What is slum finalllllllllllll

SLUM REHABILITATION- AS A RELIEF MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUE

"Slum" was originally used mainly in the phrase "back slum," meaning a back room and later "back alley".The origin of this word is thought to come from the Irish phrase 'S lom é (pron. s'lum ae) meaning 'exposed vulnerable place'

A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the developing world between 1990 and 2005. However, due to 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.[5]

The term has traditionally referred to housing areas that were once respectable but which deteriorated as the original dwellers moved on to newer and better parts of the city, but has come to include the vast informal settlements found in cities in the developing world.

Many shack dwellers vigorously oppose the description of their communities as 'slums' arguing that this results in them being pathologised and then, often, subject to threats of evictions. Many academics have vigorously criticized UN-Habitat and the World Bank arguing that their 'Cities Without Slums' Campaign has led directly to a massive increase in forced evictions.

Although their characteristics vary between geographic regions, they are usually inhabited by the very poor or socially disadvantaged. Slum buildings vary from simple shacks to permanent and well-maintained structures. Most slums lack clean water, electricity, sanitation and other basic services.

What is a slum? Zopadpattis

Since it first appeared in the 1820s, the word slum has been used to identify the poorest quality housing, and the most unsanitary conditions; a refuge for marginal activities including crime, ‘vice’ and drug abuse; a likely source for many epidemics that ravaged urban areas; a place apart from all that was decent and wholesome. Today, the catchall term “slum” is loose and deprecatory. It has many connotations and meanings and is seldom used by the more sensitive, politically correct, and academically rigorous. But in developing countries, the word lacks the pejorative and divisive original connotation, and simply refers to lower quality or informal housing.(World Population in Billions)The term “slum” is used in the Report to describe a wide range of low-income settlements and poor human living conditions. A simple definition of a slum would be “a heavily populated urban area characterised by substandard housing and squalor”. This straightforward description reflects the essential physical and social features of slums, but more meat needs to be put on these bones.

Slums in the traditional sense are housing areas that were once respectable – even desirable – but which deteriorated after the original dwellers moved on to new and better parts of the city. The condition of the old homes declined as they were progressively subdivided and rented out to lower income people. Today, slums have come to include the vast informal settlements that are quickly becoming the most visible manifestation of urban poverty in developing world cities. Such settlements are known by many different names and are characterized by a variety of tenure arrangements. In all cases, however, the buildings found there vary from the simplest shack to permanent and sometimes surprisingly well-maintained structures, but what most slums share in common is a lack of clean water, electricity, sanitation and other basic services. Slums can be divided into two broad types: “slums of hope” and “slums of despair”. The first are settlements on an upward trend, largely made up of newer, usually self-built structures, and that are in or have recently been through a process of development, consolidation and improvement. The second group comprise “declining” neighbourhoods in which environmental conditions and services are in a process of seemingly inevitable decay. Unfortunately, the history of slums in Europe, North America and Australia has demonstrated that, without appropriate interventions, slums of hope can all too easily yield to despair, a self-reinforcing condition that can continue for a very long time. A UN Expert Group recently recommended to policy makers and international bodies what they consider to be a more “operational definition” of a slum, one that is intended to enable better targeting of improvement programmes aimed primarily at resolving the physical and legal problems faced by slum dwellers. According to these experts, a slum is an area that combines to various extents the following characteristics:• Inadequate access to safe water; • Inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure; • Poor structural quality of housing; • Overcrowding; and • Insecure residential status. These characteristics are being proposed because they are largely quantifiable and can be used to measure progress toward the Millennium Development Goal to significantly improve the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.

The Early History of Slums

Late in the 17th century, Gerald Aungier tried to attract traders and artisans to Bombay. As a result, the population grew six-fold in the fourteen years between 1661 and 1675. Some of the more prosperous traders built houses inside the British fort. The rest lived in crowded "native-towns" around the walls. These were probably the first slums to grow in Bombay.

The problem of overcrowding certainly remained through the 18th century. A count made in 1794 found 1000 houses inside the fort walls and 6500 immediately outside.

All over the world, the 19th century saw the growth of slums give the lie to the idea of progress brought on by large-scale industrialisation and the understanding and control of diseases. Bombay was no exception. The cotton boom, followed by the rapid growth of mills and shipping drew a large population from the rest of the country into a city ill-

equipped to deal with them. In the middle of the 19th century slums grew around the mills and other places of employment.

The Birth of Slums

Historically, slums have grown in Bombay as a response to a growth of population far beyond the capacity of existing housing. Migrants are normally drawn to the city by the huge disparity between urban and rural income levels. Usually the residents of these densely populated enclaves live close to their place of work. The residential area itself does not provide employment.

Bombay knows another reason for the formation of slums. As the city grew, it took over land that was traditionally used for other purposes. The Koli fishermen were displaced during the development of the harbour and port. Those driven out of the fishing villages improvised living space that was often far shabbier than before. This process continues even now, at the end of the 20th century.

On the other hand, some villages were encysted by the city growing around them. Dharavi, originally a village with a small tanning industry, has become a slum in this fashion. Many of the older slums in Byculla and Khar were initially separate villages, with their own traditional industries.

Early Slums

Before 1950 slums were predominantly found around the mills, on the western part of the island, predominantly in an area called Byculla. They were mostly industrial workers in one room tenements. Health and provisions to these areas were issues that were ignored by the head policy makers. Instead of going away, the slums have just spread. From 1950 to1968 the amount of slums increased 18%, in the 1970s they had a huge surge and by 1980 slum dwellers were half of the entire city's population. All this despite the fact that the city underwent slum clearance, implemented by the Municipal Corporation in 1954.

Migration of slums:

In the last two decades, migration from villages and small towns to metropolitan areas has increased tremendously in India. This leads to the degradation of urban environmental quality and sustainable development especially in the metropolitan cities. The problems faced by the people living in the urban areasof India have become major concerns for the government over the last two decades. Slums are considered to be the major issue within many urban areas; particularly problems related to transportation, population, health and safety. India is one of the fastest developing countries with many metropolitan cities (e.g.Mumbai, Pune,

Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai). To explore the effect of rehabilitation of slumson urban sustainability, part of Mumbai was selected as a case study. Compared to the other metropolitan cities in India, Mumbai is one of the biggest metropolitan regions and capital of the state of Maharashtra with many slums varying in sizes. In addition, every year millions of rupees are being spent to resettle and rehabilitate slums to make Mumbai sustainable. It is reported that around 6 percent of the total landholds nearly 60 percent of the total Mumbai population (CBC, 2006). From 1980 onwards, the rate of migration and the sprawling nature of slums into the city has become an major issue, although many organizations are working towards development of Mumbai, the conditions are not conducive to achieving urban sustainable environment as most of the organizations are not working on a united front. Also, various researchers have reported that to maintain the pace of sustainable urbanization, a holistic approach toSustainable development needs to be considered. Considering today’s poor urban environmental quality in Mumbai, there are many projects under development and execution to improve the poor conditions. Also, the World Bank has funded many projects with the primary aim of improving the city’s land transport, health and education which affect thousands of families. the majority of families affected by urban development projects are located in slum areas which are under consideration for resettlement and/ or rehabilitation. The aim of this research is to examine slum areas and their effects on sustainable urban development. To accomplish the above aim, a case study based approach, engaging a series of face-to-face interviews, was used. As a part of this research, an urban development project funded by the World Bank to achieve urban sustainability in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) was explored. Also, several visits to other slums and rehabilitated areas were conducted to identify the quality of life in slums and rehabilitated areas. The data collected during the face-to-faceInterviews, was used for descriptive analysis considering various aspects (i.e. social, educational) of urban sustainability. Through this research, the reasons for slums and problems related to slums were explored. During the research, it is revealed that some people still think that urbanization is responsible for unsustainable development and they are not in favour of resettlement and rehabilitation. This suggests that to achieve successful urban sustainability, other issues such as employment, education and general awareness are also required along with low-cost mass housing

Introduction

Slums are often defined as, “buildings and areas that are environmentally and structurallydeficient. A result of multiple deprivations such as; illegal land tenure, deficient environment and inadequate shelter and are the result of the gap between the demand and the legal and formal supply in the housing market” (Chauhan, 1996). Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, India’s financial capital, attracts people from all over the country. Te United Nations (UN) reported that Mumbai is the seventh largest city in the world, has the fifth fastest rate of population growth and is the sixth most populous city in the world (O'Hare et al., 1998). But, behind Mumbai’s glitz,glamour and attraction there are different realities; the city landscape is dominated by massive, sprawling slums. In Mumbai some of the slums are the biggest in the world (Jha, 2008) and their origin can be seen from the late 17th century (Dalvi, 1997). Te outcome of consumer expenditure

data survey, conducted by National Sample Survey (NSS) of India, reveals that 15 percent of the total urban population of the country are living in slums (Dhingra et al., 2008). Alex, 2005 reported that, eight million out of the twelve million people in Mumbai are living in slums; and one in every three people in the world could be living in slums by 2030. Mumbai is not alone; slums are global problems, accommodating a billion people (Alex, 2005) In the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) various organizations are working towards upgrading slums in order to improve the urban environmental quality of Mumbai. Some examples are:

MMR-Development Authority (MMRDA) and City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), which are regional planning authorities;

The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) a planning entity for the industrial estate developed under the control of state government.

In addition to these, Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), Slum RehabilitationSociety (SRS), Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA),Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), etc. are also working towards the improvement of slums in Mumbai. In 2006, it was reported that there are more than 60 registered non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) working towards the development of Mumbai slums to make it a goodhabitable place (Karmayog, 2006). Also, the long-term vision of SRA is, "to make Mumbai slumfree by the year 2015” (Dutt, 2004). Most of these organisations are funded by various sourcessuch as World Bank, central government, state government, and corporations.

Recently, World Bank has invested 32000 million in Indian National Rupee (INR) to improve the urban environmental quality of Mumbai. Tis is the largest urban resettlement project ever undertaken in India (Dutt, 2004). Other than World Bank several organisations have already invested millions and billions (INR 5000 million in 2003 and INR 160 billion in 2008 by local government) of rupees towards the development of Mumbai slums. Te local municipal authority reported that everyyear a billion rupees are spent before monsoon season preparing for the rains (Allen, 2008) As mentioned in literature, a significant amount of money is already invested and is set aside to be invested in the future (Pandey, 2007); however, Mumbai still seems to be far away from a sustainable urban development. Tere are many key problems such as slums, population and unregulated growth in the way of sustainable urban development. Tese problems are discussed in this paper. One of the key reasons for Mumbai being far from sustainable urban development is that most of the above mentioned and presently active organisations (governmental and non-governmental) are working individually with a lack of proper central control and coordination.Inadequate initiatives and improper procedures taken at this stage will augment the future impactof slums on urbanisation making them impossible to ignore.

Study aim, objectives and methodology

The primary aim of this research is to explore slums to understand their impact on sustainableurban development. To achieve the above aim the following objectives were formulated.1. To explore existing slums and understand how slum rehabilitation and resettlement projects work.2. To explore one of the major projects at the execution stage involving rehabilitation to achieve sustainability in Mumbai.3. To understand the attitude of slum dwellers towards urban sustainability.4. To examine why rehabilitation and resettlement projects are not achieving considerable success.5. To understand the gap between families shifting from slums to rehabilitated buildings.To achieve the above objectives, a case study based methodology, which involved face-to-face interviews and literature review were employed. Te main purpose of conducting a case study was to know the ground realities related to the project; slums and urban sustainability. Also, to accomplish the aim and objectives of this study, several visits and observation were made to slums located in different pockets of the MMR. As discussed before, Mumbai was selected as it is one of the biggest metropolitan regions in the world, which has many large scale slums (Nijman, 2008).In Mumbai there are ‘Eastern’, and ‘Western’ express highways, which run parallel in a North-South direction along the length of the suburbs. Also, when the existing plan of the city is studied, one can see that there are very few road links connecting the East and West. Hence, several projects in Mumbai are under development and are at the execution stage related to roads connecting the city in the East-West direction. In this research, one of the five proposed major link roads connecting ‘Eastern’ and ‘Western’ express highways passing through part of an existing hutment in Mumbai was selected. Tis is discussed further in Section 5. Te research was guided by a set of questions related to origin, history, impact, and future development related to slums.Several observations were made during a number of site visits to various slums. Te collected data were used to analyse the slums and their impacts on the sustainable development of Mumbai which are presented at the end of the paper

Existing slums and there impacts in Mumbai

On looking at Mumbai from an aerial view, one can see many small and large scale black spots, so called slums and hutments sitting in the different pockets of the city. As mentioned before, while slum pockets cover a mere 6 percent of the land in Mumbai, they hold about 60 percent of the total population (CBC, 2006). All the slums in Mumbai are not merely residential, but have many commercial units such as, shops and small scale industries. However, in Mumbai a high rate of migration to the city from the rest of India resulted in the growth of slums. e development of low-cost housing could not accommodate all the migrants (Dalvi, 1997; Giridharadas, 2008). Slum growth started about a half century back. From the literature, some developments (for example,ports and harbours), which took place in the past are identified as a reason for increasing the slums. During such developments a group of people were displaced from certain locations without provision of alternative housing and other facilities, which resulted into the some of the existing slums today. In some studies it is found that the gap created by

the supply of 17,600 housing against the need for 46,000 houses in the 1960s and the supply of 20,600 housing against the need for 60,000 housing in the 1970s also augmented the growth of slums (Shetty, 2007). At the same time, though several organisations are working, lots of efforts are made and investment spent to control the growth of slums; still sustainable urban development is far from a considerable level. Itis reported that 55 percent of the total population is living in more than 2,500 slums located in different parts of Mumbai (O'Hare et al., 1998). About 50 percent of these slums are spread on private land, 25 percent on state government land, 20 percent on municipal land and the remaining 5 percent on Central government and housing board land (Dalvi, 1997). It is reported that there are 5 million slum dwellers, 1.2 million slum families eligible for rehabilitation in Mumbai; and ‘‘rehabilitating all of them will cost over INR 210,000 million,’’(Iyer, 2005)

Table 1: Slum Population in Municipal Urban Area of MMR (2001)(MMRDA, 2001)

Sr. No Urban Area (Municipal Slum population TotalCorporation /Councils) in 000’s population in 000’s01 Greater Mumbai 5823.51 11914.4002 Thane 420.27 1261.5203 Kalyan-Dombivali 34.85 1193.2704 Navi Mumbai 138.62 703.9305 Bhiwandi 111.30 598.70

06 Mira Bhayander 37.24 520.30

07 Ulhasnagar 53.72 472.94

However, rehabilitations of slums put pressure on middle-class people resulting in paying more taxes to the governments (UN-Habitat, 2003). Moreover, the available and reserved money for the improvement of urban areas is utilized for development of existing slums which results in an overall undeveloped urban area. A study by Davis, in 2004, reported that, populations in the slums are often undercounted. Also, slums which exist on the maps; where a census has been done,exists a variation in population between the census and the actual population. In another study by Nijman, 2008, it is argued that, often, there is a variation in the actual boundary, location and population of the slums. Moreover, some slums in Mumbai do not exist on any maps, thus formal surveys and census have never been done with these slums (Nijman, 2008). Also, it was found that there was a significant difference in slum location and size population count in the actual census

recorded by Greater Mumbai and in the field. e outcome of this above mentioned studyreported that slums population and size are far more than the actual numbers mentioned in the census records

Slums Today

Today slum dwellers make up 60% of Mumbai's population, that is approximately 7 million people. The eventually spread into the areas neighboring Byculla, such as: Mahim Creek, Parel, Dadar and Matunga and whereever else they can find space, even in roads. The conditions in the slums are terrible. Slum inhabitants constantly have to deal with issues such as, constant migration, lack of water, no sewage or solid waste facilities, lack of public transit, pollution and housing shortages. Infant mortality is as high as it is in rural India where there are no amenities. General Hospitals in the Greater Mumbai region are overcrowded and underresourced. In fact, most people rely on private doctors, many of which do not have any qualifications or official training. The World Bank has funded development of 176 Primary Care Dispensaries, but they are finding that those efforts are underused and the water supplies to the area are problematic. It seems that the water supply is always to much or too little, for when monsoon season hits some slums are submerged knee deep in water.

In 1985, the government tried to rectify the problem by passing the Slum Upgradation Project. It offered secure long-term legal plot tenure to slum households on the basis that they would invest in their housing. By giving people an interest in their housing and by guaranteeing home ownership, they hoped to oblitterate slums. Unfortunately the program targeted only 10-12% of the slum population, those who were capable of upgrading their homes. It disregarded those who did not have homes at all.

Despite all the attempts to remedy the slum problem of Mumbai, slums are still growing. The slum growth rate is actually greater than the general urban growth rate. In fact, the city is gaining the name "Slumbay."

Characteristics

The characteristics associated with slums vary from place to place. Slums are usually characterized by urban decay, high rates of poverty, and unemployment. They are

commonly seen as "breeding grounds" for social problems such as crime, drug addiction, alcoholism, high rates of mental illness, and suicide. In many poor countries they exhibit high rates of disease due to unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of basic health care.

A UN Expert Group has created an operational definition of a slum as an area that combines to various extents the following characteristics: inadequate access to safe water; inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure; poor structural quality of housing; overcrowding; and insecure residential status.[6] A more complete definition of these can be found in the 2003 UN report titled "Slums of the World: The face of urban poverty in the new millennium?".[15] The report also lists various attributes and names that are given by individual countries which are somewhat different than these UN characteristics of a slum.

Low socioeconomic status of its residents is another common characteristic given for a slum.[16]

In many slums, especially in poor countries, many live in very narrow alleys that do not allow vehicles (like ambulances and fire trucks) to pass. The lack of services such as routine garbage collection allows rubbish to accumulate in huge quantities. The lack of infrastructure is caused by the informal nature of settlement and no planning for the poor by government officials. Additionally, informal settlements often face the brunt of natural and man-made disasters, such as landslides, as well as earthquakes and tropical storms. Fires are often a serious problem.[17]

Many slum dwellers employ themselves in the informal economy. This can include street vending, drug dealing, domestic work, and prostitution. In some slums people even recycle trash of different kinds (from household garbage to electronics) for a living - selling either the odd usable goods or stripping broken goods for parts or raw materials.

Some of the largest slums in the world, sorted by population

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.

Why do slums exist?

However slums are defined, the question remains “why do they exist?” Slums come about because of, and are perpetuated by, a number of forces. Among these are rapid rural-to-urban migration, increasing urban poverty and inequality, insecure tenure, and globalisation – all contribute to the creation and continuation of slums.

Rapid rural-urban migration – Since 1950, the proportion of people working in developing country agriculture has declined by 20 to 30 per cent. The immigrant urban poor have largely moved from the countryside to the cities voluntarily, in order to exploit actual or perceived economic opportunities. Opportunities manifest in part, due to the growing urban informal sector, which is most spectacularly visible in the many growing and large-sale informal and squatter settlements in urban centres. In many cities the informal sector accounts for as much as 60 per cent of employment of the urban

population and may well serve the needs of an equally high proportion of citizens through the provision of goods and services. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 78 per cent of non-agricultural employment is in the informal sector making up 42 per cent of GDP. More than 90 per cent of the additional jobs in urban areas that will be created in the next decade will be in small-scale enterprises in the informal sector. All this is taking place during a period when the formal urban labour market is barely rising or even shrinking in most developing countries. The resulting explosive growth in the informal sector has been accompanied by poverty and the rapid growth of slums. Political conflict also drives urban migration, not only within countries, but across borders as well. In Angola and Mozambique, urbanization has been driven largely by civil conflict which forced many rural residents to flee to relatively safe urban areas. About 4.5 million Mozambicans were displaced to urban areas during the 1980s. UN-HABITAT’s projections show that by 2030, Africa will cease to be a rural continent, as more than half of its population will be in cities in towns – this in a matter of one generation.But spiralling rural to urban migration is not limited to Africa alone. Over the last 40 years, Latin America has experienced such a rapid rate of urbanisation that today, 75 per cent of the population lives in urban areas. Asia, which is home to 80 per cent of humanity, is also urbanising and currently 36 per cent of Asians live in cities. Some of the world’s largest cities, such as Mumbai, Calcutta and Bangkok, have over 10 million people and between onethird and one-half of them live in slums. The rapidity and enormous volume of this rural-to-urban migration intensifies slum formation. City planning and management systems are unable to adequately cope with the massive population influx.While there are no reliable global estimates of urban poverty, it is generally presumed that there is currently less poverty in urban areas than in rural areas. However, the rate of growth of the world’s urban population living in poverty is now considerably higher than that in rural areas. Urban poverty has been increasing in most developing countries subjected to structural adjustment programmes – programmes that often have had a negative impact on urban economic growth and formal employment opportunities. The absolute number of poor and undernourished in urban areas is increasing, as is the share of urban areas in overall poverty and malnutrition. In general, the locus of poverty is moving to cities, a process now recognised as the “urbanization of poverty”.

Insecure tenure – The lack of secure tenure is a primary reason why slums persist. Without secure tenure, slumdwellers have few ways and little incentive to improve their surroundings. Secure tenure is often a precondition for access to other economic and social opportunities, including credit, public services, and livelihood opportunities. Study after study confirms that, in slums where residents enjoy secure tenure to land and housing – whether formal or informal – community-led slum improvement initiatives are much more likely to be undertaken and, in fact, succeed.

Globalisation – Slum formation is closely linked to economic cycles, trends in national income distribution, and in more recent years, to national economic development policies. The Report finds that the cyclical nature of capitalism, increased demand for

skilled versus unskilled labour, and the negative effects of globalisation – in particular, global economic booms and busts that ratchet up inequality and distribute new wealth unevenly – contribute to the enormous growth of slums. The Report notes that, in the past, the global economic cycles were responsible for creating the famous slum areas of major cities in today’s developed world and they are very likely to do the same again in the developing world.

54% of Mumbai lives in slums: World Bank

While there are conflicting views on whether slums will completely overtake Mumbai's landscape by 2025, as projected by the World Bank, the general consensus is that rehabilitation of slum-dwellers is the only feasible solution

More than half of Mumbai's population now lives in its slums, according to latest statistics from the World Bank (WB), one of the world's largest financial institutions. While almost 54% of the metro's inhabitants live in shanties, another 25-30% live in chawls and on footpaths, with just 10-15% living in apartment buildings, bungalows or high-rises. However, experts rubbish the claim that from being the slum capital of India, Mumbai is now set to become the slum capital of the world.

Projections are that in 20 years, due to factors like a halt in the city's controversial slum demolition scheme, unchecked migration into the city by people in search of jobs, antiquated housing laws and skyrocketing real estate prices, slums will overtake the Mumbai landscape. The WB estimates that 22.5 million people will be living in slums in Mumbai by 2025.

Professor R N Sharma, head of the urban studies unit at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, agrees that the city is being overrun by slums. "Thanks to migration, the city's population is rising rapidly. Already 67% of the city work 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."

It is estimated that 100-300 new families come to Mumbai every day; most land up in slum colonies or erect shanties on the nearest available footpath. In fact, Business World magazine's recently-released WhiteBook of Marketing 2005 clearly debunks the popular perception that Mumbai houses the largest proportion of the country's elite (the top socio-economic class) population. Mumbai's A-class measures only 14.8%, compared to the national capital Delhi's 25.4% and Chennai's 16.3%.

A Jockin of SPARC, a non-governmental organisation that works with the issue of urban slums, says rehabilitation is the only solution. "This talk about Mumbai having predominantly slums is rubbish. Already 67% of slums on railway land have been resettled. The airport project and the rehabilitation near the Mithi river are also happening at a good pace. These figures of the slum population rising are not true."

Both the current Congress-led coalition government and the former Shiv Sena government came to power in Maharashtra on the strength of their slum rehabilitation schemes. The Sena's scheme envisaged free housing for 40 lakh (400,000) of Mumbai's slum-dwellers, a goal it failed to meet.

Former Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority chief and housing expert Chandrashekhar Prabhu says that every government has tried to impose a slum scheme. "They have never been given an option of choosing from different slum schemes. They have had to choose from one scheme at a time, and all have got their disadvantages."

General observations related to slums in Mumbai

Following are the general observation made during the research. Slums do not have:1. Basic municipal services such as water, sanitation, waste collection, storm drainage, streetlighting, paved footpaths and roads for emergency access.2. Sufficient play areas, schools and medical facilities for children.3. Sufficient community places to socialise and to celebrate festivals.4. Healthy, hygienic conditions for families.5. Visible differences amongst the slums and richer neighbourhoods which could be responsible for social tensions in slums6. Sufficient conventional places because of unplanned and unregulated growth of settlements.Due to lack of the above facilities, the slums not only have impact on the hutments but also responsible for the overall unsustainable urban environment. After conducting the case study, literature review and observations during various site visits, it is concluded that to achieve sustainability in an urban area, segregated projects related to transportations, link roads etc. are not enough in Mumbai. ere is a need to; study pre and post project impacts, different employment opportunities, and spread general awareness about urbanisation along with sustainability. Rehabilitation and resettlement projects will not work if people living in the slums are relocated far away, where there are no employment opportunities. However, in this scenario families will relocate themselves, where work is available resulting in the formation of new slums or promotion of existing slums. For the success of any resettlement, rehabilitation and slum improvement, project location is an important component. In most of the cases people living in the slums do not get a chance to give their opinion about the proposed development. If any of the components of urban area can not satisfy the sustainability criteria and growth is unregulated and not predicated then the urban area cannot achieve sustainability. Moreover, urban sustainability cannot be achieved without the support from the people living in the slums; as they play a major role towards the success of the resettlement and rehabilitation of projects. Often, only one or few of the organisations are working to achieve sustainable development in an urban context and not in collaboration to the rest of the organizations. Because of this, several projects in Mumbai always get delayed and often there are price escalation and obstruction from other organisation or society

Land tenure

When we studied existing land tenure and how people manage to build their slums, the following interesting facts came into the picture. About ownership of the land, slums and their working is very different (not standard) when compared with the rest of Mumbai. Most of the settlement, so called hutments consists of a number of ‘chawls’. Often, a chawl will contend 10-20 small attached units (houses) measuring approximately 100-200 square feet each, which are given on rent by a slumlord (landlord). Also, a number of slumlords own small portions of the land in the settlement.The portion of the land owned by the slumlords is then given on rent with some initial deposit, where the tenant needs to construct their own house and has to pay rent for using the land and not for the house. In the local language this system is known as the “pagadi system” and is widely practiced in many slums in the MMR. Also, this system works very well, as most of the time tenants do not have to vacate their house and keep on paying rent for the small piece of land only, as they are available on long lease

Hygiene

After visiting the slums in different parts of Mumbai, a few of them located in Greater Mumbai (Dharavi, Mahalaxmi, etc.) and in the suburbs (Jogeshwari, Vikhroli, etc), the following conclusions are made based on the observations.Slums which are located in Greater Mumbai are more unhygienic compared to the slums located in the suburbs. It was observed that the slums which are located in the suburbs, collect and throw their garbage on the periphery (if there is an unoccupied land), cleaning internal alleys, galli’s (streets) and neighbourhood; ended up surrounding hutment by the piles of garbage. Whereas slums in the city do not have any open spaces on the periphery, resulting in collection of their garbage within their internal streets and neighbourhoods only. However, in both the areas hygiene is below standard

Transportation and emergency

As resettlement areas are neatly planned, demarcated in the development plan of the city, it is easy to have planned public transport services. In most of the cases bus stops are located near the resettlement areas. Exact known density and details about the people make it easy to provide all possible public services such as schools, public bus services, ambulances, etc. Also, all of the resettlement areas are approachable by the ambulance and fire fighting vehicles during emergencies. Whereas in the case of slums, all above factors such as density, public profile and their requirements are unknown, making them difficult to plan any activities such as public transport services and other facilities to be used during emergencies. Also, slums don’t often have any boundaries and are spread to maximum limits, some time even occupy footpaths, this makes it difficult to locate any common facilities, such as bus stops for public transport and access for emergency vehicles

A recommendation for slum

The task force has developed a concrete blueprint to fight urban poverty. Its recommendations include: Countries need to recognize that the urban poor are active agents and not just beneficiaries of development. Local authorities and national governments should collaborate with the organizations of the urban poor in upgrading slums and providing alternatives to slum formation. Managing cities requires 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. Following consultation with both slum dwellers and national authorities, local governing bodies should pass legislation to prevent forced evictions and provide “security of tenure” to residents of slum communities. 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 servicePublic investments must focus on providing access to basic services and infrastructure. Working 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. The transportation needs and safety concerns of a city’s poorest residents should be a high priority in planning urban transportation systems, which can expand the choices people have regarding where to live and work. Building codes and regulations should be realistic and enforceable and reflect the lifestyle and needs of the local community. This means, for example, that they may have to be flexible enough to allow for housing that is built incrementally, out of low-cost materials and on small plots of land. To create jobs, cities should encourage the private sector by improving infrastructure and facilitating the transition from the informal into the formal economy. Foreign direct investment can play an important catalytic role in promoting urban manufacturing and service-based enterprises.

What is slum rehabilitation?

The Slum Rehabilitation Act 1995 was passed by the government of the Indian state Maharashtra to protect the rights of slum dwellers and promote the development of slum areas. The Act protected from eviction anyone who could produce a document proving they lived in the city of Mumbai before January 1995, regardless if they lived on the pavement or other kinds of municipal land. The ACT was the result of policy development that included grassroots slum dweller organizations, particularly SPARC.

Through the Act pavement dwellers were for the first time into the classification of households that are entitled to land for relocation. Following the enactment of this legislation, the government of Maharashtra and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai set out a special policy for planning the relocation of the 20,000 households, using the information from a census Mahila Milan and NSDF completed in 1995.

Slum Rehabilitation in the context of urban sustainability

While understanding slum rehabilitation, the key reason for studying this is to understand; why slum rehabilitation is required? What is the relationship between slum rehabilitation and urban sustainability?Urban sustainability is defined as "Improving the quality of life in a city, including ecological, cultural, political, institutional, social and economic components without leaving a burden on the future generations” (Urban21, 2000). Whereas, Sustainable Urban Development Association (SUDA) has define unsustainable urban development as “often it is urban sprawl. Sprawl is low density suburban development, usually consisting of subdivisions of detached and semi-detached, single-family houses, and scattered low-density commercial/industrial uses”. In the long-term, unsustainable urban development can harm the health of urban dwellers (Huang et al., 1998). The first ever systematic effort to improve slums was made in the early 20th century, after consequences of the plague epidemics in the 1896. However, to rehabilitate crowded living areas and slums ‘The City Improvement Trust’ was formed on the 9th of December 1898 in Mumbai (Dalvi, 1997). It is said that, presently Maharashtra is the only state in India to proposeand carry out a massive slum rehabilitation programme. Also, the state government has come-up with an autonomous and a fully IT-based state-of-the-art “Slum Rehabilitation Authority” (SRA) to implement various schemes related to resettlement, rehabilitation and improvement of the slums in Mumbai. As mentioned earlier, large amounts of money have been invested and set aside by various organisations and governments (central, state and local) to achieve urban sustainability. Several projects initiated, funded or invested by the governments to improve the slums fall under the following categories, slums eradication and relocation, improvement, up-gradation and redevelopment and rehabilitation. From time-to-time the concerned government conduct several amendments in the regulations to improve slum conditions (SPARC, 2003; Mukherjee,

2008). But, it is reported that though there is incremental change in living conditions the slums are growing continuously

How the slums rehabilitation projects work?

Slum Rehabilitation Society (SRS) is one of the oldest and active nongovernmental organizations (NGO) in Mumbai and working with a different approach to slum rehabilitation. Its strategy to improve slums is by promoting the "self-development" approach to prohibit the profiteering by anindividual or organisation. e main beneficiaries of self development approach are both theoccupants and the city. A slum rehabilitation scheme can be taken up on the plots that arenotified, categorised and approved as a slum by the local government. If any of the plots coveredby a slum is reserved for non-buildable reservation, then during the resettlement andrehabilitation the plot area should be more than 500 m2 and minimum ground coverage shouldnot exceed 25 percent by the slum rehabilitation. With self development approach, slum dwellersget an opportunity to appoint a developer for execution of proposal. Slum rehabilitation and selfdevelopment in Mumbai is financed by ‘re-housing the slum dwellers’ in multi-storeyed buildingson one part of the land and selling the other part at commercial rates in the city. Also, 70 percentof the eligible slum dwellers from hutments can come together to form a society to implement theslum rehabilitation scheme. If the area is too dense and difficult to get a satisfactory salecomponent (as declared by local government), then the rights for developing the commercial areacan be transferred to the northern suburbs under the scheme called Transferable DevelopmentRights (TDR). e Floor Space Index (FSI) permissible for a scheme depends on the number ofslum dwellers to be rehabilitated, but should not exceed 2.5. Also, after providing low costhousing, ex-slum dwellers living in an apartment receive help in the form of subsidies; taxreductions over a 20-year period and concession for an apartment maintenance. e tenement assigned to a slum dweller is for a minimum period of 10 years from the date of allotment andcannot be sold during that period.Every slum structure existing on or before 1st January 1995 are eligible for rehabilitation andcheap housing. All the eligible residential slum structures are provided with an alternative

tenement admeasuring 225 square feet preferably at the same side, irrespective of the area of theirslum structure. However, tenements can be transferred to a legal beneficiary if approved by theChief Executive Officer (CEO) of SRA. A onetime sum of INR 20,000 per tenement is recoveredfrom the developer for subsidising the monthly maintenance of the building. Flats are allocated byan open lottery system and in rare cases family do get a chance to choose flats depending onindividual circumstances (handicap, old age, etc)

Modern Efforts at Slum Rehabilitation

During the early years of this century, in the aftermath of the plague epidemics, the first systematic efforts were made to rehabilitate crowded living areas and slums. The City Improvement Trust was set up with this mandate. However as Bombay continued to draw migrants the growth of slums could not be checked even with the development of low-cost housing. Post-independence efforts at providing better standards of living to this section of the population are documented elsewhere.

Re-housing and ResettlementDuring the case study it was observed that Pratap Nagar slums are not entirely affected by theproject (JVLR). Different parts of Pratap Nagar which were getting affected because of the projectwere considered for rehabilitation and resettlemen

Social and Economic Conditions

In slums:1. e majority were Hindu families, much less Muslim families and a few catholic familieswho speak English were found in those particular areas2. e population is a mixed, one in terms of financial status.3. High level of social interaction and social security is achieved due to the dense livingconditions.4. Complex and functional use of the small amount of space allocated for living and working(i.e. residential, commercial) in many cases.

In rehabilitated areas:

1. As most of the flats are allocated on a lottery system, a mixed culture is observed.2. ough population is mixed in terms of financial status, facilities and amenities are same forall.3. High level of privacy, security and places for social interactions because of regulated growth.4. Some level of segregation of areas (kitchen and living) within the flats and at the society level(commercial, residential and play areas

Environment and Maintenancee people living in the Pratap Nagar slums were very much concerned about the

cleanliness.ey not only take care of their individual dwellings but also of their neighbourhood up to

someextent. It was observed that all the people living in the slums contribute some money monthly forthe maintenance of their slum areas. We can see this difference at the border areas where garbageis thrown, which is never cleared. Drainage systems in the hutment areas are comparatively good.Wherever possible the inhabitants have tried to close the drains. We often found the drains on both sides of the streets. However, as the drainage and garbage is collected on the periphery of thehutments, overall quality of the slum areas are below an acceptable limit and unhealthy.To maintain the hygiene in resettlement areas, SRA took initiative. ey are trying to help groupsof buildings by forming societies and choosing a concern person who will take care of issuesrelated to buildings (such as cleaning, collecting and throwing away garbage). e SRA helps themto build a common area, where everybody can dump their garbage and it will be sent from there toa dumping ground and/ or for recycling

Opinion about resettlement areaDuring the interviews, when asked about their personal opinion towards the resettlementschemes, the following positive and negative observations were obtained

1 Positive feedback1. People living in the resettlement area observed a significant increase in the amount of day light,ventilation and privacy; whereas most of these things are least in the slums.2. Considerable increase in available number of facilities such as toilets, water, parking, school,public transport, roads, etc.

3. Resettlement provides more work opportunity and increase in monthly income.4. Because of the regulated growth and upgradation in living standards they have goodneighbourhood and friends.5. e availability of the public bus services near the resettlement area reduces their travel time towork

2 Negative feedback1. Before the opening of the lottery to allocate their flats, they were not allowed to visit the flats.2. Families, where only one person is earning, were scared to relocate, as this might increase theirmonthly expenses because of the additional facilities which are not there in the slums.3. As every family will be getting 225 square feet each, irrespective of their slum areas in PratapNagar; those who are getting less than their previous area in slum were disappointed.4. Many of them were reluctant to shift, because they will be moving to a 7-storey building (highrise) from the low rise slums.5. ose who were supposed to shift their commercial units (shops) were unhappy as they mightobserve a drop in their business.Also, other than the above mentioned reasons, it was found that public opinions regardingrelocating themselves differed based on the following reasons.

4.4.3 Traditional v/s unorthodoxWhen compared, individuals, especially females, in orthodox families were not eager to move intoa building, as one from a liberal family. is is because in orthodox families the women are confined to the houses and have a very limited social life. ey feel that moving into a building willadd to their isolation from the world. Hence, they were highly reluctant to move into apartments.

4.4.4 Financial security v/s povertyFrom the interviews it was revealed that economically stable families had no problems movinginto buildings compared to the economically unstable family. When asked, the economical reasonssuch as better lifestyle and regulated growth were given by the different part of the society

5 Education v/s illiteracyObservations made during the interviews revealed that people who are educated and morefuturistic were keen to move. Education broadens their perspective and makes them want an

apparently better lifestyle and environmental quality. On the other hand, people who are lesseducated and their life revolves around their small community prefer not to be isolated from theirslum by moving. Also, we observed that some of the students, who are at school level, were keenon moving as there is provision of schools in the rehabilitated area, because they expecting good(educated) friends and better neighbourhood

'Political interference hinders slum rehabilitation'

mumbai: the biggest obstacle in the path of successful rehabilitationof slum-dwellers in the city is the growing tendency to politicise the process, feel social activists. ``politicians have repeatedly opted for a myopic approach by stalling demolition of slums to garner votes instead of working for long-term rehabilitation,'' says national slum dwellers federation (nsdf) president a. jockin. a magsaysay award recipient for public service in 2000, mr jockin, is currently in the midst of resettling 2,116 families residing in rafique nagar, a slum on the periphery of the chhatrapati shivaji airport, to their one-room-kitchen flats in santosh nagar, goregaon (e). rafique nagar is the only slum among 82 others poised on airport land which is being rehabilitated so far. thousands of slum-dwellers residing in slums like sanjay gandhi nagar, samrat ashok nagar, ambevadi nagar, sambhaji nagar and ambedkar nagar, which were demolished last week, have been left homeless. expressing concern about their fate mr jockin adds, ``now, they'll only create another slum elsewhere.'' the hutments surrounding the airport have always been viewed as a security threat to key installations. giving in to mounting pressure from the centre in the wake of the sept. 11 terrorist attack in america some of the slums were finally demolished on dec. 21. however, what has irked social workers is that local politicians resorted to ``cheap gimmicks'' like getting the deadline extended instead of pressing for rehabilitation. ``the rehabilitation of rafique nagar residents too, had its fair share of hurdles,'' says nsdf co-ordinator m.g. shekhar. initially the local politicians instigated the residents not to agree to the resettlement agreement as they feared losing their vote bank, he says. ``we held numerous meetings with the residents, personally visited each family to convince them,'' he adds. the easier part, say activists, was convincing the airports authority of india (aai) to give rs 1.25 lakh per family for rehabilitation and getting the state government to sanction the land under the shivshahi punarvasan prakalp limited scheme. ``once the project came through each politician wanted to stake their claim. we were repeatedly pressurised to add a few families or delete the names of others,'' alleges mr shekhar. rafique nagar residents, however, are breathing easy today as thousands of others like them in neighbouring slums are left without a roof over their heads. their new homes overlooking the film city in goregaon (e) comprise 225 sq feet one-room-kitchen apartments with running water, electricity, cable and phone connection. there are 27

buildings of seven-storey each with ten flats on each floor. anticipating the transformation in the lives of the slum-dwellers nsdf has asked each family to open a savings account of rs 20,000. the interest will help pay for the upkeep of the society, salaries of watchmen and liftmen. individual societies have been formed to look after daily affairs and to ensure that no flats are sold to any outsider. ``it is a myth that slum-dwellers are averse to leaving their shanties,'' mr jockin states. ``given a choice, who wouldn't want to move to a better life''.

So profitable is resettlement that one local developer, Akruti Nirman, has built its entire business around slums, and it is expected to raise $100 million next year in a stock offering that has attracted overseas investors…the moves reflect a surge of enthusiasm for Indian real estate, which was closed to foreign capital until last year. Hundreds of millions of dollars are pouring in from firms like Goldman Sachs to build new malls, apartments and offices, and many stock offerings are planned for next year.

Schemes for Slum rehabilation

National Slum Development Programme (NSDP)

National Slum Development Programme (NSDP) was introduced in the Eight Five Year Plan during 1996-97 with the specific objective of providing basic amenities to slum dwellers in the field of physical & social amenities, community infrastructure etc.. NSDP is a centrally sponsored scheme meant for the improvement of slums : 

The components of this scheme would include :  Provision of physical amenities like water supply, storm water drains, community

baths, widening and paving of existing taxes, sewers, community latrines, street lights etc.

Community infrastructure : Provision of community centres to be used for pre school education, non formal education, adult education, recreational activities etc. 

Community primary health care centre buildings can be provided  (It is proposed that after creation of infrastructure facilities the concerned Municipalities will seek the support of Registered Medical Practitioners/Government Doctors in the State/NGOs) CBO/Philanthropic Associations to man these centres.

Social amenities like pre school education, non-formal education, adult education, maternity, child health and primary health care including etc.

The scheme will attempt to bring about convergence between schemes being implemented by different line departments and may also provide missing links, if required. 

Provision for shelter : The Scheme must have a component of shelter upgardation or construction of houses (incl. EWS) as may be regd. This is a necessity if genuine slum improvement is to be done. Not less than 10% of the allocation to States under this assistance shall be utilised for constn. and up gradation of houses for the urban poor.

States may work out state specific schemes for housing construction/up gradation under this component subject to the provision that the scheme shall not be an entirely subsidy based scheme but the funding shall contain a loan component as well, the state scheme shall be first got sanctioned in a state level project committee which shall be set up for this purpose by the state govt. concerned and which shall have one representative from the department of UEPA, which is the nodal Department for this scheme in the GOI.

    Yearly provision under this scheme shall be indicated by the Planning Commission at the beginning of each financial year. Inter re allocation between states shall be made on the basis of the slum populations of the states.

    The scheme shall be implemented at the grass root level by the neighborhood committees and community development societies.

    The urban local body shall report progress under this scheme periodically to the DUDA/SUDA. At the state level, the programme is regularly monitored by the Manipur Urban Dev. Agency (MUDA) which issues necessary guidance as well as instructions to the ULBs.

HDIL gets nod for Mumbai slum project

The real estate developer Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) got the government approval for the coveted Mumbai airport slum rehabilitation programme today. HDIL had earlier bagged the project from the Mumbai International Airport (MIAL).

The tenement limit has been increased to 270 sq ft from 225 sq ft. As the size of the tenement has gone up, the transfer of development rights will increase accordingly by about 20 per cent more," said HDIL Managing Director Sarang Wadhawan.

According to HDIL, of the 276 acres, 180 acres would be used for airport development and 96 acres for commercial development. HDIL will take 4 and half years to complete the entire slum rehabilitation. Some of the slum dwellers will be moved to to a 50 acre plot at Gorai and Malwni, located close to Malad.

According to the ongoing survey, there are about 85,000 families to be rehabilitated on the 276 acres of airport land.

The HDIL stock spurted to Rs 846, up 9.59 per cent from Rs 772 a share on news that the realty major had received approval for the airport slum rehabilitation project.

The stock touched a high of Rs 860.7 a share and a low of Rs 772 a share in intraday trades.

A credible low-income housing policy is actually within reach

The Mumbai Municipal Corporation has had a busy few weeks, demolishing thousands of slum dwellings. Media reports captured the standard responses: middle-class angst against illegal squatters, versus the outrage of the displaced about the inequity in treating those who form the underbelly of Mumbai’s economy. The slum demolition is being framed in the context of Mumbai — the country’s commercial capital — losing its eminence. However, the story needs to be understood against a larger tapestry of two other developments: one, the increasing urbanisation of India, with a projected 600 million residents by 2030; and two, the booming housing finance market, which has gone from a Rs 10,000 crore industry barely five years ago to one that is touching Rs 100,000 crore.

The reality: urban land is all about money.

The situation in Mumbai actually requires some reflection about why the poor are squatting. India has an abysmal story to tell on urban poor housing. NSSO’s Survey in 2002 is revealing: 52,000 slums hold eight million urban households, representing 14% of the total urban population, and only half the poor — the others live on the streets. About 65% of the slums were built on public land owned mostly by local bodies, state governments, etc. Infrastructure facilities are atrocious: only 15% of these households have drinking water, electricity and latrines in their premises. Less than 25% of them have sanitation systems. The housing stock shortage in India is around 20 million, of which 50% is urban; of this, 70%-80% is in the low-income segment.

This is not just about “slum demolition drives”; it requires a coherent low-income housing policy. Two questions could help in directing the discussions. The first: “Can the housing needs of the urban poor be served by market forces? If so, what needs to be done?”

After all, the boom in housing finance has happened due to market forces. So it is logical to ask why banks are not lending to the low-income group, and why real estate developers are not building for this gigantic eight million-strong market. To provide some perspective, HDFC has financed a total of 2.5 million homes over 25 years. The NSSO survey shows that the urban poor spend close to Rs 1 lakh of their own money on housing: the nesting instinct is universal. Housing finance companies and large banks don’t service the low-income market for a variety of reasons

Stop free slum rehabilitation'

f the state wants to provide housing to almost 60% of the city's population living in slums, it needs to do away with free rehabilitation, urban-planning experts said on the concluding day of Megamorphosis, a conference on Mumbai's resurgence, on Wednesday.

With property prices varying wildly across the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR), incentives should be linked with slum rehabilitation projects in locations with lower property prices, and vice-versa, to ensure that such projects are economically viable.

Senior housing officials said Suresh Joshi, housing secretary in 2004 and now the chief information commissioner, had proposed a similar scheme under which builders could avail of a higher developable space as incentive. The scheme did not take off as the base floor space index (FSI) in the suburbs was not raised from 1 to 1.33. This was done in 2008.

"For example, a developer in Bandra saw no profit if he had to use the balance FSI beyond Andheri, where property rates are Rs4,000 a sq ft against Rs9,000 at Bandra," an official said. "If this scheme is implemented now, it would work well as both TDR and property rates are rising."

The planners agreed that the current slum redevelopment scheme alone cannot address the demand for rehabilitation and sought subsidy in the form of low housing finance and increasing capital assistance.

They also urged greater government participation in ensuring land allocation for affordable housing. "Singapore has used its power to transfer land to the Housing and Development Board --- similar to Mhada --- for public housing," said Shirish Patel, urban planner and social activist. "California has active zoning policies whereby developers can construct up to 20% additional area than permitted as per the local development plan as an incentive to create affordable housing units."

Sitaram Kunte, principal secretary (housing), said the Centre has already taken steps to promote inclusive housing by mandating that new developments will have to reserve 25% to 30% of the space for low-income groups.

increase the floor space index

The state government is all set to increase the floor space index (FSI) for slum rehabilitation projects across the city from 2.5 to a whopping 4. 

In simple terms, this means that if a builder in a slum rehab scheme could construct a five-storey building with FSI 2.5, he could now go up to 15 floors. (FSI is the ratio of the permissible built-up area vis-a-vis the size of the plot.) An increase in the FSI would allow developers additional construction on slum land, which would give them windfall profits under the free sale component. Town planners fear this will further burden an already creaking infrastructure and increase human density on such plots.   The government’s proposal comes barely days after the chief minister’s office cleared an enhanced floor space index of 4 for the Mumbai-based developer HDIL for rehousing 80,000 slum families encroaching on airport land. 

Sources told TOI that since the airport slum clearance was a ‘public-interest project’, HDIL’s proposal for an FSI of 4 was sanctioned in a record two weeks after it was put up for approval by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). The file was put up on June 6 and the government order was out on June 20. 

Since then, more slum redevelopers have started lobbying with the government to hike the FSI for slum schemes across the city.    

UPSIDE TOWN

1. Under the SRA scheme, assume ten acres house approximately 10,000 slum dwellers

2. With an FSI of 2.5, builders could construct a maximum of up to five storeys, with very little open space between the buildings

3. With an FSI of 4, the buildings can now rise up to a minimum of 15-16 storeys in mega redevelopment schemes anywhere in the city or suburbs

4. The decision will result in a bonanza for builders

Increased FSI in slums windfall for Cong man

Sources told TOI that one of the biggest beneficiaries of the increase in slum rehab FSI is a top Congress party functionary who has a stake in at least three dozen slum rehab schemes, including three big ones in Santa Cruz, Golibar and Worli. On June 23, the SRA issued a notification inviting objections and suggestions from the public regarding the proposed hike in FSI from 2.5 to 4. It’s learnt that only high-density slums—those which have 650 tenements per hectare—will be entitled to an FSI of 4. “All such proposals will have to be cleared by the urban development department, which is

headed by chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh,’’ said sources. However, slums with a lower density will be entitled to FSI 3, which can be sanctioned by the SRA itself. 

A majority of the slums in the city falls into the “high density’’ category. What makes the scheme so lucrative for builders is that the entire FSI of 4 can be used on the plot where slumdwellers will be rehoused. 

 So far, only an FSI of 2.5 was permitted on a slum rehab plot and anything above that could be used as transfer of development rights (TDR), to be utilised for construction purposes anywhere north of that plot. With TDR no longer as lurcative as it used to be, the utilisation of FSI 4 on the same plot means a huge windfall. 

The government has justified the higher FSI because the size of each free tenement for slum dwellers has been increased from 225 sq ft to 269 sq ft. “Once HDIL’s proposal for FSI 4 was approved, it was a matter of time before the government sanctioned it for other slum schemes as well,’’ said a Mantralaya official.    In fact, for HDIL’s airport slum clearance project, the state has relaxed the norm of reserving 25% of a slum rehab plot for a recreation ground. The government order has reduced it to a meagre 8%.

  REHAB SCHEME    

The slum rehab scheme was introduced over a decade ago by the then Shiv Sena-BJP government. Builders were required to get the consent of at least 70% of slum dwellers in a settlement before rehousing them in new buildings. Each family was to be given a 269 sq-ft tenement, free of cost. In return, the developers would get extra FSI to build residential towers or commercial space on a portion of the plot.

Slum Redevelopment scheme way behind schedule

The Rs32,000-crore Slum Redevelopment Authority scheme was introduced in 1995, only 1.5 lakh houses are constructed over the past 14 years against the targeted 8 lakh

Maharashtra government’s initiative of making Mumbai a slum-free city by 2015 is way behind the schedule with hardly 1.5 lakh houses constructed over the past 14 years against the targeted 8 lakh.

“So far, we have made 1.5 lakh units and 2.5 lakh units are still under construction. We need to develop 5 lakh more units,” State Housing Department secretary Sitaram Kunte said.

The Rs32,000-crore Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) scheme was introduced in 1995 by the then Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government with a view to rehabilitate millions of slum-dwellers in the city.

The global economic downturn resulted in an overall slowdown in several redevelopment projects of the state government, including the SRA scheme and the Dharavi Development Project, Kunte said.

However, he declined to give further information on the Rs5,600-crore Dharavi project—the world’s largest slum rehabilitation programme.

“The private developers were not too keen during the economic slump (to take up projects) and hence the slow progress. It was even considered unviable in some of the suburbs as the sale rates were less than Rs2,000 per sq ft,” Kunte said.

”However, the department is hopeful that with the economy showing signs of recovery, more private developers will come forward,“ Kunte said, adding the government is only a facilitator and more public-private-partnership is required for the execution of the projects.

Under the SRA, every slum structure existing as on 1 January 1995, or before is eligible to benefit from the rehabilitation scheme.

Also, nearly 70% of the residents of any slum should agree before a developer can redevelop their plot by constructing seven-storey buildings where each family will get a flat measuring 225 sq ft free, he said.

The remaining land can be used to build commercial or residential spaces for sale. Out of the total project amount, Mumbai alone will require nearly Rs16,000-crore.

“To further facilitate the project, the government should modify the existing rules and increase the Floor Space Index (FSI) to 4 from the existing 2.5, which the developers do not find viable,” he added.

DISNEY DHARAVI

The word ‘holiday’ conjures up an image of sun-kissed beaches, slopes lush with greenery, historical backdrops and other picture postcard images. Ask any old Mumbaikar if the city has anything to offer the curious tourist and the answer would most likely be a resounding no: head for Goa or head for the hills will be their rejoinder. That is until Dharavi became the unlikely tourist attraction. 

 Yes, Asia's biggest slum has a lot going for it with the recent trend of "reality tourism". 

  Evidence of its popularity is the growing success of Reality Tours & Travels with conducting trips that promise a unique way to experience the "real" Mumbai. The agency was started in January this year in collaboration between Chris Way, a citizen of UK and Mumbaikar Krishna Pujari. With an investment of 13 lakh rupees they have so far played guides to an odd assortment of tourists that have included foreigners, journalists and even locals. 

Eighty per cent of the agency's profit after tax goes to a local NGO called Modern Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation that runs nursery schools for under-privileged children in the slums. The remaining 20 per cent is used to pay off loans or ploughed right back into the business.

The tours are conducted through, and their frequency is an indication of its popularity, even as the agency is not keen to make Dharavi a spectator sport. The tours are conducted in groups of not more than five in an effort not to rob residents of their privacy. 

It is the heart of small scale industries in Mumbai." This is evident from the manner in which the tour guides attempt to educate the tourists with Dharavi trivia. 

Did you know that Dharavi is spread across 443 acres of land housing more than a million people hard at work in more than 10,000 varied small scale units? This is where Dharavi stands out when compared to other slums in India, or the world. Richard, a lawyer from UK, remarks that while holidaying in countries such as Brazil, Thailand and South Africa where guided slum tours are well established, he come across this kind of productivity. "No one is holding out any begging bowl here and that's what I like. This level of enterprise is astounding," he says. 

 One comes across businesses ranging from bakeries to units recycling plastic and metal to leather tanning and clay pot making. All this apparently translates into an eye brow raising annual turnover of approximately Rs 3000 crore. 

 The tour threads through a school that is operating in the heart of the slum, where more than 50 children of two separate grades share a single room. Cliff, a UK citizen and lawyer by profession, is moved and says, "It's heartening to see the children all decked out in clean uniforms with their well thumbed school books. It's certainly the inspiration and the hope for the future for the people of Dharavi."

Slum Rehabilitation Authority

Dharavi Redevelopment Project

1. Introduction:Dharavi is the largest and highly populated slum pocket in Asia. Govt. of Maharashtra has accepted the proposal submitted by Architect, Mr. Mukesh Mehta for the redevelopment of Dharavi which, after suitable modifications, will be implemented through the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), according to the norms of S. R. Act of 1971.

2. Development Plan:

According to SRA norms, the slum dweller whose name appear in the voters list as on 01.01.1995 & who is actual occupant of the hutment is eligible for rehabilitation. Each family will be allotted a self contained house of 225 sq.ft. carpet area free of cost. The eligible slum dwellers appearing in Annexure II certified by the Competent Authority will be included in the Rehabilitation scheme. Eligible slum dwellers will be given rehab tenement in Dharavi.

3. Transit Tenements:During the implementation of this project, Dharavi residents will be provided with transit tenements, in close proximity of Dharavi or in Dharavi itself. The developer will bear the cost on account of rent of the transit tenements but the cost of expenditure of consumables like water, electricity, telephone etc. will have to be borne by the slum dwellers.

4. Sustainable Development:The development plan for Dharavi has many amenities in it; viz. wider roads, electricity, ample water supply, playgrounds, schools, colleges, medical centers, socio-cultural centers etc. For proper implementation, Dharavi has been divided into 10 sectors and sectors will be developed by different developers. The total duration of this project is excepted to be of 5 to 7 years. Rehabilitation building will be of 7 storeys.

5. Development Procedure:After considering the redevelopment plan, a detailed plane table survey has been carried out to know the ground realities. Also, consent of the slum dwellers to join this project is being obtained. After obtaining suggestions & objectives from the public for the revised development plan, the same will be finalized by Govt. For each sector a detailed sectoral plan will be prepared by the selected developer in consultation with SRA.This will be placed before the public for suggestion/objectives and then finalized after due amendments.

6. Appointment of the Developer: Global tenders will be invited from developers for this project. The developer will be evaluated technically and financially by a Committee headed by the Chief Secretary of Government of Maharashtra. Each developer is required to explain his development strategy in his sector and obtain objectives & suggestions from the residents before starting the development process.

7. Development of local Industrial units:Taking into consideration the various industrial units in Dharavi, it is being proposed that, non-polluting industrial / businesses will be retained in Dharavi itself. All the established businesses and manufacturing units will be encouraged and will be provided with modern technical and economical strategies for sustainable development.

FAQs

1. What does Dharavi Redevelopment Project mean and what are its benefits ? The eligible Slum dwellers of Dharavi will be provided with a free of cost pakka house of 225 Sq.ft. carpet area with attached toilet & bathroom.

2. Who will benefit from this project ? The slum dweller whose name appears in the voters list as on 01.01.1995 & who is actual occupant of the hut will benefit from the scheme.

3. How will a slum dweller get to know that his name is registered in the Government records ? If your name appears in the electoral roll of 01.01.1995 and you are occupying the said hut as on today, you are entitled for rehab tenement.

4. Who will decide the eligibility of slum dwellers under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme ? Following Competent Authorities on the basis of ownership of land covered by hutments will decide the eligibility.

Land Owner / Authority1. Government owned land  Deputy Collector (Encroachments)2. MCGM    Concerned Ward Officer/Assistant Commissioner3. MHADA    Chief Officer-Mumbai Housing & Area Development Board4. Privately owned land  Deputy Collector (Encroachments)

5. What does Annexure II mean?Annexure II means the list of slum dwellers who are entitled to benefit from the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, it also includes the measurements of land.

6. What is the importance of Annexure II?A person can get rehabilitation tenements only if his name is include in Annexure II.

7. What is the duration of Dharavi project?The total duration of Dharavi project is approximately 5 to 7 years.

8. If two families are staying in the same house, would they be given two separate houses?No, only one house will be allotted to such family.

9. What will be the arrangements for the transit tenements?Transit tenements will be either in Dharavi or in the vicinity of Dharavi.

10. Who will bear the expenditure for the transit tenements?The developer will bear the rent for the transit tenements, however, other expenditure

such as water charges, electricity charges, telephone charges will be borne by the slum dwellers themselves.

11. How will the developers be appointed for Dharavi development Project?The Government will call for global tenders. These tenders will be evaluated technically and financially be the committee under the chairmanship of the chief secretary of the Government. The eligible developer is required to explain his development strategy in his sector & seek their suggestions/objections from the residents before starting the development process.

12. Can an NGO or slum dwellers’ co-operative housing society bid for a sector?An NGO/Co. Op housing society who qualifies with the technical and financial criteria of the tenders being called by Government, can bid for development of a sector.

13. What will be the maintenance and Municipal taxes per month after the formation of Housing Societies?The residents have to pay maintenance and Municipal taxes per month in accordance with the existing slum rehabilitation scheme, being implemented in Dharavi.

14. How many storeys will each building have?Normally, each building will have 7 storeys. However developer can construct rehab building of more than 7 floors in consultation will the concerned Co. op. Housing society of slum dwellers.

15. When will the co-operatives be formed for the slum dwellers?The Co-op. society of slum dwellers will be formed, after the commencement certificate is issued.

16. Do the slum dwellers have to pay any amount towards the project?No.

17. If the name of the slum dweller is not registered in the electoral list before 01.01.1995 and he is staying in the same structure prior to 01.01.1995, will he be eligible under S. R. Scheme?In such a situation this slum dwellers can appeal to the S.R.A. he will be given a heating and his eligibility will be decided based on evidence produced by him.

18. If my hutment is falling under a proposed road or any other public purpose project, am I entitle for the rehab tenement?If your hutment is situated on the land reserved for public purpose and if it is constructed before 01.01.1995 then you will be entitled to receive a rehab tenement. If it is not possible to rehabilitate at the same place, then the rehabilitation will be done in the near vicinity.

19. What are the various plans for the industrial sector?Government intends to legalize the industrial units conforming to the Government norms & Development control Regulations.

20. What provisions are made for the cottage industries?Businesses falling under this category will be protected, provided they obtain legal document or necessary licenses for running the business.

Salient features of Dharavi Slum Redevelopment Project: .

The five year Dharavi Redevelopment Project worth Rs 8,600 crores was drawn up on February 4, 2004 in view of the dense combination of commercial and residential structures.

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) had come up with a Rs 6,380 crore plan for redeveloping Dharavi slums by 2010.

The center, state and HUDCO are to jointly finance the plan. Global tenders to be floated and project to be implemented by private builders.

Original slumdwellers living prior to January 1, 1995 to be relocated in newly built buildings with 225 sq ft free tenement.

Plan envisages plush residential and commercial complexes, hospitals, schools and colleges.

15 percent of the land is to be reserved for open green spaces and playgrounds.

Private builders to get 4 FSI as incentive for commercial exploitation of remaining land.

Spread over 174 hectares of land Dharavi billed as Asia's largest slum connects the Island city with suburban Mumbai.

Connects East-West Express Highways also Western, Eastern and Harbour lines of the suburban railway network.

Close to 6 lakh people and 71,000 families live in the slum. Houses about 5,000 small scale units producing intermediary goods, houses leather tanneries. SSI units here generate Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 crore turnover annually.

Former PM AB Vajpayee had granted Rs 500 crores for developing infrastructure like roads, drainage systems by the BMC.

Blueprint for a new Dharavi

The Slum Rehabilitation Authority’s (SRA) tender inviting bids for the ‘Redevelopment of Dharavi’ project which began on June 1, 2007, has drawn a huge response. Leading international developers from 40 cities across the world including the US-based Hynes, Far East-based Capitaland, Ascendas, Ayala, the UAE-based Emaar, Nakheel and Limitless have started lobbying strongly with local developers such as Hiranandani Constructions, Rahejas, Kalpataru, Lokhandwala Infrastructure, Akruti Nirman to form joint ventures for bidding jointly. By July 15, 2007, international developers will submit their JV patterns to SRA, followed by the final bidding process by July-end 2007.

The key question is: will these international builders in association with local developers be successful in bringing about necessary redevelopment within Dharavi (where 55% of its residents live in the squalid slums and over 57,000 families are squeezed into an area of 535 acres) necessitating structural changes at the entry and exit levels of Dharavi.

According to Ghulam Zia, National Director of Research and Advisory Services, Knight Frank, “Builders will have to plan and develop high-rise buildings within the periphery of Dharavi in a manner that should enhance the value of the real estate property on the outskirts of the Dharavi also. Otherwise, the redevelopment of the Dharavi project will place a burden on existing infrastructure such as railways, water supply, sewage treatment at the entry and exit points.”

Under the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, all the eligible slum dwellers whose names are incorporated in the electoral roll of 1995 and whose structures are existing on site will be rehabilitated free of cost in a self contained pucca tenement with a carpet area of 225 sq ft through the developers to be appointed by the government of Maharashtra. Besides, additional amenities like school, an ITI, colleges, municipal hospitals, police stations and post office will be developed and these facilities will be available to slum dwellers.

Iqbal Chahal, the chief executive officer of Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) who has been recently appointed as vice president and chief executive officer for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project told FE, “For this, the quantum of amenity requirements is now increased to 10% from the earlier limit of 5%.”

Of the 557 acres, the actual redevelopment of Dharavi will span 360 acres, which the state government has divided into five sectors. With the total redevelopment cost of Rs 9,200 crore, Dharavi will be redeveloped as an integrated township with modern amenities that will be financially viable and self-sustaining. It is envisaged to provide the infrastructure along five points dubbed HIKES where H stands for Health: State of Art Health Care Centre; I for Income: Income generation through supporting the craftsmen working in leather, pottery, food processing, garment manufacturing, gems and jewellery industries. K for Knowledge: Through education to achieve 100% literacy, and, S for Socio – cultural development.

Hemant Shah, chairman, Akruti Nirman says, “Looking at the dynamism of this project, the cost of the project may exceed over Rs 20,000 crore over a period of time from the current estimated cost of Rs 9,300 crore. This is because every aspect of the Dharavi Rehabilitation project is positive as it has gained wide publicity in 40 cities across the world whereby many international builders are looking at bidding for this project.”

As per the tender issued by SRA, Dharavi’s proximity to Mumbai’s business district, railways and airport provide the strategic advantage of leveraging Dharavi’s improvement costs with free sale buildable areas. Given an appropriate scale of operation, one large and continuous free sale area can be developed into a high-rise garden city complex, with completely modern infrastructure and amenities for the local residents and all of Mumbai.

Ashutosh Limaye, head—urban development of TrammellCrow Megharaj (now Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj), opines, “Prior to the Dharavi redevelopment, one of the biggest challenges for the SRA authorities as well as builders will be to eradicate the ongoing illegal commercial activities there.”

Mumbai-based Ali Lokhandwala, director, Lokhandwala Infrastructure who has shown keen interest in bidding for the project cautions builders on the resistance which they will have to face from the slum dwellers since everybody has so far been used to living on the ground level. He adds, “There will be political agenda by politicians who will try to meet during the redevelopment process. In such circumstances, the state government will have to be firm in terms of standing by the redevelopment plan of Dharavi so that judiciary also supports the state government.”

Since the residential buildings will command a selling price of Rs 10,000 per sq ft is similar to the prices on the Western Express Highway, Dharavi will see a population pull from Western and Central suburbs. But redevelopment of Dharavi is being considered good from a urban regeneration point of view since Dharavi has always been a permanent eyesore to foreign travellers flying to India apart from slums adding pollution to the Mithi river.

Niranjan Hiranandani, managing director, Hiranandani Construction says, “With Dharavi getting redeveloped, I feel great. Although the state government is not doing anything to remove the Urban Land Ceiling Act (ULCA), at least an effort is being made by them instead of doing away with the slums in Dharavi.”

Hafeez Contractor—a renowned architect from Mumbai told FE, “The redevelopment of Dharavi seems to be good and I am looking forward to it as there will be many office buildings and residential complexes.”

Although it is understood that the temporary accommodation of slum dwellers will be done at the transit camp by the developers within Dharavi itself, speculations are rife that the same slum dwellers may not go for the upcoming flats. However, Chahal denies any

such bottleneck and affirms that the redevelopment project will benefit the slum dwellers and beautify Mumbai.

Dharavi rehabilitation

About 57,000 families with about 340,000 people and hundreds of small businesses currently occupy the 535-acre stretch in mostly illegal structures that have multiplied over decades.

For the Dharavi rehabilitation, 26 consortia comprising 78 companies have filed preliminary bids. The project's total cost is estimated at Rs. 9,250 crore ($2.3 billion), covering housing, civic infrastructure and amenities. It will be distributed across five contracts valued at between Rs. 1,000 crore ($250 million) and Rs. 2,500 crore ($625 million) each. Winning bidders will pay a "premium" to the government in exchange for the development rights. Mehta says the state government could collect premiums totaling as much as Rs. 4,000 crore ($1 billion), which will come out of the developers' profits.

Mehta says bidders that meet prequalification criteria will be short-listed by the end of September, and then asked to submit detailed proposals. By early December, he expects to announce the successful bidders, and ground should be broken by January of next year.

Public-Private Partnerships

Mehta's model is designed to cross-subsidize free housing and infrastructure with for-sale housing and commercial space. Under the plan, developers will provide free housing of 225 sq. ft. to each of 57,000 families. These would be one-room studio apartments with an attached bath and kitchen, plus related utilities and amenities including schools, colleges, hospitals and parks. The developers will offset their costs with for-sale housing and commercial space at market rates. Some of that will come from the market prices residents and commercial establishments like shops will be required to pay for space greater than 225-sq.-ft. A portion of the developers' revenues from these for-sale properties will accrue to the government as a premium.

"All the world's eyes are on Dharavi," says Mehta about the bidding interest the project has generated so far. The bidders include many of India's major industrial groups such as Reliance; engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro; and real estate developers DLF, Hiranandani Constructions, the K. Raheja Group, Tata Housing and Mahindra Gesco. Several foreign companies have also shown interest in bidding, including real estate developer Hines of Houston, Tex.; Ascendas and Capitaland of Singapore; and Emaar Properties of Dubai.

Mehta acknowledges that the project's schedule could be thrown off course by legal squabbles, bureaucratic delays, disputes between and with slum dwellers, and any opposition from local politicians, underworld slumlords and other interested parties. He says that the project's very economic and social logic will hopefully overwhelm critics, and he routinely addresses local meetings to garner support. He adds that the courts should play a supportive role, because they "have understood the slum rehabilitation scheme and are aware that this has been going on for 10 years."

A City within a City

Mumbai's slums hold 55% of the city's 12 million residents, or 1.2 million families in 1,126 slum pockets, as a survey by Mehta's firm revealed. Dharavi is the most high profile for a variety of reasons, including its prime location straddling the city's eastern and western corridors, flourishing small and medium businesses, a reputation for spawning crime, and chronic unsanitary conditions on which the city's municipality appears to have given up.

"This is now my life's work," says Mehta, 56, who was born into a wealthy family that ran steel mills and other businesses in India's Gujarat state. Dharavi was far from his mind when he graduated with a degree in architecture in India and then left the country to obtain his master's degree at the Pratt Institute in New York City in 1984. While in the U.S., he developed expensive, custom homes in Long Island's affluent Nassau County. Until 1997, he shuttled between the U.S. and India while running a few businesses, but eventually closed them all down to focus on his Dharavi project.

Mehta literally stumbled upon Dharavi when he returned from the U.S. He says he was galvanized by the combination of filth, squalor, poverty, enterprise and the locked potential of the slum's prime location, and began to work on a rehabilitation plan. He set up his offices in Dharavi "to understand who I am dealing with, and interact at the grassroots level with the slum dwellers."

Perversely, Dharavi is also emblematic of the survival instincts of Mumbai's continually expanding population in the face of infrastructure unable to keep pace. About 300 new immigrant families are said to enter the city as permanent residents every day. Meanwhile, the slum residents have started hundreds of small businesses in pottery, leather craft, plastics and metal recycling, cottage-industry electronics and garments. "Show me a single beggar in Dharavi," says Mehta, underscoring his point that the suburb has the potential to transform itself from an eyesore into an economic engine for the city.

Government Planning Shortcomings

Over the years, successive governments have attempted to rehabilitate Dharavi's slum dwellers, and it became one of the first targets of non-government organizations looking for suitable projects. Mehta felt many of these went about the task in a piecemeal fashion. He drafted an alternative plan that he pitched to the state government in 1997.

Mehta says the government's plan at that time was "brilliant," in that it sought to use public-private partnerships to extract value from the land on which the slum dwellers resided, by allowing for-sale development options. But it suffered from some fundamental shortcomings, he notes. Most important of all was the failure to recognize the organic and haphazard ways in which slums proliferate into every available area: Lacking contiguous settlements or rectangular plots, they don't allow for conventional master planning.

Dharavi's redevelopment occurred only in those pockets where developers were able to secure the required consent from residents in any slum (70%). But because these pockets were typically mapped out in irregular plots and in what continued to be a slum neighborhood, the for-sale housing went for low prices. The government, for the most part, kept a hands-off approach after laying down project specifications.

The poorly staffed government machinery was unable to enforce the project specifications on construction quality, and rampant corruption made things worse, says Mehta. The roughly 100,000 homes that have been built in this manner so far "will become vertical slums," he says. Moreover, he adds, development under the government's plan is not sustainable. "Unless I improve the ability of the slum dwellers to generate income and live the modified lifestyle, they cannot maintain their new housing."

Mehta proposed a master plan for the entire slum -- an integrated, sustainable development approach called HIKES (health, income, knowledge, environment and socio-cultural development). Mehta says the HIKES approach allows slum dwellers "to maximize their opportunities and be respected for who they are" in terms of their own achievements. The government gave the plan enthusiastic support.

"With HIKES, the chance of [slum residents] leading a sustainable, improved life is greater than you would get by providing just housing," says Mehta. "This is the mistake that all the developing countries are making -- China, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Turkey and Malaysia. They are thinking of slum rehabilitation as a housing issue. Housing is only one part of it; the larger part is human resources."

Leveraging Location

Dharavi has several advantages in terms of its location. It is the only Mumbai suburb with connections to all three of the city's commuter rail corridors (Western, Central and Harbor lines). It is also less than two miles from the airport, and a third of a mile from the new Bandra-Kurla commercial complex.

The integrated development approach and the prospect of a slum-free suburb emerging in Dharavi made it easier to market the project to businesses, academic establishments and professional associations. Mehta lists a string of collaborations that have been struck so far:

A collaboration with the All India Association of Day Surgeons ensures that in exchange for space to house day surgery polyclinics, its member doctors would provide free or subsidized services to slum residents.

Alliances with primary and secondary schools to set up facilities in Dharavi. For every free school an educational institution puts up, it will get space for a full fee-paying school, provided the quality of education is the same at both schools.

An agreement with the National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad to allow for Dharavi's leather crafts and pottery industries to turn out designer brands. "So far they are only imitating the Guccis and the Pierre Cardins and the Christian Diors of the world," says Mehta. "NID has agreed to upgrade the skills of the leather craftsmen and make ceramists of the potters." A few brand-name retail chains like Metro Shoes and Hi-Design have agreed to market the leather crafts produced through such ventures. Mehta sees similar possibilities in a range of other industries, from garments to toys and food products.

A provisional agreement with the Gems & Jewelry Export Promotion Council for its members to set up 300 factories and hire 250 people for each, creating a total of 75,000 jobs with an average annual income of Rs. 100,000 ($2,500). Mehta says this would be a big income generator even if only a third of those employees are hired from Dharavi. He says this initiative is estimated to generate exports worth $1.5 billion annually.

A project to create a golf driving range in the middle of Dharavi has gotten traction among some big businesses such as the Reliance Group, says Mehta, who argues it would prevent encroachment of vacant land and draw the wealthy into Dharavi. Another of Mehta's ideas is to set up a cricket museum in the suburb. He sees both possibilities as efforts to help integrate the slum population with mainstream middle- and upper-income groups.

Mehta claims the revised regulations for sewerage, storm water drainage and other utilities are in line with international standards. "We have looked at eco-housing criteria. We're talking about alternative sources of energy, solid waste recycling and management, recycling water, rain water harvesting, energy conservation and even issues related to global warming, at the infrastructure level," he says.

Further, Mehta's firm has also rewritten much of the earlier regulations that he felt held site planning and construction norms to low compliance requirements. The mandatory space required between two buildings has been doubled from the earlier level to 20 ft.; similarly, open space requirements, as a proportion of construction area, was increased from 8% to 15% of the developed area.

Under the earlier regime, homes could not get "even light and air ventilation properly," Mehta says. Some developers "cheated on the 8% open space norm by providing 1% here, 3% somewhere else and 4% in a third place, with the result that you don't even get

one maidan [Hindi for "playground"]," he adds. Slum dwellers needed more open space than others, he argues, "because their per-capita housing space is less and the density is higher."

Will people used to the ways of a slum adopt a new outlook about upkeep and keep their surroundings clean? Mehta isn't taking chances: Deals are in place for all providers of utilities and services, including plumbing, elevators and exterior paint to maintain and undertake repairs free of charge for the first 15 years. Developers, too, will be required to maintain the buildings they erect for 15 years.

Mehta doesn't see slum proliferation through encroachment as a recurring problem in the areas that will be developed. The residents, as owners of their new dwellings, will prevent that, he says. "If it is your fiefdom or your area you will not let anybody come in." The resettled families will have an initial 30-year lease, with automatic renewal for another 30 years. For each home they build, developers will put Rs. 20,000 ($400) in an escrow account to finance its upkeep; the homeowner will meet costs beyond that. All that comes with a caveat: residents cannot sell their homes for the first 10 years.

Mehta says his firm's responsibility for managing the project runs "until the last slum dweller is re-housed." That may take about seven years from now, he says. His firm currently has 68 employees; he expects that to grow to more than 350 by the time construction starts in December.

Dharavi project gets an expert panel

An expert committee has been set up to advise the Government on planning, management and implementation of the Dharavi makeover project. The 11-member committee comprising architects, city planners, activists and former bureaucrats has been approved by Chief Minister Ashok Chavan.

The panel includes former chief secretary D M Sukhtankar, former IAS officer Sunder Burra, urban planner Vidyadhar Phatak, architect Shirish Patel, housing expert Chandrashekhar Prabhu, architects Arvind and Neera Adarkar, director of the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture Aniruddh Paul, Society for the Promotion of Area Research Centres (SPARC) Director Sheela Patel and SPARC founder and National Slum Dwellers Federation convener Jockin Arputham.

The convener of the committee will be Gautam Chatterjee, officer on special duty for the Rs 15,000-cr Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

The panel will advise the state government on aspects like setting up of transit camps, layout of rehabilitation tenements, facilities to be provided to such buildings, the civic infrastructure to be provided to the five sectors planned in the project and how it would be linked to the infrastructure in the city.

The committee will also advise the government on ensuring environmental sustainability of the project, besides aspects like the baseline social and economic surveys, laying down

eligibility criteria for rehabilitation, complaint redressal, legal and commercial matters, setting up of co-operative housing societies for the rehabilitated buildings and a federation of such institutions, laying down responsibilities and ensuring co-ordination between various state government agencies during the execution of the project. The panel would also advise the government on measures to be taken to protect and maintain living standards of locals.

SLUM MAKEOVER

In a bid to prevent corrupt practices in the Dharavi mega makeover project, officials of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) will be using state-of-the-art techniques like satellite imaging and biometric surveys. While satellite imaging will give exact measurements of the structures, biometric surveys will store fingerprints of the slum dwellers so that ineligible persons do not usurp the flats which will be given free under the makeover project. DRP may finetune the biometric surveys to even image retinas so that there is absolutely no scope for bogus allotments and resales.

    A senior official of the Dharavi Redevelopment Project said, "The biometric survey will cover heads of families in whose name the hutments or shops stand. In most rehabilitation schemes, slum dwellers have sold the flats allotted to them and relocated in new slums. We don't want this to happen in Dharavi. Given Dharavi's prime location, there will be a huge demand for flats in the erstwhile slum colony. Our surveys are also aimed at preventing builders from creating bogus tenants in an attempt to widen their profit margins.''

    The DRP's officer on special duty, T Chandrashekhar, said, "We have invited bids from firms and NGOs to do a GIS-based Biometric Base Line socio-economic survey which involves collecting information at the micro level. On the basis of this survey, smart I-cards will be issued to eligible allottees. This survey will be completed in three months from the award of the contract.''

    In many other projects undertaken by builders under SRA, there have been malpractices. Builders in tandem with SRA officials create bogus tenancies and sell off the excess flats. The biometric system will curb this.

    Chandrashekhar said the socioeconomic survey will help assess their needs during reconstruction. "We will also ask them questions about their income, health conditions, number of children, source of income, education and other related issues which will give us a fair picture,'' said Chandrashekhar. Indications are that household and small industries will not be disturbed.

    The Dharavi makeover project was first mooted on the eve of the 2004 assembly elections by the then chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde. It was endorsed by chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh this year. Deshmukh has hand-picked Chandrashekar for the project given his track record in effecting the makeovers of Thane and Nagpur.

    DRP has received 26 bids from developers from the world over for the Rs 9,250-crore venture. Several top builders of Mumbai are also eyeing the project.

    The development plan includes wider and better roads, steady electric supply, ample water, playgrounds, schools, colleges, medical centres etc. For proper implementation, Dharavi has been divided into 10 sectors and these will be developed by different developers. The project is likely to be completed in seven years.

A windfall awaits Dharavi developersThey will make Rs25,000 cr from the project, while the state government will be richer by Rs12,000 cr Keen to ensure that the global economic slowdown does not stall its ambitious Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP), the state government has decided to offer a slew of incentives to the developers who will win the bids for the project. The government will finalise five consortiums from the 14 that have submitted bids for the project on July 20. Each developer will then be given a zone to develop.

The government is expected to earn roughly Rs7,000-Rs12,000 crore from the project,

while the successful developers are expected to make a windfall of up to Rs25,000 crore

after completing the project.

The government has drastically reduced the security deposit and performance security the

successful bidders will have to pay. The financial bid conditions earlier said the

successful bidders will have to pay 1% of the project cost as security deposit and 10% of

the project cost as performance security.

But, as per the reworked master plan, the project cost will be calculated by taking into

account the costs of rehabilitation, infrastructure and free sale. "The government will now

take the rehab and infrastructure cost into account while computing the security deposit

and performance guarantee," a senior government official said.

That means the maximum security deposit the government will get will not exceed Rs20

crore for each zone, a drop from the Rs50 crore it would have earned as per the earlier

norms. Similarly, the maximum performance security the government will get will not

exceed Rs175 crore from each zone, as against Rs500-Rs700 crore as per the earlier

policy.

The bidders who will be awarded the project will be allowed to pay the 10% premium in

two instalments. While 5% has to be paid within 30 days of receiving the offer letter, the

balance has to be paid within 30 days after that.

The government hopes that the concessions will encourage many developers to bid for

the project. However, a developer said he was not sure if his consortium will be able to

submit the bid by July 20. "It will take time for us to do the financial calculations based

on the amendments the government has made in the master plan, which states we will

have to give more area to the slum-dwellers being rehabilitated. Our agreements with

foreign partners are in place, but it will take us some time to raise the finances required,"

the developer said.

Social activists have denounced the government's decision. Terming the latest master

plan "Machiavellian", the activists said that the move will deprive 1 lakh families of their

traditional livelihood. The reworked master plan will benefit the developers, they said.

A committee of experts set up by the government under retired chief secretary DM

Sukhtankar to assist in planning the Dharavi project had also raised many objections to

the plan in a letter to chief minister Ashok Chavan.

The Dharavi renewal plan gives freebies to both builders and slumdwellers

As Mumbai waits for the biggest ever transformation of its embedded slum township of Dharavi to begin, crucial questions about the pattern of urban development have begun to be raised. Questions about the viability and necessity of the project have been raised by members of an expert committee set up by the government to help plan the project. At stake are differing views of how Mumbai and other Indian cities ought to develop. The government, backed by the builders who profit from such schemes, has pursued a slum rehabilitation policy that involves building free housing for residents of city slums by

builders, who then get free land to build premium flats for sale to the upper middle class. Slum dwellers exchange their occupation of the land for a free 225 sq ft flat. For the builder the cost of land is the cost of building the free flats for the slum people. This is much less than the cost of such land in most parts of the city.  Such a policy can only work where land prices are high enough. By pampering slum dwellers with a free house and builders with a low land cost, the city is deprived of more affordable housing, and a pattern has been set which is difficult to break. It is also about time that slum dwellers began to pay for the construction of new homes and that banks are induced to give them loans at lower rates of interest. They cannot be pampered with freebies any more but at the same time should be given the chance to live with the dignity of having a legal title to their homes. A 225 sq ft flat would possibly cost around Rs2.5 lakh to build. According to estimates, some 80 per cent of slum families earn over Rs7,500 a month and can therefore afford a bank loan to pay for the construction of their flat. Because a builder does not have to pay for reconstruction of such slums, since the slum dwellers will be paying their own way, the government can demand that affordable homes are also simultaneously built on the available free area.  In the slum rehabilitation policy now being attempted in Dharavi on a grand scale, the families that live or work in some 57,000 huts are to be re-housed in 300 sq ft tenements. Apart from this there are 15,000 to 25,000 families that live as tenants on the first floors of the huts. They have not been taken into account while preparing the plan and their fate and possible opposition is not yet known.  The total cost of the project is said to be Rs15,000 crore but its break up is something of a mystery. Around 60,000 tenements of 300 sq ft each would cost around Rs2,000 crore to build at the rate of around Rs1,200 per sq ft. Of the balance commercial or residential area of total FSI (floor space index) of 1.33, the reconstruction area would cost around Rs4,800 crore at Rs2,000 a sq ft. If sold at Rs15,000 a sq ft, this would give the builders and the government Rs 36,000 crore or five times the reconstruction cost of the hutments and the new offices/upmarket residences.  With prospective bidders not very confident about the market for office space in the Dharavi area, more residences would further crowd the already very high population densities. While a worthwhile innovation in the current plan is that people could continue to work near their homes in shops or galas (work spaces that could double as industrial spaces) in the ground floors of their residential buildings, it is galling that the winners would depend on how high they bid, with all the money going to the government.  The expert committee has instead proposed that the land be leased out to slum dwellers to construct their homes. Such self help has never worked in the past and to think it would do so now is utopian. With the state government being broke and no longer building homes for the lower income groups, there is no way builders can be dispensed with. They

are businessmen and like to make a profit. It is for an elected government to ensure that social goals are also being met.  For instance if the bids were based not on how much the builder is willing to pay the government but on how little extra FSI he would be content with (this regularly happens in infrastructure projects when the bid is chosen based on the shortest period for which tolls will be collected), the overcrowding would be reduced.  The government has also to move away from a policy of free housing, a policy that can never work on the scale needed to meet demand. But this would require a political consensus, difficult enough when competing populism dominates politics and impossible when state assembly elections are around the corner.

A Different Set of Challenges

The public-private partnership model is also a key driver at the other big slum resettlement project on Mehta's plate, near the city's international airport. At an estimated cost of Rs.7,200 crore ($1.75 billion), the expansion and upgrade of Mumbai's international airport is among the largest private-sector infrastructure projects underway in the country. Plans are to double both annual passenger capacity to 40 million annually and cargo capacity to 1 million tons.

But to make way for that expansion, the project's promoter -- Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. (MIAL) -- has to clear 276 acres in the airport's vicinity. That stretch includes a slum that houses between 60,000 and 80,000 families. The plans are to resettle them into new housing at another location within a six-mile radius. "They have their social and financial sustenance in this locality, so there would be huge resistance if we try to move them too far out," says Sanjay Reddy, CEO of MIAL, whose family-run GVK Group is a 74% joint venture partner with the public sector Airports Authority of India (26%).

Reddy's firm has already identified the lots where it plans to build the new housing, and is in the process of selecting a developer. "We took over the airport's operations about a year ago and are doing many things in parallel," he says. "The first is to continue running the existing facility. Second, we are simultaneously working on improving the operations. The third leg of the project is to redevelop the slum land in the airport area."

But Mehta notes that having to move people out of the area will likely make for a more challenging project. "Slums are really a vote bank for the political parties," he says. "Even if you can convince the slum dwellers to move and give them a better lifestyle, the political parties obstruct it because they lose their votes. Local politicians don't want to see a vote base they have cultivated for many years suddenly vanish."

Reddy says MIAL has so far been successful in persuading politicians to cooperate. "We have gotten a lot of support form political, bureaucratic and government officials," he says. "We cannot do anything without them." However, he adds that securing records related to the land and its dwellers has been "a messy affair."

The airport slum resettlement project shares many of the features of the Dharavi model. Mehta says the effort here is also to have an integrated, sustainable development approach with public-private partnerships. "Here, too, we would work for a similar kind of township approach, and maybe even generate opportunities for income generation with skill development and capacity building," he says.

Tenants fight for self-redevelopment of chawl

Balkrishnan Nagvekar, a former BEST employee, is almost as old as theDatta Prasad complex, an early 20th century residential enclave comprising 297 tenements behind Bhatia Hospital at Grant Road. The seven ageing chawls, which are part of the sprawling complex, have had local builders and politicians salivating at its huge development potential. 

 But Nagvekar and a majority of the tenants have been fending them off for years now—most of the tenants deciding that they rather redevelop the entire property themselves, without the aid of a builder and with the assistance of the state housing authority, Mhada. 

he 78-year-old resident, who is the chief promoter of the proposed society, finally got a taste of the high stakes involved—he was manhandled by a local Shiv Sena shakha pramukh inside the complex, in front of dozens of other tenants, who watched helplessly. 

   “Let them fight the battle legally instead of resorting to strong-arm tactics,’’ he said, sitting inside his 280-sq-ft flat as others nod in agreement. The Sena activist, who is also a tenant, wants everyone in Datta Prasad to opt out of the self-redevelopment scheme and allow a private builder to step in. An FIR has been registered against him. 

At the heart of the conflict is a little-known provision of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) Act, which allows tenants of pre-1940 cessed properties to become owners by paying the landlord 100 months’ rent and pave the way for Mhada to acquire the entire property. The scheme has to be initiated by at least 70% of the tenants, who must form a cooperative society, collect money and redevelop the property themselves. 

Commonly known as Chapter 8A of the Mhada Act, it was introduced about two decades ago. But its implementation has been stayed by the Supreme Court for over a decade after city landlords challenged it. The case was first heard by a division bench in the apex court. It was subsequently referred to a five-judge constitutional bench, which, in turn, passed it on to a seven- judge bench.

The matter was then referred to a nine-judge bench, which is yet to decide on the case. Like the Datta Prasad tenants, about 1,000 other old buildings in the island city have applied to Mhada under Chapter 8A for self-redevelopment. So far, only one building in Kalbadevi has been redeveloped under this scheme. 

 In the Datta Prasad chawls case, a few tenants recently filed a special leave petition (SLP), urging the apex court to allow them to get out of the scheme and invite a private developer instead. The builder-driven scheme, commonly known as 33(7), stipulates that developers rehouse existing tenants free of cost in new buildings and then exploit a portion of the land to cover the expenses and make profits. 

Nagvekar, however, said the tenants who filed the SLP had no locus standi and that they misrepresented the facts. A property once acquired by Mhada under Chapter 8A cannot be de-acquired. “It is admitted that the issue regarding the constitutional validity of Chapter 8A of the Mhada Act is to be decided by the full bench. Unless it decides on this issue, it would not be proper to pass an order on the said application as that would amount to preempting the future judgment,’’ Nagvekar said in his affidavit, challenging the SLP. 

 In 1996, the Datta Prasad complex was in the centre of a raging controversy when the then Shiv Sena housing minister, Chandrakant Khaire, stayed Mhada’s acquisition of the property under pressure from the chawls’ landlord. The Bombay high court subsequently quashed Khaire’s stay order and passed strictures against him. 

 The court had noted that the stay was “totally unwarranted and uncalled for’’ and said the minister “ought not to have passed the order of stay on the acquisition proceedings’’.

Meanwhile, inside the old chawls, residents wait for the Supreme Court to take a decision. After all, it’s been almost 15 years that the matter has been caught in litigation.

WHAT IS CHAPTER 8A?    

Chapter 8A of the Mhada Act, popularly referred to as the tenant ownership scheme, has been largely ineffective in its aim to grant ownership rights to tenants of the city’s 19,000 cessed structures. The scheme has been challenged by landlords in the Supreme Court on the question of appropriate compensation. The scheme provides for a one-time compensation of 100 months’ rent from each tenant to the landlord in return for ownership rights. Tenants’ activists have argued that the scheme offers the best solution to the city’s vexed rent and tenancy problems. However, under Chapter 8A, a tenant who becomes an owner cannot sell, lease or mortgage the property in perpetuity. TNN

SOCIAL NETWORK IN SLUM AND REHABILITATION SITES : A STUDY IN

MUMBAI(INDIA)

INTRODUCTION

The emerging globalization processes, including liberalization, deregulation andprivatization along with the social-economic deprivations in villages, have affected thelivelihood and housing rights of marginalized in the urban settings. More than half thepopulation of the city of Mumbai lives in these slums; the people who live in these slumsare domestic workers, industrial workers, class III and IV employees of the MunicipalCorporation of Greater Mumbai (formerly Bombay Municipal Corporation), of Judiciarydepartment, lower-level police personnel, taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers and so on.Considering the services slum dwellers provide to the city, without them Mumbai’sexistence would fall apart.This paper is an attempt to examine the contemporary situation of urban poor in Mumbai.The microscopic analysis of slum dwellers and their day to day existence in dealing withpoverty and vulnerability through social networks is examined. This paper further tries tounderstand and analyze the impact of development and role of state especially on the dalitand other marginalized communities that are living in Mumbai. Slum dwellers form anintegral part of Mumbai city. Most of the slum dwellers belong to the lower socio-economic strata of Indian society. Dalits, the ex-untouchables form the major chunk of2slum population in Mumbai as they belong to the lowest social and economic hierarchyof Indian society.1 Research ObjectivesThe rationale for the research is to understand the developmental phase in Mumbai thatare affecting slum populations. The issues of livelihood, access to amenities, dislocation,and its impact on social lives were studied. The role of state and civil society inimplementing the urban policies affecting the urban poor has been critically examined.The objective of the paper is to compare the social networks of urban poor in slums andrehabilitation sites. These social networks are studied to understand the possiblesegmentation that is based on caste, religion, gender and language.2 Research MethodologyThis paper is based on qualitative research. The data was collected through socio-anthropological method such as observation, focused group discussions, and interviews.This study was conducted in the slums which are located in the major parts of Mumbai’ssuburbs. The slums that were studied are Milind Nagar (Santa Cruz), Buddha colony(Kurla), Ambedkar Nagar (Matunga Road) and Anna Bhau Sathe Nagar (Mankhurd-Chembur link road). And two rehabilitated sites that have Project Affected Persons(PAPs) were randomly selected. They are located at Mankhurd and VashiNaka(Chembur) in Mumbai. Six focused groups discussions were conducted at thesementioned slums and rehabilitated colonies. These focused group discussion broadlyconsisted of discussion points on the issues of socio- historical background of slumdwellers, issues of infrastructure-communication and livelihood at resettlement sites,3

impact of development on families and role of gender in building coping mechanism. Therole of the state and civil society in dealing with participatory development process wasdiscussed. Eight personal interviews were conducted amongst women from the aboveslums and rehabilitated colonies. The interviews were focused on open ended questionson their life experiences and day to day struggles. The research paper also highlights theimportant details through the field observations and field notes.

URBANISATION, SOCIAL NETWORKS AND EVOLUTION OF SLUMS:The urban government sponsored housing in the western world has served to integrate theworkers into the values and ethos of capitalism. But in India, the majority of populationwhich comprised of lower social economic status has been profitably used for productionpurposes. This population is largely neglected from access to housing to the urban poor.The social order created by this system is contrary to the modernization theory. Thistheory argues that progressive society can be achieved by urbanization, industrialization,migration from enclosed worlds of rural societies, marked by ascriptive privileges andcodes of conduct. These social economic aspects are crucial determinants in urbanmobility of deprived population from rural regions (Chandhoke, 1993; Schenk, 1986).It is pertinent to understand the role of caste system in grading the human beings on thebasis of birth. This shows that the social networks in slums are largely developed on thebasis of the caste. Caste is the basic foundation for the social networks of slum dwellers.

Buddha Colony is a multi-ethnic slum, as it has Mahars, Charmkars, Wadar, Kunchi-Korwe, Maratha, Muslims and Dhors. The slum has clear segregation and differentneighborhood that are divided by physical segregation such as walls, temples, andmosques.

Kurla residents have alleged that a prominent builder is coercing them into enrolling for a slum rehabilitation scheme which will enable the company to get 20-acres of prime land near the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) for development. The company, Dheeraj Builders, also known as the Dewan group, has denied the allegation. "Why would we want to evict them? We want to rehabilitate them," said Josef Pattathu, a director of the company. He said that the group had no definite plans for the area, but agreed that they are interested in developing it. "It is an opportunity which would be explored at the appropriate time," he told DNA. He added that people in the area were approaching the group voluntarily.

The residents, however, claim the builder has been consistently warning them since the past couple of years that the Kismat Nagar and Chhatrapati Shivaji Kutir Mandal

settlements in Kurla are in danger of demolition by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and their only hope of rehabilitation is to agree to a slum rehabilitation scheme, said Raj Awasthi, a member of the United Shop-owners' Association which is opposing the builder. Mumtaz Qureishi, a local hotelier and member of the association, said the builder has already managed to get the consent of 200 people of the approximately 1,200 people living in these two settlements.

If 70 per cent of the people agree to a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme, Dewan builders could build mass housing for them on a part of the land and commercially develop the remaining at immense profits.

At first sight, the land seems lacklustre, but is strategically located, close to BKC and Sion and Kurla stations, making it valuable. Also, the Santa cruz-Chembur link road, which will be widened under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, passes through the area. At a rough estimate, a residential buyer would have to pay Rs 7,000 per square foot for a house in the area. A commercial buyer would have to shell out Rs 10,000, said a reputed builder.

But the area's residents say they have well-established business ventures spread over a roughly 1000-square feet area. An SRA scheme would fetch them homes of 250 square feet, and they doubt the builder's assurances of commercial spaces in the scheme.

2. URBANISATION, SOCIAL NETWORKS AND EVOLUTION OF SLUMS:The urban government sponsored housing in the western world has served to integrate theworkers into the values and ethos of capitalism. But in India, the majority of populationwhich comprised of lower social economic status has been profitably used for productionpurposes. This population is largely neglected from access to housing to the urban poor.The social order created by this system is contrary to the modernization theory. Thistheory argues that progressive society can be achieved by urbanization, industrialization,migration from enclosed worlds of rural societies, marked by ascriptive privileges andcodes of conduct. These social economic aspects are crucial determinants in urbanmobility of deprived population from rural regions (Chandhoke, 1993; Schenk, 1986).It is pertinent to understand the role of caste system in grading the human beings on thebasis of birth. This shows that the social networks in slums are largely developed on thebasis of the caste. Caste is the basic foundation for the social networks of slum dwellers.5Hindu caste system has created a section of sub-human beings in this country in the formof Dalits1, whose human rights have been trampled systematically for ages. According to

Ambedkar2(Jeffrelot,2005, pp.34) Purusha Sukta establishes a unique system because,‘No other society has an official gradation laid down, fixed and permanent, with anascending scale of reverence and a descending scale of contempt’. According to Hindureligious philosophy Bramha is a Hindu god from whom human evolution started.Purusha Sukta explains this evolution, ‘his mouth became the priest (Brahmin)/thewarrior (Kshatriya) was the product of his arms/his thighs were the Artisan(Vaishya)/from his feet were born the Servant (Shudra) (Jeffrelot, 2005, pp.34 ; seeFigure 1). Dalits or ‘Untouchables’ is the fifth lowest social category under this system.

Mahatma Gandhi’s supported the Hindu caste system. He said in 1920, “I consider thefour divisions to be fundamental, natural and essential”. Weekly journal started by Mr.Gandhi on October, 1921, he states, ‘Hinduism does most emphatically discourageinterdining and intermarriage between divisions… Prohibition against intermarriage andinterdining is essential for the rapid evolution of the soul’. He emphasized on the ruralcaste based economy (Bose, 1948).After analyzing these social- cultural environment in India, Architect of IndianConstitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on 21st February 1939 in the constituent assemblydebates argued that “the salvation of the whole of India lies in greater urbanization: inreviving our towns, in building our industries, in removing as much population as wepossibly can from our villages to the towns. What is there in villages? After all, ourvillage folks have no capital to run their agriculture in the best way in which agricultureought to be run. Population is increasing every decade, and land is being fragmentedevery time a man and heirs come on the spot” (Ambedkar, n.d.).Ambedkar was skeptical of Gandhi’s concept of each village becoming a republic. Hewas afraid of the despotism of upper castes and moneyed men. He said village is a

‘cesspool, a den of ignorance, narrow-mindedness, and communalism.’ Dr.Ambedkar’svisualised greater independence and freedom for oppressed Dalits in urban settlements(Ghosh, 2002). The continued untouchablity practice against 250 millions Dalits isobserved in the extensive ActionAid research in 565 villages of 11 states of India (Shah,Mander, Thorat, Deshpande and Baviskar, 2006). Adding to the severity of the dalitconditions in rural India after India’s Independence is being observed increasing urbanmigration which gave them more space for opportunities and freedom to improve socialeconomicstatus. The economic development in the cities was also one of the majorsources of livelihood opportunity to the deprived rural populations. Dalits and backwardcastes communities along with some religious minority group have remained mostvulnerable to access adequate housing in urban region. Historical oppression, lack ofopportunities in villages and caste based atrocities has motivated dalits to migrate tocities.Through, their “personal ties” rural dalits move into the slums where their point ofcontact usually lives. These ties grow into strong bonds and getting more number ofcommunity members to the city. It is also noticed that in slums there are homogenousclusters and dense spatial neighborhoods that belong to communities that have sameplace of origin, region, caste, language and livelihood. These homogenous clusters hardlyallow ‘outsiders’ to be part of their intimate spaces in slums. Crow (2004) states thestrongest bonds are found where there is clear demarcation between insiders andoutsiders and where this demarcation line can be policed effectively to restrict admittanceto the group. He stresses that the insider group that is bonded together have clearunderstanding of what sets them apart from the outsiders. They have shared strongidentities to demarcate themselves from others. Similarly, in the slums of Mumbai, slumdwellers have their sense of communities, they possess strong identities that usually comefrom same caste, religion, region, language backgrounds and they also restrict anoutsider’s entry into their spaces.

3. CONCEPT OF SLUMS - HOUSING CHALLENGES IN MUMBAI3.1 Defining slums and rehabilitation sites of MumbaiThe survey of the Bombay Municipal Corporation in late fifties (cited in Desai and Pillai:1972) adopted a three –fold classification of slums, which have been adopted by the stategovernment for its policy decisions till now:1. Chawls: Areas with permanent multi-storey buildings built long ago according tothe standards prevailing then, but are today in a deteriorated condition.2. Partrachawls: Areas with semi permanent structures both authorized andunauthorized often built of corrugated iron-sheets and commonly known as ‘patrachawls’,patra meaning tin sheets or some such materials.3. Zopadpattis: Areas commonly referred to as squatter settlements, shanty towns orhutment colonies, consisting of hovels made of variety of hard and soft materials likepieces of wood, rag, tin – sheets, mud, brick and any such thing that comes in handy.In 1990, the Law Commission of India took it upon itself to “examine the

problem pertaining to the plight of slums and pavement dwellers facing eviction at thehands of local authorities.” “The magnitude of the problem”, the chairperson wrote to theminister of law and justice, “can be gauged from the fact that nearly 350 millions citizenof India lives in slums and pavements of metropolitan cities…..Quite often their huts arerazed to the ground and they are evicted by the local authorities without offering themany alternative facilities. The plight of these unfortunate evictees comprising women andchildren is indescribable. Some legislation needs to be provided to them to ensure thatthey are not evicted without offering them an alternative facility unless it is virtuallyimpossible to do so.” (Law Commission Report, 1990)There were further continuing efforts to describe slums by Planning Commission ofIndia. Ramanathan (2004) discussed the observation of the Working group on Slumswhich submitted its report to the Planning Commission in May 1998, are known bydifferent names in different cities, but the characteristics remain the same i. e. dilapidatedand informal housing structures, acute overcrowding, faulty alignment of streets, poorventilation, inadequate lighting, paucity of drinking water, water- logging during rains,absence of toilet facilities and non-availability of basic physical and social services.”There are, in effect, three kinds of ‘Slums’ that may be identified:• Declared Slums- where a competent authority under the 1956 Act has notified anarea to be a slum.• Undeclared slums- where they are de facto recognized as slums, but, not havingbeen notified, the benign provisions of the 1956 Act, particularly those that relateto provision of services may not be extended to them.• Planned slums- the replicating of high density and poor, or non- existent, servicesat the resettlement site, and the impoverishment that results from demolition andde-housing most often makes slums, within the definition, of resettlement sites.These may, with reason, be seen as ‘planned slums’.Resettlement and rehabilitation sites consist of medium rise building constructed for theproject affected families. These sites offer a permanent housing structure (a tenement of225 sq.ft) to the project affected families (IBRD and IDA, 2006).

Table 1: Distribution of Slums by Land Ownership

The Tokyo Model of Urban Development

Memo concerning the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) to the attention of the SlumRehabilitation Authority (SRA).

An urban setting that allows for different economic activities to have a legitimate space – bigbusinesses, small enterprises, small home-based manufacturing and processing units and informaleconomic activities. In many areas, such a setting allows for a co-existence of residential and workspaces.The Tokyo model is also characterized by locally initiated residential and commercial development,alongside centralized infrastructure planning – involving roads, water-supply and drainage.1. Overview: From Tokyo slum to Tokyo future citya. Destruction & Reconstruction:After the Second World War, half of Tokyo was destroyed (equivalent to New York City area).However, pressing economic redevelopment & need of shelter didn't allow central planners tocreate the new/modern city that they had planned.

Thus, the pre-war layout served as the basis for reconstruction: In other words, the city wasrebuilt on its ruins.The government focused on infrastructure re-development to support the economy.The residential reconstruction was left to local actors.Slum-type housing, that evolved from village habitats, dominated most areas until 1960s.Interestingly, the slum-type urban typology and street patterns exist even in present-dayresidential neighborhoods. (The urban typology of most residential neighborhoods in Tokyo issimilar to that of Dharavi)Images: A slum-typology predominatesthe urbanism of residentialneighborhoods in Tokyo.

b. A collection of villages:In Tokyo, small lots of farming land were gradually converted toresidential/commercial/industrial activities – (like the Koli village in Dharavi).At the time of great urban growth, planning intervention from the government in residentialneighborhoods was mainly limited to modern water supply and railway transport system. (InDharavi, there was little, if any, investment done in these matters).In Tokyo, traditional urban development & management strategies are still practiced at theneighborhood level.There is a tradition of local autonomy and self-reliance. The “Chonaikai”, literally theassociation from within the neighborhood (equivalent of the Indian Mohalla), is central toneighborhood life and organization in Japan. This type of organization, which is spatially based,rather than activity or cause based, is uniquely Asian. (In Dharavi too there are many localorganizations that are involved in day-to-day relief and support activities).Residential neighborhoods of Tokyo exult a "village-like quality replete with song birds andsmall alleys, (the roji), never appears to be far from even the city’s most important roadwaysand intersections.” (Rowe 2005). (Even among the high-density squalor of Dharavi you can seethe traces of village like structures. In fact these exist in many parts of Mumbai – includingKhotachiwadi).

c. The Anko-Gawa model: soft-core, hard-edge.

The Japanese urban fabric is often composed of a "soft" residential core, characterized by lowriseand densely built houses, surrounded by a "hard" shell of taller and larger structures alongwide roads or railways. (In Mumbai too, many neighbourhoods – even middle-class ones showlow-rise high-density patterns. Charles Correa has talked about this in the context ofKhotachiwadi, Matharpakhadi and other old Mumbai neighbourhoods).Within the residential core the same soft-core, hard-edge pattern is repeated on a smaller scale(almost in a fractal-way).The neighborhood life is organized along the long lane (roji), where small shops andrestaurants can be found. (Dharavi too shows this pattern).These lanes can barely be accessed by cars. They are by and large pedestrian (Like manyMumbai slums).The lanes are crossed by smaller streets (tori) leading to groups of houses.The smaller streets are not purely public nor private, but are used exclusively by peopleresiding alongside. (again the same pattern can be found in Dharavi, where very narrow streetslead to a cluster of houses around a common open space (promoting to strong neighborhoodties)).d. Mixed-use zoningZoning in Japan is (by default) mixed-use, despite some attempts by central planners toorganize the city along functional lines. (This is because like many Asian cities, including inIndia, a large part of the populations live and work in their own localities).Many positive outcomes mixed-use have been acknowledged - such as safety and continuingliveliness of central city areas. (This is clearly the case in Dharavi as well as many writers –including Kalpana Sharma in ‘Re-discovering Dharavi’ – have pointed out).In spite of being the largest metropolitan area in the world (32 million people), Tokyo is also oneof the safest city. (And in spite of being the largest slum in Asia, Dharavi is safe to walkthrough, even for an outsider, unlike most South American slums or Western ghettos).Mixed use in residential neighborhoods promotes local commercial activity. Small scaleindustrial activity, such as printing, wood work, textile manufacturing, can been seen in Tokyo'sneighborhoods. (In Dharavi, as many study reports (KRVIA) have shown, we too find a range ofsimilar activities).

This leniency towards mixed-use has permitted to preserve small-scale family type businessesin one of the most advanced economy in the world. (Preserving these types of businesses alsomeans preserving traditions and culture. Small-scale, family-type businesses largelypredominate in Dharavi, operating mostly from or near to residential spaces).This also avoids a high degree of residential segregation along income lines as one finds in theUS. (This mixed form in which rich hand poor live next to each other is also one of the maincharacteristics of Mumbai’s urban fabric, it should not be overlooked as an important way ofmaintaining some degree of social cohesion).e. A recent case study: rebuilding Kobe after the 1995 earthquakeJoint housing:o Collective use of land value for reconstruction help to avoid displacement.o City subsidized design cost and common areas.Land readjustment:o Consolidate property rights and rearrange land parcels.o Buy out those who want to leave and use their land.o Provides for clustering allowing construction of infrastructure and creation of public spaces.Renter's rights: Renters retain a property right during the readjustment/reconstruction process.Government funded community planners:o Assist residents in planning and financing construction.o Help maintain a sense of community among displaced residents.o Provided an opportunity to develop creative strategies for neighborhood improvement.o Provided communication links between residents and the government.

2. Lessons for Dharavi1. We have to look at Dharavi from the point of view of the city as a whole. We have seen howslums have reproduced themselves on a large scale all over the city – especially from theeighties onwards - and are not confined to Dharavi. The density level in Dharavi is in alllikelihood one of the highest in the world. Any viable plan to cross subsidize new housingfor the poor would mean that anything between 1 and 2 lakhs of the current residents(amongst the most vulnerable such new comers, renters, young people, large families, etc)would be forced out and cut from their source of livelihood. The will create Mumbai’s newslums. The DRP would therefore be responsible for the emergence of slums in the city.2. The Tokyo model suggests that it is possible to upgrade Dharavi in situ, by focusing oninfrastructure development and relying on community self-determination. This model is the

most sustainable at the level of the city since it will minimize the “slum spill-over effect” thatthe current plan would generate (i.e.: creating new slum pockets elsewhere in the city). TheTokyo case suggests that a master plan is needed for infrastructure development (roads,water, electricity, sewage), but that local development would be better done at the locallevel of existing communities and nagars.3. The first step towards a sound plan for Dharavi is a Dharavi-wide survey and enumerationby an independent NGO, which has the trust of the residents, such as SPARC for instance.This survey would be the basis for the self-recognition of existing communities and nagarboundaries by residents themselves. Once this is mapped out, independent planners couldhelp communities i) determine themselves according to the Dharavi-wide infrastructureplan, ii) make a local plan according to their specific needs, iii) and maintain the connectionbetween local residents and the SRA.4. To Western observers used to rationally, top-down planned cities, Tokyo’s first appears asan incoherent city, an urban mess. However, this Western centric vision fails toacknowledge the special character of Tokyo as a “lived” city, which is malleable, changing,heteroclite, and temporary. The adaptability and softness of Tokyo, together with its mixedusezoning is what makes it highly functional at the individual and collective levels. Despitebeing over twice as large as New York in terms of population, the metropolitan area ofTokyo is incomparably better organized and sustainable both ecologically and socially.Dharavi, shares many characteristics with Tokyo. A tabula raza approach consisting ofdestroying everything that was built, in plus of being an economic and cultural disaster forDharavi and Mumbai would also be a fundamentally wrong from an urban developmentperspective. As hard as it is to conceive for outsiders, in urban terms, Dharavi is not amess, but quite on the contrary a highly sophisticated and efficient urban organism.5. The formalization of the situation in Dharavi could generate revenue to the government inthe forms of taxes and service charge. Currently Dharavi residents who have access towater, through informal pipeline have to pay high fees to “thug plumbers” for bad serviceand polluted water. Most people would be happy paying the government for good serviceinstead.6. The government has the duty of protecting Dharavi residents, as well as other Mumbaikarswho will be affected by the spill over effects of the plan from the vested interests of thebuilder lobby who are not thinking in a holistic urban manner and are putting their owninterest above the interest of the people who’s life will be affected.

Conclusion: The urban typology is strickingly similar. This tells as much about the history of Tokyo as a slum asabout the potential of Dharavi if it is allowed to develop incrementally.

The case study

A Joegeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) is part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project(MUTP) to improve traffic and transportation in the MMR (MMRDA, 2001). e Eastern andWestern express highways connect the suburbs and Greater Mumbai. e JVLR, with length 10.8km is one of the five major links proposed to connect the “Eastern” and “Western” expresshighways (Iyer, 2005). is project is funded by the World Bank. To implement this project it wasestimated around 300 slums and 70 commercial units would be rehabilitated from slum areas(MMRDA, 2005). Pratap Nagar and Durga Nagar are situated at Jogeshvari in Mumbai on eithersides of the JVLR as shown in Figure 1. However, the slums are situated in the Pratap Nagar; andrehabilitated buildings are situated in the Durga Nagar. During the case study, a plan for theresettlement was developed and was partly finished and partly under execution for the residentialand commercial units. Considering the stage of the project, this particular area was selected forthe case study.Around 25 face-to-face interviews were conducted in 2006. Half of the interviews were conductedin the Pratap Nagar and rest in the Durga Nagar. e basic information collected during theinterviews in both the areas was related to family profile including origin, amenities, spaceoccupation, social life, monthly expenses and opinions related to the slums as well as rehabilitatedareas. In the slum areas, the information collected during the interviews was only related to slums

whereas in the rehabilitated buildings data was collected related to the rehabilitated buildings aswell as slumsthe intention behind conducting this case study was to explore part of the ongoing project. theslums and their impact on the sustainable development were considered during the case study.e reason behind this resettlement is not just to relocate the people affected by the

MumbaiUrban Transport Project (MUTP). the aim of this project was to rehabilitate an unlooked sectionof the society; slums, and take a step towards improving the quality of life in the urbanenvironment. there are various issues involved in this process of rehabilitation. Based on our sitevisits and interviews in the Pratap and Durga Nagar the following issues are discussed, relevant tothose particular areas

Summary and conclusione research was guided by certain (key) questions, such as 1. What are the factors

keeping slumsagainst sustainable urban development? 2. How do slums originate and develop?Slum inhabitants go through many problems; such as lack of water, healthy air, sewage, solid wastefacilities and public transport, migration, pollutions, and shelter shortages. ey also face poorventilation, due to the lack of windows and electricity. Most of the times they tend to establishslums on unused, uncontrolled or reserved lands. As discussed, there are many reasons for theorigin of slums and there characteristics make them one of the key players against sustainabledevelopment in an urban area (Husock, 2009).Another reason which leaves a huge chunk of slums untouched by private builders and developersis because the present slum rehabilitation schemes are not financially attractive to them. It is evenunviable in some of the suburbs as the selling rate is less than INR 2,000 per square feet" (Dalvi,1997). Both the above mentioned reasons are the main reasons for the low number of provisionsof low cost houses (Iyer, 2005).e research attempts to explore the slum rehabilitation project in the context of urban

sustainability, which is part of the JVLR project funded by World Bank. During the research, it was

revealed that to execute any project and to achieve urban sustainability and rehabilitate slums,opinions of people living in the slums need to be considered. In Mumbai, most of the people areliving in the slums and it will be difficult to achieve urban sustainability if the slums andemployment opportunities are not considered in Mumbai. To achieve considerable sustainabilityin an urban environment, concerned organisations (governmental and non-governmental) shouldcome together and work in the same line and not individually.

BIBLOGRAPHY:

1. theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/history/slums.html

2. Dream house for Dharavi. Project monitor. http://www.projectsmonitor.com/detailnews.asp? newsid=7741

3. http://www.karmayog.com/lists/slumorg.htm