DOES PROVIDING ONLY HOUSING ALLEVIATE THE POVERTY OF SLUM DWELLERS, JANUARY 2013

Building number 13 in the Lallubhai Compound houses people that have been moved from the huts that were situated very close to the railway track at Mahim. Most dwellers are either rag pickers or make a living by selling wares at traffic signals. While their housing conditions have improved after the rehabilitation to the new SRA building, they still continue to live in poverty and are barely able to make ends meet.

With most of the families, the initial conditions while living in the slum were dismal due to their close proximity to the railway tracks. Several families lost members who came under the wheels, since crossing the tracks by foot was the only way they could access the outside world to get their basic needs satisfied. Full absence of toilets meant 100% open defecation along the tracks, and all problems that would follow with their absence. Low lying areas meant flooding during rains that left them with no option but to salvage whatever possible and live on the railway platforms with the family until the water receded. However this also meant the ensuing damages and therefore expenditure on repairs.

With the movement to the new SRA buildings, all these problems were negated, however some problems did not change, and some are now posed with new problems. There has been no change in the occupation, or income levels of the households, and given the new expenditure of maintenance and other services, their problems are compounded. Several households have defaulted on payment of building maintenance and other utility payments. This increased expenditure has resulted families even resorting to take loans from the savings in order to pay off maintenance debts and other larger expenditures.

Providing housing only provides a little relief to the poorest of the poor in the city that live on daily earnings by doing menial jobs. They live in better conditions, but still cannot come out of the poverty cycle and therefore are at risk of selling their houses and going back into poor living conditions.  The struggle to meet the first basic need of food still continues and therefore triumphs over the need for housing. What is therefore required along with better housing, is an innovative approach that insures that every variable that pushes the vulnerability of the poor is alleviated. This may mean an integrated approach towards housing, livelihood, education in a conscious effort to prevent the poor falling back into the vicious cycle. For some, just providing basic necessities and tenure security and letting them evolve themselves naturally might prove more beneficial.

Disclaimer – Everything expressed here are purely my personal ideas.