ADMINISTRATIVE DELAYS LEADS TO UNOCCUPIED BUILDING by Sharmila

SPARC was involved in the construction of houses and rehabilitation of families living along the railway tracks under the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme, an undertaking of Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority. One of SPARC’s project was the construction of buildings next to the Kanjur Marg railway station in Mumbai. Of the buildings constructed, all but one are occupied by affected families living along the railway lines. The scheme gave incentives to the constructing organization in the form of transfer of development rights and this unoccupied building forms one of them. SPARC has been struggling from the past 5 years to get the necessary sign offs from officers in Railways from the various hierarchies in order to allot the flats to further affected families. 13 officers in various ranks have to grant their approval. With each officer, the staff spends close to half a month negotiating to get his/her approval. No officer agrees to bring the work up to speed unless being adequately compensated, though not ethically.  On several accounts, the officers deny being responsible for approving and shift the accountability to another officer. In the course of 5 years, the unoccupied premises has began to decay due to non use, and is often the center of anti social activities. In dense areas such as Mumbai, where real estate prices are soaring and the Government having ambitious plans of creating slum free cities, it is ironical how the simple work of administrative approvals for already constructed tenements is delayed due to its indifference.

On one hand, the Government wants to prove its commitment towards creating pro-poor solutions, however on the other hand, turns hostile towards the implementer such as NGOs and denies clearing administrative hurdles.

THE URBAN SLUM SHIFT by Vinod

Better job opportunities is one of the reasons why people migrate to metro cities from poor rural areas; jobs allows them to get at least the basic minimum needs of food, clothing and shelter satisfied. Since shelter is one of the most expensive of the basic needs, the relatively cheaper option of a slum house becomes the only option for the poor. As cities grow and become more dense, shelter becomes less and less affordable.  Naturally, the choice of settling down with a house of their own compels people to move towards the outskirts of the city, or adjoining towns that are still connected to the main city. This choice shift has affected the slum concentrations in a similar way. Slums are not built nor do they expand by choice but are the only option the poor have who come to cities to survive. However, the slums have a real estate value and cost of renting or purchasing a hut, however illegal that transaction may be, depends on the area.

Density of cities adds to the complexity offering lesser land spaces for housing. Outskirts of dense cities and the surrounding towns begin to catch up with the pace of urbanization that is swallowing everyone and becoming populous - people wise, infrastructure wise and economy wise. Housing is an integral part of rapidly growing cities and towns;  slums are also a type of “housing”.  While Mumbai has seen a reduction in the number of slum households in the last couple of years due to various slum redevelopment schemes, in the nearby towns and smaller cities the slum population has doubled in the last 10 years. The urban shift with a saturated Mumbai can be best associated to it.

With rapid urbanization, migration cannot be contained. However making cities slum free will mean heavy investments which may be beyond the means of the city or state’s capacity. Given the bitter experiences with the past interventions, estimated costs escalate severely over a period of time due to poor planning and implementation practices. However, a slum being defined as a space that is used for housing however are unfit for human habitation can still be upgraded by providing the basic amenities to the dwellers. Water, electricity and sanitation become the first steps to making the slums habitable. Given the capacity of the poor who in the past have demonstrated an incremental approach to improving their dwellings, creating pro-poor policies that acknowledges and supports their contribution towards improving their own living conditions will be more economically viable in the near term.

LIVELIHOOD SUPPORT in PUNE

SPARC is part of the BSUP R&R project in Warje, Pune.  In August 2013, the SPARC held a meeting to introduce a training program it has organized to assist the youth affected by the BSUP R&R project.  The training program includes the following:

· 4/5 weeks (5 hrs everyday) training after which each person will get guaranteed job in Pune- Bank, Retail shop, Call Center, BPO sector with salary starting from Rs.8000-10000

· Training involves-

Ø  Interview skills

Ø  Basic English speaking

Ø  Skill training- as per the education background

· Training has Enrollment fees Rs. 500, during the course Rs. 2000 and after getting a job each person has to pay Rs. 2500 - total cost of training is Rs. 5000 per person.

As part of post relocation livelihood support to the communities at Warje MM team with Mr. Roy and Skills Academy invited about 25-30 educated youngsters from the slums with a minimum education till the 7^th standard. Mr. A.N. Roy Former Director General of Police, Maharashtra and founder of Vandana Foundation, together with the Skills Academy from Delhi jointly provides livelihood training for poor educated slum boys and girls from the age group of 18-25 yrs.

Mr. Roy informed the participants about the benefits of enrolling and explained that the Vanda foundation together with SPARC has already trained about 100 youngsters in slums of Mumbai; those trained are working in Bank, Retail shop, Call Center, BPO sector. Since the Vabdana Foundation and Skills Academy has a tie up with Banks and retail shops, they can get a guarantee the students a job.

  

25 participants have enrolled for this training program, among them 4 are from A building and the first batch is going to start from 19th August 2013 at Sarhad College  Katraj.

Rehab policy to soothe ruffled feathers of PAPs in Navi Mumbai

Times of India, Mumbai recently reported that City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has drafted a 26 page action plan to pacify the PAPs in Navi Mumbai.  Relocating is an traumatic experience and should be carried forward with a sensitive hand.  If the communities concerns and problems are not dealt with at the forefront, then winning their support is difficult.  The community should be involved in the process and feel comfortable to air their grievances.  Then, and only then, can the process of relocation run smoothly.

Dharavi tops upscale Lower Parel

The Economic Times of Mumbai recently reported that a flat in Dharavi generates a higher price than a similar flat in upscale Lower Parel.  The promise of a government redevelopment project has led to the price increase. The slum dwellers anticipate that the prices will increase once the DPR starts.Unfortunately, the Dharavi Redevelopment project has been stalling since 2004.  

26 towers to house city slum dwellers

Mumbai: The Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) has cleared 26 skyscrapers with 23 floors each to house slum dwellers in Malad, Worli and Bhoiwada, Parel. About 6,600 slum families, comprising around 25,000 people, will be relocated to these towers from their original shanty land. Each family will get a free 269 sq ft (carpet) flat, but will have to be trained to use the lift, bathrooms and other amenities. Housing experts have dubbed it a “sophisticated displacement plan and a highly unsustainable urban development model that will lead to further slumification of the city”.  Publication: The Times Of India Mumbai; Date: Aug 17, 2013; Section: Front Nauzer K Bharucha TNN

SPARC believes that multi – storied buildings inevitably leads to higher maintenance cost that eventually the poor have to bear, for example, high rise buildings require the use of lifts which increases the electric cost; structural maintenance is higher for high rises in comparison to G+2 structures.  In addition, social interaction is challenged as the slum dwellers are interdependent within their community, but with shifting into high rises, the community structure is disrupted.

Bio-Digester Technology for safe human waste disposal

India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) have invented Bio - Digester Technology as a solution to prevailing unhygienic sanitation methods.  Bio Toilet Technology facilitates termination to residual human excretory waste.  Human waste is decomposed by special lab mutated bacteria into water and bio gas.  The Bio-digester toilet is total maintenance-free system, which does not require any sewage system. The inoculums bacteria used in these bio-digester toilets procreate and generate new bacteria in an anaerobic environment without the need for repeat dosing.  The bacterial consortium degrades night soil to produce colorless, odorless and inflammable gas containing 50 – 70% methane. 

How It Works: A group of lab mutated bacteria decomposes the excretory waste through microbial reaction. Bio-digesters have 3 anaerobic chambers that treat Human wastes effectively, and don’t require any cleaning or emptying the tank because of its unique systematic structural arrangements.  The treatment, the task of cleansing water is continuously carried forward from the start to the end point, till the water exits the bio-digester.  When the treated water finally comes out it is 98% clean and free from entire pathogens.

The breakthrough technology has potential in the urban slums since the safe disposable of human waste is a major challenge.  The bio-digester technology has been successfully implemented in public toilets across India.  SPARC hopes to introduce this technology to the Mahila Milan and to explore the possibility of implementing the system within the slum.