Article

Comparing Informalities: Environment and Urbanization Asia

6(2) 125–138
Slums, Gunthewaris and © 2015 National Institute
of Urban Affairs (NIUA)
Other Informalities in Maharashtra SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0975425315589154
http://eua.sagepub.com

Amita Bhide1
Smita Waingankar2

Abstract
This article compares various forms of housing informalities, especially slums and gunthewaris that are pres-
ent in Maharashtra. The comparative stance enables an insight into the dynamics that generate informalities
and the disjuncts in the policies that have chosen to deal with them as specific forms that merit a distinct
response. Such a policy response that does not address the basic causes that generate these informalities
attenuates a policy environment that continually creates a state of exception. In fact, it seems to be leading
to a scenario where planning and production of affordable housing is becoming increasingly difficult.

非正式住房比较研究：马哈拉施特拉邦的贫民窟、非建设用地上的住宅（Guntherwaris）以及
其他非正式住宅
本文比较了各种形式的非正式住房，特别是目前存在于马哈拉施特拉邦的贫民窟和非建设用地
上的住宅（Gunthewaris）。比较研究提供了一个视角来观察产生非建设用房的政策动态以及
政策中欠缺的部分，并且选择了通过具体条款针对解决非正式住宅提供专门的应对。这样的政
策应对并没有解决产生非正式住房的根本原因，而是缓解了不断产生异常状态的政策环境。事
实上，它似乎导致了规划和建设保障性住房越来越困难。

Keywords
Informality, slums, planning, housing

One of the most interesting challenges that India faces in its process of urbanization is contending with
informality in various spheres of life. This is especially reflected in the situation of housing in Indian
cities. Most Indian cities have a high proportion of informal housing while the proportions of planned,
legal housing are low. Yet informal housing continues to be dealt with as a marginality and with an exces-
sive focus on slums. The policy view of informality has developed under a legacy of colonial laws, plan-
ning instruments and the structuring of institutions. This view has been partially displaced by the
emerging compulsions of electoral politics and democratizing society. These compulsions have trans-
lated into various forms of responses, including special policies for slums, directives to regularize certain

1
Professor and Dean, School of Habitat Studies (SOHS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
2
Research Officer, School of Habitat Studies (SOHS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Corresponding author:
Amita Bhide, Professor and Dean, School of Habitat Studies (SOHS), Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai-400088.
Email: amita@tiss.edu

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126 Environment and Urbanization Asia 6(2)

forms of irregularities from time to time. The overall framework of planning, legislations, policies and
institutional architecture has, however, remained intact.
This article, based on insights derived through the process of participatory studies of informal settle-
ments in three cities of Maharashtra, India, builds upon Roy’s (2009) argument that informality is embed-
ded in the discretionary practices of the state. Its conceptualization and the underlying discourse needs to
be moved much beyond slums to consideration of varied forms of informalities. A comparison of infor-
malities exposes the discretionary spaces of state decision-making, functioning as a diagnostic of govern-
mentality. It calls for a more comprehensive review of the current policy regime pertaining to urban
planning, housing, policies dealing with informal settlements and regularization of informal housing.

Current Debates on Informality

Informality and in particular informal settlements have been a subject of considerable academic debate
for some time now, especially for scholars of Third World urbanization. The predominance of informal-
ity as a mode of settlement creation and growth is widely recognized in the academia in two primary
fields of research—planning and housing studies. Housing studies have engaged with a focus on forms
of such irregularities, the quality of life and the encounters of such settlements with state housing poli-
cies or projects (Rakodi, 2002; Satterthwaite, 2013). Several of these studies see informal housing as a
solution devised by the poor in a context of non-access to legal housing. Planning studies are interested
in informal settlements as they represent a failure of planning (STEM, 2007). The experience of the
emergence of these settlements is thus used as a basis for drawing insights into the dynamics of planning
processes in cities in the third world. Ananya Roy (op. cit.), for example, contends that irregularities in
planning emerge from the very top and that Indian cities can therefore not be planned. Nair (2013) makes
a similar point in the case of Bangalore, pointing to the simultaneous regularization of informal settle-
ments and deepening planning protocols in particular areas.
Slums dominate the discussion of informality. However, in recent years, there has been some attempt
to advance the discourse to other forms of informalities, such as, unauthorized colonies (Bhan, 2013;
Zimmer, 2012). In her discussion of unauthorized colonies, Zimmer points out that regularization is a
form of extending privatization of the local state. Bhide (2014) argues that regularization of gunthewaris
in Maharashtra points towards a shrinking of the public domain. Bhan (op. cit.) uses the differential treat-
ment accorded to slums and unauthorized colonies as a diagnostic of the state and its failure to plan for
the poor. The current article attempts the deepening of this diagnostic through a comparative study of
emergence and evolving form of informal settlements in cities of differing scales in Maharashtra.
The article is divided into three sections. The first section focuses on two major forms of informalities
seen in these cities, that is, slums and gunthewaris and situates them in local city contexts. The second
section is a comparison of these informalities as settlement forms and their treatment in policy while the
third draws conclusions and inter-linkages between the varied forms.

Situating Housing Informalities in Maharashtra

Maharashtra—a state in western India—is the second most urbanized state in the country with 45 per cent
urbanization. There are 26 municipal corporations, over 220 municipal councils and 11 nagar panchayats
in the state. Sangli and Akola are both D class1 municipal corporations but differ in terms of scales.

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Bhide and Waingankar 127

Aurangabad—the third city that forms part of the study—is a large city with over 100,000 people where
an A class municipal corporation was constituted in 1982. These cities are located in distinct agro-climatic
and administrative zones of the state.
As the state that has been on the forefront of urbanization in the country, Maharashtra has been one of
the pioneers in urban regulation. The town planning act in the state is on the verge of a centennial
celebration. The state has a strong town planning directorate that prepares development plans (DPs) for
all municipal councils and corporations. There are several efforts made towards expansion and deepening
of the spatial planning framework in the state in the last decade.2 These include the creation of valuation
departments in every district, introduction of standardized building bye-laws in all B, C and D class
towns and the placement of planning officials in the local governments in most towns.
In sharp contrast, the state has been at the frontier of urban informality for some time now, espe-
cially due to its popularity as a migration destination. It has one of the highest proportions of slums in
the country at 25 per cent as per census 2011. Slums were notified in 30 cities in the state as per census
2001. Data on gunthewaris (illegal subdivision) and other forms of informalities are much less known
as official data only reflects regularized plots and there are few comprehensive surveys of the same.
However, a scan of local newspapers is replete with accounts of widespread gunthewaris. Other less
known forms of informal housing include houses in haddwadh (houses in extended city limits that
have not been fully brought into the coverage of municipal services) and zhalar kshetra (fringe area
development).
State policy has largely separated the spheres of formal planning and development regulation and that
of informal settlements. The policy debate around informality is replete with terms, such as, encroachment,
irregular, unauthorized, illegal and unplanned. The actual development of policies has been much more
pragmatic, with specific responses developed to deal with each of these issues as they were recognized.
It was the first state to develop a law to deal with slums. The Slum (declaration, improvement and reha-
bilitation) Act of Maharashtra, 1976 has been a forerunner of slum polices in India. Formulated to deal
with issues of slums in large cities, such as, Mumbai and Pune, the coverage of the slum act has gradually
been expanded. The focus of the act has shifted from declaration and improvement (a welfare bias) in early
years to redevelopment in the recent decade, especially in the large cities of the state, such as, Mumbai,
Thane and Pune. The state promulgated a special legislation to regularize gunthewaris in 2001. Outwardly
formulated along the similar lines as the slum act, there are critical differences in the gunthewari act that
was introduced in the context of neoliberalism. Gunthewari regularization and improvement is highly con-
tingent upon the residents with very little obligation from the government. The gunthewari act is applicable
to all urban and urbanizable areas of the state, with the exception of certain specified zones. The state gov-
ernment has used resolutions to regulate irregular constructions in particular cities, occasionally (for exam-
ple, the regularization of residential buildings in Ulhasnagar, a township in the vicinity of Mumbai).
Situations that demand such responses are arising with increasing frequency and in several towns.

Informalities in Sangli, Akola and Aurangabad

Sangli
Sangli–Miraj–Kupward municipal corporation (SMKMC) is a city in the prosperous agricultural belt of
western Maharashtra. Both Sangli and Miraj have a long civic history, dating to the colonial period. The
population of this city was just above 500,000 according to the census of 2011. It grew at a rate of 3.5
per cent per annum in the period of 1981–1901. This growth has largely been fuelled by the spurt of

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128 Environment and Urbanization Asia 6(2)

agro-industries in the 1980s and the agglomeration of two towns—Sangli and Miraj with a largely rural
tract—Kupwad in 1997. The city growth can be seen as three distinct trajectories of its constituent towns.
Sangli city is located in the vicinity of the Krishna River. Currently, it is expanding on all sides, including
the flood plains, and especially along the roads connecting to Kolhapur, a major city in the region. Miraj
grew at a relatively slow pace till the formation of the corporation. Its growth has mainly been along the
highways too while in Kupwad, the gaothan3 is the focal point of growth. The DP of the city existed as
three independent DPs of the two constituent towns (Kupwad was a village panchayat and hence no DP)
till 1997. The preparation and sanction of the new DP following the establishment of the corporation is
still incomplete, with only a part of the DP sanctioned last year. Land prices in the city show a steep
appreciation (an increase of 10 times in the last 6 years), in spite of the fact that the city is no investors’
market, the gradual rise of population and the significant out migration from the city.
There are 78 slums in SMKMC, housing about 15 per cent of its population. The extent of poverty is
substantial; livelihoods pursued are very marginal. Those in Sangli are located on government lands.
They are fairly old (25–30 years) and comprise people engaged in industrial labour or sanitation
services. The slums along Miraj and Kupwad on the other hand are located on private lands, and are
settlements of agricultural labour or those in recycling. The houses in Sangli are pucca while those in
Miraj are kuccha or semi-pucca. Population within slums is largely homogeneous and composed of
scheduled caste migrants from nearby regions. The lifestyle is a mixture of rural and urban with many
households using biofuels while also possessing amenities, such as, a television. The built form of the
slums is quite dense and kuccha. Service levels are very poor. Transactions and transfers in slum property
are few; rentals range at about `300–350 (Shelter Associates, 2009). The current situation of slums in
SMKMC is one that is a product of extensive state interventions. The bigger pockets, such as, Indira
Nagar are actually resettlement sites of two to three previous settlements displaced for road expansion in
the 1970s. Of the 78 settlements, Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana4 (VAMBAY) has resettled 27 slums
and Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme5 (IHSDP) had proposed to cover another 29
settlements. Thus, about two-thirds of the slum settlements in SMKMC have been reached through
government policies just within the past decade. The experience of these schemes has not been positive.
Gunthewaris cover an area of nearly 10 sq. km or about one-fourth of the developed area of SMKMC.
It is estimated that about 39,745 land parcels are covered by gunthewari with over 56,000 houses (nearly
40 per cent population). The emergence of gunthewaris in the city dates back to 1976 and the application
of the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act (ULCRA).6 Its impact on the local land market was
momentous, especially as it was accompanied by the preparation of the DP in which all the excess land
was notified as residential land in the DP. A number of landowners—mostly, big farmers whose lands
were included in the expanded city limits, and to whom ULCRA became applicable—subdivided their
lands into plots of about 500–1,000 sq. feet and sold them to needy individuals. These transactions were
either through agents or by direct sale. Most of the transactions were executed on the basis of agreements
that were registered on stamp paper.
The profile of the residents of these gunthewaris that were created in the aftermath of the land ceiling act
was quite similar to the profile of residents in slums—largely migrant workers, people in unorganized sector
who desired security of their own house. Such plots were available for `5,000–10,000. Houses varied in
construction material and were developed over time. The only issue was the lack of basic infrastructure,
such as, roads, sewage, drainage and solid waste collection. The proportion of such gunthewaris began to
increase after 1985, this time incorporating agricultural lands in the vicinity of the city.
The profile of gunthewaris began to change after the promulgation of the Gunthewari Regulation
Act of 2001. This act opened a window for regularization of the settlements. After the enactment of
the legislation, nearly 16,000 proposals were received for regularization, of which a little above 3,000
cases have been regularized. The formation of new gunthewaris in the city continues unabated. The
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Bhide and Waingankar 129

new area where gunthewaris are being formed is just beyond the current corporation limits. The price
of gunthewari plots is `300,000–400,000 at a minimum. The plotting of such layouts through lay
architects, the sale of these plots, the issue of bogus stamp papers prior to 2001 and the regularization
of these settlements have become organized. There are several large houses in plots over 3,000 sq. feet
that are now being constructed in gunthewaris currently. The new profile of gunthewari residents is
people who do not need loans to construct houses and who command power over the corporation to
look the other way.

Akola
Akola is a small corporation in Vidarbha, a region once famous for its cotton production and now infa-
mous for farmer suicides. It is a city which was the capital of eastern Berar and was located at a strategi-
cally important junction of Central Railways. It, thus, emerged as a trade town from the colonial period.
The city has a land area of 3,055 hectares and has a population of 550,000 as per census 2011. The
Mumbai–Hawrah railway line and the Secunderabad–Khandwa railway line act as the boundaries of this
city whose population has been growing at 2.4 per cent per annum. Akola was converted into a municipal
corporation in 2001. The city recorded its highest growth in 1981–1991 at 45 per cent. However, in the
decade after that, the population growth dipped to 22 per cent, the current census indicates that the trend
is continuing. The first DP for Akola Municipal Council was sanctioned in 1977; it was due for revision
in 1998. However, this was kept pending. The process of preparing a new DP was commenced only after
the formation of the corporation in 2001. The new DP was sanctioned in 2004. Thus, there was effectively
a period of 6 years when the city did not have a contemporary DP. The government owns a considerable
proportion of land in and around the city with the agricultural university, the food corporation godowns
as well as the lands owned by industrial development corporation.
The Morna River, which till some point served as a natural boundary of the city, has now emerged as
a marker of its settlements. The area to the east of the river has developed in the form of planned
settlements as well as informal settlements with proper layouts. The areas towards the west and the north
of the river are the site of several slums as well as informal settlements that are extremely congested and
have poor infrastructure. Land prices in the city have been appreciating very rapidly with current prices
touching `10,000 per sq. metre. This appreciation since 2009 is attributed to the emergence of an
investors’ market in the city following windfall gains to the trader community in the city after the
formation of the commodities exchange.
Slums have existed in the city for a long time. The 1977 DP mentions the presence of 13 slums and
about 39 per cent of the city’s population, that is, 87,680 people staying in slums. A survey of slums done
in 2005 indicates that there were 84 slums in Akola, of which 79 were declared slums. About 17–18
(approximately 20 per cent) slums are located on private lands, seven on corporation land while the rest
are located on state government land. More than 25 per cent population, that is, 147,479 people, stay in
slums. Thus, there has been a decrease in the proportion of slum dwellers in the city. Slums in the city
are located around three major locations: (a) inner city near the trade markets, (b) along the burial
grounds and west of the river and (c) near the railway lines and adjoining the grain warehouses. There is
also a trend of some of the inner-city population moving to the areas to the west of the city.
Unlike Sangli, there has never been a single eviction in Akola. Slums, such as, Najuknangar near a
burial ground have been actively supported by the corporator who himself stays in an adjoining slum to
avail basic amenities through the application of the budget as well as the central government programmes.
Infrastructural conditions in slums are very poor. Water is provided to them through borewells where the
water quality is very poor and quantity unreliable. There are very few toilets.
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130 Environment and Urbanization Asia 6(2)

Gunthewari in Akola is experienced as a trend that emerged in the 1980s and has since increased its
expanse. The congestion of the old city, establishment of an agricultural university in 1969, constraining
development along the side of the city and the establishment of over 200 small-scale industries attracting
migration from the surrounding countryside for employment opportunities are the major reasons for trig-
gering gunthewari developments in the lands on the outskirts of the then city limits. Gunthewaris grew
towards the south and west of the city opposite to the agricultural university area where scope of
development was restricted. Most of them are located on erstwhile agricultural lands that were included
in city limits but continued to be placed under agricultural use. Lands were subdivided using the NA 36
permission, which permits farmers to construct structures that aid trading or other agricultural purpose.
The formation of the corporation has not been accompanied by expansion of land area; this has contributed
to gunthewaris becoming a continual trend. There are 23 gunthewaris on record in Akola with a total
population of 5,000 households. Unofficially, about 20 per cent of the city’s current population is housed
in gunthewaris. There are gunthewaris in the extended municipal limits as well as beyond it. Most of the
18 villages surrounding the city have seen considerable subdivision.
In spite of this substantive spread, gunthewari is not seen as a prime issue in the city, because that is
the major form through which the city is expanding and it involves all social and economic groups. As a
result, there is no distinction made between service provision to planned and irregular layouts in the city.
There is, thus, a certain acceptance of gunthewaris by the corporation. Differences in various areas of
Akola are much more clearly ascribable to incomes than to the mode of accessing the homes. Thus,
settlements of the poor, including gunthewaris or slums are located either in the inner city or to the north
and west side where lands are flood prone, located on burial grounds or in the vicinity of cemeteries.
Further, these settlements are characterized by very poor infrastructure conditions. The corporation sup-
ports all these settlements with water, clearance of solid waste and creation of lanes and drains. However,
water provision is very limited, that is, about two days per week. Residents thus invest in additional
water, toilet and cleaning of those, besides improvement of houses themselves. As against this, areas,
such as, Sindhi Colony are extremely well developed with good layouts and infrastructure. This is mostly
with private investment though.

Aurangabad
Aurangabad—an industrial city that has a fairly rapid rate of growth—is located in north-west of the state
in the drought-prone region of Marathwada, which has poor infrastructure. The city is a regional head-
quarters, houses important public offices as well as a tourism centre. It has several active industrial centres
initiated by the state government; all these factors together contribute to a diverse and dynamic city
economy. The city has experienced rapid growth of population and currently houses a population of
1,171,000. The rate of population growth is about 3.4 per cent p.a. The overall land area is 138.5 sq. km.
Census 2011 also shows an even greater population growth in areas adjoining the city (about 1,400,000).
As a fairly large city, Aurangabad has a more complex institutional structure. In addition to the munic-
ipal corporation, City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) and Maharashtra Industrial
Development Corporation (MIDC) have a significant presence in the city and the overlapping, some-
times conflicting, jurisdictions are an important issue. On the other hand, there are certain zones, such
as, the fringe of 28 villages surrounding the current city that are no institution zones.7
Aurangabad city limits have been extended thrice. It has also undergone three DPs—the first prepared
in 1969 and approved in 1975, the second prepared in 1982 and approved in 1991 and the third prepared
by CIDCO for a much smaller fringe area in 2006 and approved in 2012. An analysis of the DPs reveals

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Bhide and Waingankar 131

that there are a significant proportion of no-development zones in the DPs that have been continued in
subsequent plans. Each of these DPs also continued with the strategy of creating a green belt around the
city. CIDCO was able to stimulate significant residential development for a decade but in a limited land
area (about 12 sq. km).
Property prices in Aurangabad have appreciated by more than 10 times in the last 10 years. As per a
CREDAI8 survey in 2012, the annual demand of houses in the city is in the range of 30,000 units per
year. Of this, 67 per cent demand is from people with an income of less than `300,000 per year. The cur-
rent housing supply is roughly in the same range, that is, around 27,000 units. However, the supply to the
group in the less than `300,000 income is much less than required. Further, there is a significant unsold
housing stock in the city, that is, around 7,000 units.
The emergence of slums in the city dates back to 1965. Jai Bhim Nagar is one of the very first
declared slums in the city. This settlement came into existence when some Dalit migrants to the city,
along with a few Dalit activists, constructed houses on this government land. The settlement became
home to Dalit struggles in Marathwada and was declared as a slum in 1974 after prolonged struggles.
Currently, there are about 53 declared slum areas in Aurangabad. Of these, 28 are located on government
land while the others are located on semi-public or private lands. Most of the slums are located on the
outskirts of the inner city. There are 60,000 houses with a population of nearly 300,000 in these slums.
It is significant to note that no new slums have been declared in the city after 2001.
Houses in slums are mostly semi-pucca with tin walls and roofs. Most people stay in owned houses
but the trend of rentals has made an appearance with about 20 per cent households in slums staying on
rent. Majority of the residents are Dalits or Muslims. The earlier profile of slum dwellers was of people
who were very poor; it has changed to upwardly mobile households in the unorganized sector as slums
became more secure and their formation became more organized and politically connected. Case studies
reveal that settlements, such as, Jai Bhim Nagar, which had about 1,000 houses, have now become
extremely congested and have about 4,000 houses in roughly the same geographic expanse. A contribu-
tory factor to this congestion is the expansion of households. Amenities, such as, water supply, toilets,
solid waste collection are provided by the corporation to most slums but the provision is highly inade-
quate in proportion to the population. After the enactment of the gunthewari legislation, the trend in
Aurangabad has been to move into gunthewaris. The corporation has also contributed to this trend by
passing off the undeclared slums till 2001 as gunthewari areas.
The dynamics of formation of gunthewaris in Aurangabad are slightly different. Pundaliknagar is one
of the 13 settlements of riot-affected people in the inner city during the period 1985–1990. The formation
of these settlements was actively supported by the Shivsena—a right-wing party in the state—and so this
entire area is called the orange belt of the city. Today, this is a thriving cluster of settlements, housing
about 125,000 people. The other end of the orange belt is another pocket of three predominantly Muslim
settlements, such as, Husseinnagar. Riots have thus been the primary impetus for a movement away from
the inner city and into gunthewaris. Private lands that were locked in a tussle between the CIDCO, the
municipal corporation, and the owners were plotted and sold at very cheap rates, that is, `5 per sq. feet,
on the basis of stamp paper valued at `100. However, there are also many third-party sales.
The dynamics of gunthewaris changed after 2001 legislation. The corporation declared several older
settlements that looked informal as well as undeclared slums as gunthewaris. The declaration opened the
gates for a regime in which there are few regularizations, with amenities being provided by local poli-
ticians through area development funds. Currently, there are 118 gunthewaris with 105,994 house-
holds located in 40 electoral wards. Of these, only 80,000 houses have been regularized. Gunthewaris
in contemporary Aurangabad are a highly organized activity of preparing layouts through engineers
and architects, construction of three- to four-storey buildings and registered sales. It is estimated that

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132 Environment and Urbanization Asia 6(2)

there are 7,000 new plots of 600 sq. feet which are being laid out annually in the city on its peripheries.
It is a sizeable bulk of new house construction in the city. The price of gunthewari plots has risen from
`100 sq. metre to `1,000 per sq. metre.

Comparing Informalities
Table 1 compares slums and gunthewaris along multiple dimensions of the housing and living experience.
The spatial and living experience of significant number of gunthewaris overlaps and shows signifi-
cant continuity with the experience of living in slums.

Table 1. Multiple Dimensions of Gunthewari and Slums

Dimensions Slums Gunthewaris

Occupant Profile Working class and unorganized sector
households, greater preponderance of Dalit
sections, shelter secondary in relation to
livelihoods in city
Lands under Largely government lands, contested lands,
Occupation reclamations and claim established in form
of encroachments, sales reported but no
documentary evidence
Nature of Layout No layouts, division of plots done roughly
Housing Highly incremental contingent upon
Development household and settlement stability
Housing Size Generally about 20 by 30 sq. feet, 2 rooms
Housing Structure Houses kuccha, semi-pucca and pucca
Taxation Pay concessional amounts on water, fine for
structure to municipality
General level of Highly varied across cities. However, generally
Amenities lower in relation to other settlements, most
officially provided amenities are of public
nature, fairly high presence of amenities that
are procured through illegal/extra-legal means.
Amenities provided through MP/MLA funds,
slum schemes of central/state gov. Project
approach and so little continuity
Working class, unorganized sector
households, socially heterogeneous,
aspirant for own house from rentals or
congested housing. Actively changing post
the regularization law
Largely private lands but also a good
proportion of lands that have been
encroached through organized activity,
occupation however post layout formation
and through sale transactions
Layout development through ‘para’
professionals, documented layout plans
though difference between what is shown to
buyers and what actually exists on ground
Incremental in large numbers of cases
Generally 1,000 sq. ft, extremes—20 by 30
ft in Aurangabad to more than 3,000 sq. ft
in Sangli. Most houses with 2–3 rooms
Most houses are pucca but several also
semi-pucca
Are charged water and sewerage taxes by
municipality
Water and toilets are largely within
homes; sources of the same are bore wells
etc, other amenities often lacking
Most amenities procured through self-
provisioning and border on illegal/extra-
legal means
(Table 1 Continued)

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Bhide and Waingankar 133

(Table 1 Continued)

Dimensions Slums Gunthewaris

Infrastructure Qualitatively and quantitatively poor
Infrastructure provided through MP/MLA
funds, slum schemes of central/state gov
Documentary Voter ids, BPL cards, utility bills
Evidence Evidence pertains to structure and
citizenship
Perceived Security Varies from high security in Akola to
of Shelter high insecurity in Sangli, vulnerability to
government action and to being relocated
persistent
Constraints Slums across all cities are highly vulnerable
Experienced to government action and policy change
Those located on environmentally hazardous
location have to live with related risks
There is very little recognition of agency
of slum dwellers, thereby continuing their
vulnerability to political dynamics
Source: Authors’ own.
Qualitatively and quantitatively poor but
varies across settlements
Infrastructure provided through municipal
budgets for ward improvements
Sale deed, Utility bills
Evidence pertains to buying and possession
of land
Fairly high except where threats have been
experienced in specific locations
Righteous anger in case of government
action possibility
Gunthewari residents are seen as located
between victimhood and residents with
capabilities, they are comparatively less
vulnerable to fluctuations in policy.
However, drastic threats, such as, court-
initiated actions remain

A comparison with other forms of informalities mentioned earlier may be apt here. Haddwadh or limit
extension refers to a particular locale of informality in Maharashtra. A spatial DP typically reviews the
boundaries of urban settlements. In the case of some cities, boundaries have been revised; however, the
administration has not been able to acquire the land or provide services to it. In the meanwhile, construc-
tions or sale transactions on the erstwhile rural land have already begun. Such localities that are ‘urban’
but are not serviced by the ‘urban’ government are called haddwadh. Gunthewari and haddwadh thus
both pertain to the use conversion of rural land. However, in limit extension, land is officially denomi-
nated as urban while gunthewaris traverse land officially denominated as urban as well as rural. There is
a lot of overlap between motives of landowners in both these phenomena, seeking to make a quick gain
and preventing land acquisition by the state. There are also overlaps between conditions of haddwadh
layouts and gunthewari settlements, the residential profiles. However, haddwadhs also have a lot of pre-
existing residents. The urban local bodies perceive haddwadhs as partly legitimate settlements but
trapped in a fall out of an institutional stalemate while gunthewaris are seen as illegal developments.
The zhalar kshetra is a peculiar form of informal development in the city periphery. It is linked to urban
development/settlements in villages on the periphery with the consent of the local authority, that is, the
gram panchayat. Here, the form of informality depends on the gram panchayat, which has overreached its
institutional domain; it challenges the planning authority with the regional outreach. Zhalar kshetras are
typically found in cities where there are regional spatial planning authorities with planning jurisdictions
beyond the city’s geographical limits. For example, Aurangabad has a zhalar kshetra that covers nearly 28
villages on the periphery. The developments in the zhalar kshetras consist of layouts serviced by the gram
panchayat. Zhalar kshetra is officially sanctioned by the wrong authority while gunthewaris bypass approv-
als of all authorities. The residents of these areas are thus relatively better serviced.
In comparing these forms of informalities, it is evident that these forms emerge around similar trig-
gers. These include the inability of state institutions to plan and effectively commandeer land for future
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134 Environment and Urbanization Asia 6(2)

urban development in time, the sheer lack of affordable housing solutions in cities that push people
across classes to seek housing solutions that are informal. There is a gradient of ‘illegalities’ that these
forms express. These range from non-approved constructions to non-approved use to non-approved sale of
land to wrongly approved developments. In their very existence, they are a testament to the varying layers
of regulation of housing activity in the state, their impact on housing activity and shadow activities
linked to each of these regulations. The forms also express a continuum with a differing gradient of
vulnerability. Thus, slums may be seen as representing the highest vulnerability because they challenge
several layers of approval while the zhalar khsetra or haddwadh represent the least vulnerable as they
involve institutional approvals of a kind. The socio-economic vulnerabilities of residents in these infor-
mal settlements overlap considerably with the maximum Dalit, minority and poor populations staying in
slums. The lower end of gunthewaris overlaps with the profile of slum dwellers but towards its higher
end also has groups with higher socio-economic status. Zhalar kshetra and haddwadh also overlap with
gunthewaris in terms of a lower middle-class to higher-middle-class profile.
Several actors are key to the emergence and sustenance of these settlements. Of these, only a few are
visible. The inhabitants represent the demand side of the phenomenon whose role begins after the land
is laid out. The securing of land for slums is through people at the lower end of bureaucracies as it
requires some know-how of local land regulations and contestations. In the case of gunthewaris, farmers/
landowners are definite actors but in recent years, their role seems to be limited to signing over the power
of attorney to the organized operators. The front end is people with muscle power and those who are
willing to dirty their hands. The next level is local politicians who use their power to secure and support
such settlements conditionally. The security of informal settlements is directly related to the ability of
local politicians or corporators to work the municipal body. The complexity of the network of actors
increases with the scale of the city. Thus, in Sangli, the early gunthewaris were transactions between
farmers and buyers while in Aurangabad, even the initial gunthewaris were an organized subdivision that
required the protection of a political party.
Neither slums nor gunthewaris retain their original form in any of the cities. In Aurangabad, slums
have developed characteristics of a second generation—more congestion, more security and more active
property market. This change is partly linked to the tolerance of the settlement in policy. Policy-directed
change has both positive and negative dimensions. In Sangli, slums have become the target of multifari-
ous large-scale interventions and become more vulnerable. Other factors have also contributed to change,
including a security in increasing numbers and possibilities of raising a voice. In Sangli again, gunthewaris
that once represented affordable housing for the working class has now become a strategy for the well
off who can consolidate assets without bank finance. Thus, even gunthewaris have become unaffordable
in the last few years. In Akola, on the other hand, gunthewari has become the unofficial city development
strategy for all social groups though they are developing in distinct spatial directions. The threat of polar-
ized society here itself portends another challenge for the future. Such dynamism makes easy equations
between settlement form and socio-economic status or vulnerability difficult.

Deciphering the Policy Challenge

It is evident from the discussion of the comparisons that there is far greater continuity than difference in
the varied forms of informalities in terms of their living experience, the triggers to their formation, the
actors involved. There is a particularly high level of overlap between slums and gunthewaris. The policy
discourse towards them, however, has taken extremely distinct paths. Table 2 illustrates the same.
The differential policy followed in the case of slums and gunthewaris creates several issues: First, it
enables the landowners who have subdivided lands and the actors around it to escape without punitive
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Bhide and Waingankar 135

Table 2. Differences in Policy towards Slums and Gunthewaris

Parameter Slums Gunthewaris

Scope of • Covers private lands as well as
Regulation government lands
• Conditional declaration even of
‘commons’ lands and lands under
reservations
• Calibrated by date lines that have
been regularly extended
Nature of • Regulation is in the form of
Regulation ‘declaration’ of a slum, enabling state
to intervene
• Slums are almost never delisted
• Surveys of structures and issue of
identity cards to slum households
undertaken as local practice, high
level of variation in this practice
• Documents linked to occupancy and
citizenship as the base for ‘regulation’
• All property transactions in the
informal realm
Cost of • Declaration of a slum is a collective
Regulation process and cost
•  Documents for structure, such as,
ration1 card, photopass, electoral list
cost very little
Role of • Conditional declaration as slum
State • Ongoing interventions contingent
upon prevalent policies
• Basic services provided free of cost
• No taxation but usually expected to
pay costs of maintenance of services
given
• High vulnerability to relocation
Source: Authors own.
Note: 1. A ration card is a card given to households in particular settlements to indicate their eligibility for accessing grains
from the public distribution system. It is, however, largely used as an evidence of citizenship and claims to particular
settlements.
• Covers only private lands
• Inam lands, public lands, lands under reservations
excluded
• Fixed date line of 2001
• Regulation is in the form of a ‘certificate’ of
regulation of structure by ULB
• Construction of land possible but necessitates
different regulation procedure with revenue
department
• Regulation does not imply acceptance as a
residential area on par with other planned areas
• Documents of possession are accepted as the
basis for regulation
• Property transactions in the informal realm
though enjoy high level of legitimacy due to quasi-
judicial nature of documents with the plot holders
• Cost of regulation is very high—application costs,
those linked to regulation of structure and those
linked to regulation of land—cumulative costs
range from `8,000–15,000
• Regularization of structure and land possible
• Though date for ‘regularizable’ structures is fixed,
that is, 2001, the period for regularization has
been extendable and conditions for the same have
been relaxed over the years
• Basic services provided at variable levels but at a
cost
• Tax levels almost on par with planned settlements

action while those whose lands are encumbered by slums have a heavier penalty to pay. Second, it has
enabled gunthewaris to become the privileged instrument of informal land development, virtually gen-
erating parallel land markets in these cities. The emergent policy challenge in dealing with these infor-
mal developments has multiple facets. The following are some of these:

a. Dealing with Contradictions in Regularization: There are several contradictions in the process
of regularization of informal settlements. The first pertains to the treatment of regularization of
land and the regularization of structure as two distinct aspects with distinct procedures. Another
contradiction pertains to the expectation that regularization is linked to either service delivery or
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136 Environment and Urbanization Asia 6(2)

better infrastructure or services. This link has not worked in the case of gunthewaris or slums or
haddwadhs. Regularization or lack of it does not make any difference in service provision. The
payment of development charges has not relieved the gunthewaris of the lack of infrastructure,
such as, roads. Haddwadh areas are expected to pay taxes on par with the rest of the city while
infrastructure levels are considerably lower. Finally, in case of both slums as well as gunthewaris,
regularization/declaration are expected to be one-time amnesties. However, regularization contra-
dictorily acts an incentive that encourages new developments. The key question is to then under-
stand the logic of regularization of these settlements. Is regularization a mode of extending state
role even when it has failed to plan in timely expansion of residential lands? What interests does
regularization serve?
b. Spatial Planning: One trend that is commonly observed in each of the three cities is the post-
ponement and delays in preparation and sanction of DPs. In Akola, where the plan is in place, the
town planning office is hardly functional due to vacancies. The plan as a positive act of the state
is inconceivable in an atmosphere where DPs are not backed by resources while vision plans
prepared by consultants are. The regulatory aspect of plans too is weak due to the state of keeping
plans in abeyance. The extent of these informalities also poses a challenge for future prospects of
spatial planning in these towns. There is a need to not just review spatial planning in this context
but also review it in relation to existing situations on ground as well as in relation to other insti-
tutional and governance processes. Is there a need to review the standards in planning, and pre-
pare norms that are more relevant and realistic? Is there a need to review the very idea of long-term
land-use plans or DPs and instead look at brown field development planning as the way for the
future? If so, are slum polices, policies for gunthewari regulation showing the direction for such
brown field development?
c. Affordable Housing as Opportunity: The experiences of the three cities suggest that affordable
housing cannot be a single policy or a scheme but that it is an opportunity that necessitates the
convergence of at least three domains—planning, finance and governance along a dimension of
time. In Sangli, the overlap between the ULCRA and the DP was an opportune moment for cre-
ation of affordable housing. The upfront opportunity was withered away in the creation of hous-
ing societies, the inability to actually acquire land through the ULCRA and other factors though
it made a shadow impact through emergence of gunthewaris that catered to lower economic
groups. The trends indicated by the three cases suggest that the state government is finding it
increasingly difficult to identify such opportunities and has little capacity to respond to them. In
an environment where an erstwhile state-controlled regime of land and planning is shifting towards
a role that is facilitative of the market, an ability to sense opportunities and respond to them is neces-
sary, if affordable housing has to become a reality and hence the trends are a cause of concern.
d. The City Fabric: Akola may be seen as one of the extremes in terms of how informal develop-
ments by varied socio-economic groups can impact the city fabric. Here, every social group is
engaged in pursuit of its own spatial interests using means at their disposal while the public realm
of the city is hollowed out and a spatially polarized city is emerging from an earlier highly dense,
integrated and competitive spatial and social fabric. Does this represent the future of such trends
in other towns? If so, is this the vision for the new Indian city?
e. Institutional Trajectories and Interests: The politics of the corporations in all the three cities was
broadly supportive of informal settlements, including slums and gunthewaris. Corporators were
found to be actively involved in the emergence, protection and development of these informal
settlements. Even when state government regulations were opposed to certain developments,

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Bhide and Waingankar 137

local corporators were engaged in identifying ways of circumventing these constraints and using
means at their disposal and in particular the local budgets to nurture their constituencies in these
settlements. The state government role is contradictory. On one hand, it plays the vanguard of
planning and so restrains local interventions in the same. On the other hand, it is seen to
be encouraging a distinct culture of regulation of these settlements. The central government is
the newest entrant on scene, projecting itself as the most inclusive of them all, and possessing
the least ability to understand local issues and thus consistently failing in its schemes for upgra-
dation of these settlements. The corporator interests and role is the most visible and maligned
but it appears to be the most porous and thus, open to influence by people as well. Further, local
governments have emerged as irresponsible organizations that allow widespread informalities
without consideration of own revenues. The roles of state and central government on the other
hand are fraught with contradictions and introduce larger players who may be immune to local
influence. The current placement of functions pertaining to local governments relegated to
control of construction and the superior levels of government holding the controls on land and
policy decisions on irregularities, thus, need to be questioned.

Conclusion
The article, in situating the comparative experience of gunthewaris and slums and other informalities in
three cities of Maharashtra illustrates the complex inter-linkages between these two forms as well as
those with the local housing and land markets. These linkages question the current policy discourse,
including its preoccupation with slums, its tendency to homogenize, its focus on the planning domain to
the exclusion of others and the balance of roles and evolution of policy across different levels of govern-
ment. It draws attention to the impacts of uncoordinated and knee-jerk reactions. There is evidently a
need for more such nuanced studies of various scales of towns that make a more comprehensive under-
standing leading to more locally responsive policies traversing multiple domains.

Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of Himnashu Burte and Simpreet Singh in the study. We also
acknowledge the insights given by activists and local research partners in the three towns.

Notes
1. D class corporations are the smallest scale of municipal corporations in Maharashtra. This classification is based
on population and revenue collected.
2. This is one of our findings in an earlier research that explores the changing relationships between urban local
bodies and the state government in the housing sector, part of the State Level Base Paper on Urbanization in
Maharashtra, available online at tiss.uirf
3. The gaothan refers to village homestead land that is distinctively recorded in the land revenue data base as
distinct from the village agricultural land.
4. VAMBAY was a central government scheme that promoted housing construction for the socially and economically
weaker sections.
5. IHSDP was a subcomponent of the Jawaharlal Nehru National urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), a flagship
urban development programme of the earlier national government. It had various fund application possibilities
but has been used for housing projects in the state.

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138 Environment and Urbanization Asia 6(2)

6. The ULCRA was a legislation that restricted the ownership of land in cities. It was applied selectively to eight
cities in the state, Sangli being one of them. As per the act, land beyond 1,000 sq. metres had to be surrendered
to the state at extremely low prices. ULCRA was repealed in 2011 in Maharashtra.
7. Very recently, CIDCO has been given the charge of planned development of this fringe area.
8. Consortium of Real Estate and Developers, India (CREDAI) is an association of developers and builders. It has
conducted surveys of housing markets in several towns of the state recently.

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