a workforce of more than 100 labors should have

compulsory dwelling units. The accommodation facilities should be
made available before the commencement of any project

NGOs can play a vital role in improving the existing conditions of slums.
NGOs should work for the underprivileged in the slums. NGOs should work in
close coordination with government and make sure that the following
facilities are available to the slum dwellers:

• Counselling services to minimize crime and other problems.

• Basic amenities like schooling, proper sanitation, potable water, health

facilities and common electricity with minimal charges.

• Free weekly medical and healthcare facilities.

Manifestation of income and other gaps in health, education, skills, etc. can
be seen in slums and squatter settlements of most urban areas in developing
countries. Slums are not 'problems' that have to be 'solved' - but are indeed
results of lopsided and vested urban policies covering land ownership,
infrastructure provision and maintenance, and other socio-economic issues.
And for the poor, they represent a solution. The need of the hour
is to find light in the darkest of the dark scenario and infuse life in the lives
that are still waiting for the silver lining.

Fading dark clouds

Poverty, slums and urban squat can be controlled in next

couple of decades. Reversal of this phenomenon will begin
after sufficient economic progress had been made. Eight
percent GDP growths is a good sign. With quadrupled GDP
in 25 years, there is a good chance that the new and
upcoming generation may stay away from slum dwelling.
It may take another 25 years before the slums are
vacated.

Silver lining
The problems prevailing in slums give us the challenge to
rebuild a society that is more equitable where equal
opportunities could be provided to all for living with
dignity. Many hurdles have to be overcome to achieve this objective.

The despair of the underprivileged has to be replaced with hope, their fear
with security, and their ignorance with knowledge. Give them the
opportunity to secure good health, immunity from curable diseases,
employment opportunities, sufficient and nutritious food, clean water and a
clean environment, capability to protect their children against exploitation
and discrimination. Their children should have the right to get adequate
education for becoming responsible citizens of India.

Slum dwellers should be empowered to enable them to improve the quality

of their own lives