The United Nations has designated the first Monday in October as the World Habitat Day to reflect on the state of human settlements and the basic right to adequate shelter for all.
This year the day is celebrated on October 6. The day is also intended to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of human habitat. This year’s theme is ‘Voices from Slums’, giving voice to people who have lived or live in slums or other vulnerable urban contexts. A slum can be defined as a compact settlement with a collection of poorly built tenements, mostly of temporary nature, crowded together usually with inadequate sanitary and drinking water facilities in unhygienic conditions.
The rapid urbanisation in conjunction with industrialisation and lack of infrastructural and employment opportunities in rural areas have led to mass rural-urban migration, and this has resulted in the growth of slums. The proliferation of slums occurs due to many factors such as the shortage of developed land for housing and the high prices of land that are beyond the reach of urban poor.
About 32 per cent of the world’s urban population lives in slums and a majority of them in the developing world. According to the 2011 Census, 17.4 per cent of urban India’s population lives in slums. In the five States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal, more than 1 in 5 urban households live in a slum. In Odisha, the percentage of slum population is 23.1. Bhubaneswar has a 3.50-lakh population living in 377 slums. Most of the slum dwellers occupied Government land. The encroachment of Government land by the slum people creates unhygienic conditions, traffic jams, etc. Slum dwellers have not willingly chosen their shanty structures and unhygienic environment but have been driven to this option due to compelling circumstances as they are unable to enter into the formal housing sector.
All slums and squatters are made of bamboo, straw, low-quality wood, tin and plastic sheets. The population density in slums and squatters is high. A minimum of four and maximum of ten people share a room, which is highly congested and unhealthy. This poor housing and lifestyle cause a number of problems for the city environment. They lack safe drinking water and proper sewerage services. There are no toilets and people defecate in the open. As a result, both household wastes and human generated wastes go directly or indirectly into the low-lying lands, open spaces or water bodies of the city and cause a number of problems. Besides, heaps of garbage are found here and there.
The city authorities are of the view is that most people are illegally living in slums. Because of this, cities do not plan for or manage slums, and the people living in them are overlooked and excluded. They receive none of the benefits of more affluent citizens, such as access to municipal water, roads, sanitation and sewage. This attitude to slum dwellers and approaches that disregard them perpetuate the levels and scale of poverty, which impacts on the cities as a whole.
The great slums of India are predominantly created when large numbers of individuals or families move to the urban centres, usually in search of better economic prospects. This is because cultivable land in villages is limited and not enough to support the landless labourers in the village. Instead of starving in villages, they along with their family move on to cities in search of employment. No wonder, the slums in the capital and metro cities are getting larger and larger.
The Indian Government has started recognising informal settlements, regularising unauthorised constructions and changing planning standards to meet the needs of the poor better. However, the slum problems cannot be solved by focusing on the cities alone. A comprehensive solution is necessary for development of rural areas with improved infrastructures, education and employment opportunities.
Urban human settlements require a more inclusive approach to planning and land management if they are to sustain all the people who live in them. A basic need for all people living in cities is shelter. The first step then in creating sustainable urban settlements is for cities to recognise that people living in slums have a right to be in the city. This recognition would begin to make slum dwellers legitimate citizens, which would start legalising their tenure.
Government makes land available for human settlements through various land management tools. Since cities do not formally plan these slums, they have no maps or layouts showing streets and sites; so, people living in slums have no officially-recognised street addresses. Therefore, a number of stakeholders should be involved in city-wide planning to ensure a sustainable supply of land for the poor that can be serviced and developed. These stakeholders include different sections of Government, the private sector and civil society. The Government sector includes both national and local governments as well as city authorities.
The UN-Habitat assists citywide slum upgrading programmes and helps strengthen institutional building as well as skills development of technical cadre from Governments and other stakeholders involved in developing informal settlements. In this process, a number of participatory planning tools have been developed. These include tools for enumeration and mapping, programme management guidelines and general guides to support implementation of complex slum upgrading programmes.
Besides, there is a strong correlation between improved housing and poverty reduction. In India, this has been introduced through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) reforms, which states that 20-25% lands would be reserved for low income and economically weaker section housing (EWS) in the new developments. Under the JNNURM, 65 Indian cities had an opportunity to bridge this infrastructure gap and also to resolve some of the housing problems for the urban poor through the BSUP (Basic Services for the Urban Poor) component of the Central Government-funded mission. The Government also created another scheme, Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY). Under the RAY guidelines, all the urban local bodies are expected to map and take a census of all the slums and create strategies to improve existing condition of slums. Besides, the National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007 has been enacted, which states that the endeavour would be to carry out in-situ upgradation of dwelling units for 95 per cent of the slum households.
Cities without slums should be the objective of all urban planning for social and economic development. There is a need to reserve lands in every urban development project to be set apart for undertaking EWS and lIG housing. This would enable continuous supply of serviced land for housing of the slum dwellers. Cities should draw up long-term local strategies for improving the living condition of slum dwellers. These should include access to affordable land, employment opportunities and basic infrastructures and social services. local governments should develop strategies to prevent formation of new slums.
The best way to deal with the problem of slums would be to stop migration of landless labourers from rural to urban areas by providing employment avenues in villages. Different labour-intensive industries can be promoted in villages. Small-scale industries with loan facilities can be established for educated rural youth. This would reduce migration and there would be no reason for slums to come up. Besides, a detailed survey of slum population should be carried out. The outcome of the survey should be integrated with the present land use plan especially in housing category. This would help provide authorised dwelling units to all slum population to make the city slum-free.
(Dr Mayarani Praharaj teaches in the Department of Architecture, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar)