Inclusive Planning processes and Institutional … Inclusive Planning processes and Institutional Mechanisms for the Urban Poor: Innovations and Lessons Learnt from Different Schemes

50

Inclusive Planning processes and InstitutionalMechanisms for the Urban Poor: Innovations andLessons Learnt from Different Schemes in Chennai City

N. Jothilakshmy and R. Arul Malar

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to study the projects under “Rehabilitation Programme” at,Okkiyam Thuraippakkam and Semmenchery where people along the river margin wererelocated as part of the “Flood Alleviation Programme” around 2002 and 2007. Also highlightsthe various issues like spatial relocation, funding pattern, community participation, existingscenario, problems and the missing links from the beneficiaries’ perspective at the studyareas and the future thought process.

1. INTRODUCTION

The first recorded unorganized settlement dates back to 1820s and was denoted byshanty town. Slum was originally used mainly in the phrase “back slum,” meaning aback room and later “back alley”. The term has traditionally referred to housingareas that were once respectable but which deteriorated as the original dwellersmoved onto newer and better parts of the city but has come to include the vastinformal settlements which are only affordable by the vulnerable groups found inlarge number in cities in the developing world.

According to the UNCHS – Global Report on Human Settlements 2003, in 2001, 924million people, or 31.6 percent of the world’s urban population lived below povertyline. At that time, 43 percent of the combined urban population of all developingregions lived in slums, while 78.2 percent of the urban population in least developedcountries lived in slums. The majority of them were in the developing regions,accounting for 43 percent of the urban population, in contrast to 6 percent indeveloped regions. During the 1990s slum dwellers increased substantially and it isfurther projected that in the next 30 years, the global number of slum dwellers willincrease to about 2 billion, if no firm and concrete action is taken.

Urban India is undergoing a transition in terms of physical form, demographic profileand socio-economic diversity. In India, migration has played an important role inaccelerating urban growth resulting in transfer of rural poverty to urban areas.Rural migrants are attracted to the urban areas for economic reasons regardless ofthe fact that physical infrastructure in terms of housing, drinking water supply;

N. Jothilakshmy, after doing Bachelor of Architecture from College of Engineering,Thiruvananthapuram and Masters in Town and Country Planning from School of Architectureand Planning, Anna University, currently doing resesrch on “ Formulating Form Based Codefor emhancing the Imageability of the City – a case of Chennai”. Email:[email protected] Malar, has done Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Town Planning from Schoolof Architecture and Planning, Anna University, Chennai and presently is faculty of Architectureat Satyabama University, Chennai. Email: [email protected]

Institute of Town Planners, India Journal 7 - 2, 50 - 62, April - June 2010

N.Jothilakshmy and R.Arul Malar

51



Fig. 1 Types of Slums

Slums along seashore Slums along railwayline

Slums along waterways Slums along road margins

drainage, etc; is not so adequate in the cities. Cities have been the hubs of economicgrowth, but planned urbanization has been marred to an extent by the excessivedemand for basic amenities resulting in deterioration in the physical environmentwidening of the gap between demand and supply of essential services and otherinfrastructure in these areas. Unchecked migration, particularly, has aggravatedhousing problem resulting in increase in the land prices. This forces the urban poorto settle for informal solutions resulting in mushrooming of slums and squattersettlements.

According to Census of India, the urban population in the country as on 1st March2001 was 286 million constituting 27.8 percent of the total population. The slumcensus 2001 in towns with more than 50,000 populations reported 22.76 percent.This implies, nearly one out of every four persons resides in slums in our cities andtowns. In India, slums are very high in Mumbai, Kolkata followed by Chennai andDelhi.

2. THE CONVENTIONAL APPROACH

Central government and state governments are involved in policy making for thehousing sector including the slum improvement and rehabilitation and the latterimplemented the schemes through the housing boards and other agencies. Urbanlocal bodies are involved in provision for economically weaker sections and lowincome groups, in addition to provision of infrastructure facilities.

52

Table 1 Five Year Plans and the Different Policies on Housing for the Poor

Phase I 1951-1956 (I) • Housing and rehabilitation of refugees(1951-1961) 1956-1961(II) • Called for the construction of lower income group housing

• Slum Areas Act passed in 1956• Strengthening of local bodies to prevent the growth of slums• Importance to improvement and up gradation of slums

Phase II 1969-1974 (IV) • Land available for weaker section(1969– 1979) • Formation of Housing Urban and Development Corporation (1970)

– promotion of housing to lower income groups and economicallyweaker sections

• Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums (EIUS)- provision ofminimum level of services

1974-1979 (V) • First Slum eviction drive in DelhiPhase III 1985-1989 (VII) • National Housing Bank was set up(1985-2002) • Mobilization of resources for housing, provision of subsidised

housing for the poor, acquisition and land development• National Housing Policy in 1988• Removal of house lessness, improving the conditions of the

inadequately housed and provision of minimum level of servicesto all

• Urban Basic Services (UBS)• Urban Basic Services for Poor (UBSP) – merging of UBS and EIUS• Nehru Rojgar Yojana (NRY) – shelter upgrading, microfinance and

wage employment1997-2002 (IX) • Housing for the disadvantaged groups

• Advocated packages and concessions to the private sector toprovide housing for the poor

• National Housing and Habitat Policy – 1998: promised “shelter toAll” and construction of Two Million houses per year in rural andurban areas

• Draft National Slum Policy (never adopted)• Valmiki Ambedkar Malini Basti Awas Yojana (VAMBAY) – to provide

or upgrade shelter for slum dwellers, average cost of 150 sq.ftcosting within Rs.40,000 to 60,000/-, 50% grant and 50% loanwhich to be repaid in 15 years.

• Increasing the land supply for housing the poorPhase IV 2002-2007 (X) • Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Scheme, 2005

(JNNURM)- Urban infrastructure and governance, Basic servicesto the urban poor

• Public private partnership – preferred• State to be a facilitator and regulator• National Urban Housing Policy, 2007 – demand driven approach in

social housing by the Government



53

Fig. 2 Housing Delivery Bodies in Tamil Nadu

These policies have helped to address the housing issues related to the urban poorin India to an extent. State government will formulate the programmes under thevarious policies for the slum dwellers according to the local scenario of the slums.The programmes for the vulnerable groups can be broadly classified as:

• Slum removal and resettlement at or near cleared site;

• Institutional improvement of slums;

• Sites and services both for rehabilitation and for new migrants;

• Housing delivery Bodies in Tamil Nadu: The Fig. 2 gives the broad outlines ofthe various stakeholders and Government agencies involved in the process ofdelivering the housing systems in Tamil Nadu; and

• Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) : TNSCB was formed in 1970 and theTamil Nadu Slum (Improvement and Clearance) Act, was enacted in 1971. Theobjectives of the Board are:

- to clear all the slums in Madras city within a targeted period;

- to prevent further growth of slums in Madras city;

- to give protection to the slum dwellers from eviction; and

- to provide basic amenities such as drinking water supply, electricity, stormwater drainage, etc; to certain slum areas until they are finally cleared.

According to revised figures available in respect of slum households in Chennaicorporation as per 2001 census, slum population is 8.20 lakhs (Fig. 3) and the TNSCBhas estimated that the slum families in undeveloped slums works out to 1.70 lakhs.



54

Fig. 3 Growth of slums in Chennai City

Source: Census 2001

Year No. Slums Slum Population

1956 306 2.870

1961 548 4.120

1971 1202 7.370

1986 996 6.500

2001 1431 8.200

Table 2 Schemes implemented by TNSCB in Chennai Metropolitan Area

Sl.No. Scheme Objectives Beneficiaries1 Slum Clearance scheme Construction of dwelling units 69,594 HH

(1970-2004)2 Environmental Improvement 1 public fountain / 10 families; 1 common bath 55,000 HH

Scheme (1977-1978) and WC / every 5 families; 1 street light / 40mlength of road

3 Accelerated Slum Provision of services 50,000 HHImprovement Scheme(1977-1991)

4 Madras Urban Development 1 public fountain / 10 families; 1 bath 25,000 HHProgramme I (1971-1982) and1 WC / every 10 families; 1 cottage

5 Madras Urban Development industry per 365 families; 1 school / 50,000 HHProgramme II (1980-1988) 100 families

6 Tamil Nadu Urban 45,000 HHDevelopment Programme I(1988-1995)

7 Shelter for Shelterless Affordable houses for slum dwellers 2,982 HHScheme

8 Sites & Services Scheme Open plots developed with basic 1,473 HHinfrastructure; loan period of 20 years

9 Pavement Dwellers Housing GOI:GTN:HUDCO (Rs.13,000/-) 7,787 HHScheme

10 Mass Housing Scheme Construction of brick walls and tiled roof 97,650 HH11 Nehru Rojgar Yojana Upgradation 14,000 HH12 Resettlement under Construction of dwelling units 3,252 HH

special problem grant 10th

finance commission13 Resettlement under Flood

Allevation programme Construction of dwelling units 3,000 HH14 EWS plots in layout 10% of plots excluding roads provided as

EWS plots in layouts > 1 hectare from 1989



55

The government initiatives are thus, piecemeal rather than the holistic approachto solving the housing issues for the urban poor.

From the 1970s the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board operated on the assumptionthat it could build a sufficient quantity of subsidized housing to meet the needs ofall slum dwellers. The construction of large number of new subsidized housingunits is beyond the financial means. Resettlement can destroy social networks andcommunities, and experience shows that new development can cost between 10–15 times more than upgrading the conditions in the places where they already are.

Fig. 4 Process of Relocation and Rehabilitation Programmes of TNSCB



56

Table 3 Okkiyam Thuraippakkam Rehabilitation Housing Project

Details Phase I Phase II Phase IIINumber of units 6,500 3,000 2,538Area of each unit 17.7 Sq.m 22 Sq.m 22 Sq.mTypology(beneficiaries’ Two units have common Each unit is provided Each unit is providedparticipation) toilet and two units are with individual toilet with each toilet

provided with individualtoilet in a floor

Rooms One multipurpose room One multipurpose room One multipurpose roomand a kitchen and a kitchen and a kitchen

staircase Two sets of straight One dog legged staircase per block]staircase per block

Number of floors Two three threeNumber of dwelling eight eighteen eighteenunits in each blockAllotment of Alloted Yet to be allotedtenementsStructure Raft foundation with column running above up to the plinth level and capped

by a beam – Vierendeel foundationSuperstructure 2.7m brickwork with cement mortar (1:6), RCC slabOpenings GI sheets for doors & windows, concrete frame foe doorsfacilities Shops, schools, fair price shops, community hall, health centres, open spaces,

burial ground etc are providedPhysical Water supply, electricity supply, roads, street lights, bus services & terminusinfrastructure are provided (Convergence of various Government Departments)

Suitable land is usually scarce and resettlement destroys housing stock, compoundingthe problem of housing shortages. The removal of people from their homes inslums and their resettling them on alternative sites will involve cooperation fromvarious other Government Departments like metro water, transport, electricity,civil supplies, police, education, health to mention a few. The process of the TNSCB’sRelocation and Rehabilitation programmes is shown in Fig.4

3. CASE STUDIES

The two case studies in CMA has been selected under the two schemes of“Resettlement under special problem grant Tenth Finance Commission” and“Resettlement under Flood Alleviation Programme” to a compare the beneficiariesand the extent of reach to the target people.

3.1 Okkiyam Thuraippakkam, Chennai

Tamilnadu slum clearance board has undertaken major initiatives for constructionof multi storey tenements at Okkium Thuraippakkam for the relocation of slum



57

dwellers and tsunami affected families. This is one of the biggest rehabilitationand resettlement projects in Asia. Called Kanagi Nagar, Okkiyam Thuraippakkamrehabilitation housing project has been initiated in1998 with 6,500 housing unitsunder Phase I which received national recognition, bagging third prize in the allIndia low cost competition on squatter settlement. The objectives are to rehabilitatethe slums located along objectionable areas especially in river margins in Chennaicity and to clear the slums located along the alignment of Madras Rapid TransportSystem (MRTS) and the total sum of sixty crore for the project was mobilized througha special problem grant under the Tenth Finance Commission.

The site measuring 146.3 acres is located on old Mahabalipuram road in TambaramTaluk, Kanchipuram district, Tamil Nadu, which has been witnessing high economicgrowth. The site was a low lying barren land with no cultivation, the proximity ofthe site to Buckingham Canal makes it prone to flood. Therefore, this project wasconstructed by raising this site above the maximum flood level of 2.2 m from theoriginal level. Development was undertaken in phases as discussed below:

Phase I: The site was organized into clusters, each clusters provided with a centralopen space surrounded by tenement blocks. The cluster was connected to theprimary access road (16m) by 7.2 m wide roads. 9 m wide secondary road running in

the east west direction divided theentire length of the site into 3halves (Fig. 5).

The concept of common toilets andindividual toilets has beenincorporated (Fig. 6). Socialfacilities like parks, primary andsecondary schools, shops, clinicshave been provided in adequatenumber, but the rate of utility isvery low as they fail to meet theexpected standards of theresidents. There are a total of 5ration shops, convenience store forevery 100 unit. There is also aproposal for a market in this housingscheme and 10 percent of site areahas been allocated for parks andopen spaces. Irrespective of thevarious facilities which have beenprovided, the locales haveencroached on the space adjoiningtheir unit towards the road for petty

Fig. 5



58

shops either by temporary orpermanent building materials. Asthe residents of units with commontoilets are not very much satisfied,the later added units haveindividual toilets.

Phase II and III: The block has threefloors and each floor has sixunits(Fig. 7). The typical dwellingunit has individual toilets. Theresidents in the two units abuttingthe road have encroached on thefront side either for extra space orfor shops which could be a sourceof income for them.

3.2 Semmenchery, Chennai

Semmenchery Scheme (Fig. 8)caters to tsunami affected people,groups who have lost their housesin government projects like roadwidening, MRTS and also peopleliving in objectionable areas. It hasaccommodated 3,000 tsunamiaffected families and 2,260 otherfamilies. It was developed in twophases with 5,164 and 401 units.Each plot measures 5 m X 13.2 m.Each unit has eight dwelling unitswith attached and individualtoilets. Each block has two floorsand the area of each dwelling unitis 18 sq m. The units for the tsunamiaffected families has beenpurchased from TNSCB under WorldBank funded Emergency TsunamiReconstruction Project (ETRP) at a cost of Rs.1.3 lakh under the Eleventh Five YearPlan II.

Access road from Old Mahabalipuram to the settlement is 20 m. The main roadbifurcating the layout into two halves is 18 m wide followed by service road having

Fig. 7

Fig. 6



59

Fig. 8 a width of 12 m. The width of the sub arterial road is9 m while the other roads range from a minimum of3.4 m to a maximum of 7.2 m

In the layout, the services like burial ground and vermicomposting yard have been provided at the extremenorth west and south east direction. With respect toeach cluster, the blocks are oriented to a focal point– parks, open spaces or nursery school. Nearly all thefacilities (physical and social) required for day to daylife has been provided like schools, community hall,convenience shops, ration shops, pars, bus stand,primary health centre, etc.

3.3 Comparison of the Two Projects

The following lessons could be learnt from thisanalysis:

• Space for the alignment of the MRTS has beenrecovered from the encroachments and theimplementation of the project was made verysuccessful;

• Slum families who were living along theobjectionable areas i.e. along the river marginshave been rehabilitated to well buildneighbourhoods with all the infrastructurefacilities;

• It is one of the massive rehabilitation programmes in Asia, whereby 6,500 familieswere resettled and rehabilitated. After resettlement the quality of life of theslum families has improved;

• Children of rehabilitated families were given schools from nursery to high school.The youth have been given job training and were given placements in some ofthe reputed firms through NGOs coordination;

• Women folk who were originally working as domestic workers have been giventraining to become skilled who have now formed self-help groups; and

• Health facilities were taken care of by setting up a heath centre.

This project is considered as a good model which could be replicated due to thefollowing reasons:

• Concept of sites and services scheme for implementation shifted to ready builthouses to reach the original target people;



60

Table 4 Comparision between Okkiyam Thuraippakkam and Semmenchery Projects

Details Okkiyam Thuraipakkam Semmenchery

Social services Utility level of various services is very low.• Strength of students in the school is low as

most of them go to the same school beforebeing relocated

• Open spaces are used for drying clothes• People depend on doctors in other areas

Number of typologies Two (G +1, G +2) One (G +1)

G + 1 typology Common in both the projects

Sewage treatment plant Perungudi Accommodated within thelayout

Surface drain People complain about poor Covered drainage systemmaintenance

Solid waste Poor collection system Door to door collection

Journey to the original place of Takes one to two hours to reach their place of work hence thework residents are finding it difficult to pursue their original job

oppurtunities

Street lights, electricity Damaged, misused

Informal petty shops In front of the ground floor On the sides of the mainunits central road

Encroachment Residents in the ground floor No encroachments in thehave added extra space in front adjoining area.using temporary buildingmaterials

Occupants Among the respondents out of Monitored28 beneficiaries migranthouseholds, 7 have rented theirhouse either for higher rentor for lease

Temporary dwelling units Adjacent to the blocks by the Informal settlement has comeresidents up adjacent to the R&R site

Sense of ownership To be inculcated by a different approach as there is a misuseof services provided

Alternate livelihood Petty shops Maintenance and Vermincomposting in their layout

Tsunami affected families Free of cost whereas the other have to pay the minimum amountRs.250/- towards maintenance

Poverty poverty is inversely related to female’s earnings



61

Table 5 Difference Between Traditional and New Approach

Traditional approach New approach

• construction of houses byGovernment & its agencies mayhave to be abandoned due toseveral following reasons:

• Lack of availability of funds andhigh cost

• Poor recoveries given theeconomic strata for which thehouses are built

• Lack of availability of lands• Escalation in the cost of lands• Lack of in-house implementing

capacity, specially in respect ofnewer, faster buildingtechnologies

• Lack of manpower andorganizational wherewithal totake up huge works

• Delayed execution due toGovernmental procedures havingto be necessarily followed and

• Indifferent quality of construction

Issues to be considered:• Reconstruction, redevelopment using funds and lands

provided by the Government in case of raw/ developed /tenements.

• ETRP and Rajiv Gandhi package (tsunami housing): 13,000dwelling units (these are both reconstruction/redevelopment and resettlement schemes and are comingup in several places in Chennai including Marina,Thiruvottiyur, Tonidarpet, Okkiyumthuraipakkam andSemmencheri)

• JNNURM:10,000 dwelling units (these are resettlementschemes for slum dwellers)

• XII Finance Commission: 5,000 houses (basically in theresettlement mode at several places includingPerumbakkam and Semmencheri

• TNSCB land as well as raw slum land can be redevelopedthrough the BOT route by allowing private developers toreconstruct the existing dilapidated tenements /slumhouses on a part of the land and using the rest of thespace for commercial exploitation.

• Traditional life style should be taken in to account(fishermen)

• Initially one toilet for two units has been later changed to one toilet per dwellingunit on the request of the public;

• Issues on cost effectiveness have been followed as the approximate cost of onedwelling unit is one lakh and a sum of Rs.250 was collected from every familyevery month for maintenance; and

• Lessons learnt from this project were carried onto Semmenchery project.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Demand driven approach should be adopted where minimum contribution from thetarget group could be made mandatory, which in turn inculcates a sense of ownership.Increase in FSI as per CMDA rules and increasing the carpet area per dwelling unitper the government norms, consisting of kitchen, bedroom, toilet, hall as per thepubic requirement. In case of relocation and resettlement, alternative sources oflivelihood should be given utmost importance. Care to be given to the properfunctioning and maintenance of the social infrastructure right from the beginning.Encroaching by the ground floor residents should be monitored. Awareness



62

programmes should be conducted periodically to educate the disadvantagedpopulation. Women to be given employment opportunities through self help groups.Slum dwellers have to be exposed to the life style of multistoried apartments,which is going to be implemented at Perumbakkam, Chennai in the near future.Very strong community participation processes should be established. Present slumsmust be seen as the result of a failure of housing policies, laws and delivery systems,as well as of national and urban policies, mainly due to the absence of participationprocesses at various levels. This can be overcome by incorporating effective andactive participation mechanisms in the grassroots level planning process itself.

REFERENCES

Batra, L. (2007) ‘The JNNURM and Urban Reforms in Globalizing India’, in Lalit Batra (ed.)The Urban Poor in Globalizing India: Eviction and Marginalization, SADED, CSDS andVasudhaiv Kutumbakam Publications, Delhi

Batra, L. (2009) A review of urbanization and urban policy in Post Independent India

Chandramouli, C. (2003) Slums in Chennai: A profile, Proceedings of the Third InternationalConference on Environment and Health, Chennai, December 15-17.

Das, B. (1981) Urban Planning in India, Social Scientist, Vol.9, No.12, pp. 53-67

Dwivedi, R.M. (2007) Urban Development and Housing in India, New Century, New Delhi

Government of India (2001) Census 2001, General Tables, Government of India, New Delhi.

Jain, A.K. (1992) Building systems for low income housing, Management Publishing Company,Dehra Dun.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (2007) National Urban Housing and Policy,2007, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, , New Delhi

Risebero, B. (1982) Modern Architecture and Design – An alternative history, Herbert Press,London.

UNCHS (2003) The Challenge of Slums, Global Report on Human Settlements, UNCHS.



CALL FOR PAPERS AND NEWS ITEMS

The Editor requests members to send articles for inclusion in the Journaland Newsletter. Chairpersons and Secretaries of the various Regional Chaptersand Committees of the Institute are particularly requested to send highlightsof their activities for the Newsletter and articles for the Journal on a regularbasis. Articles for the Journal may be sent as a soft copy (MS Word) as wellas hard copy. Items for the Newsletter can also be e-mailed to :[email protected] Diagrams and sketches should be neatly drawn,labeled and sent as soft as well as hard copy.

Editor

Inclusive Planning processes and Institutional … Inclusive Planning processes and Institutional Mechanisms for the Urban Poor: Innovations and Lessons Learnt from Different Schemes

Documents