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BRIEF REVIEW OF THE SLUM
CRISIS AND POLICY
MEASURES IN INDIA
Aashish Mishra, GY504, R.U.S.P., The L.S.E., February 20, 2009
India: Disparate Development
India: Disparate DevelopmentIndian Cities “New Economy” demands land &
services
Initially, outdated land-use regulation led to economic growth in peri-urban areas and then cities’ urban core
Krishan (1996) characterises types of urban sprawl:--Urban-rural fringe--Ribbon development along the major transport routes
and urban enclaves in the countryside--Illegal land sub-division--Industrial estates and Special Economic Zones--“Farmhouses” similar to concept of “Gated
Communities”
India: Disparate Development“Satellite Towns” or Peri-Urban Growth Centres Emerge
--Relaxed land-use & planning regulations for economic activity--Construction of World-class infrastructure from nothing--Land availability/speculation for commercial & residential
Peri-urban growth led to regeneration of urban cores--Realisation that peri- to urban transport/links were essential--Need to integrate economic bubbles with downtown services--Growth & land prices increased from peri- to urban core
Net effect, land & housing prices unsustainable for poor
India: Land & Housing Poverty
India: Land & Housing Poverty1/3 to 2/3 of Urban Pop. lives on 1/10 of available urban land
--Significant inequitable distribution of land hurts urban poor--Grave health & environmental consequences due to the majority
of settlements concentrated on small parcel of land --Limitations of absorption capacity lead to growth of “slums”
Even cheapest formal accommodation unaffordable to poor--Compels poor to encroach public / private land--Creates an “informal” housing market where poor pay to stay!--New slums typically on hazardous, low-value, infra poor sites
Inevitable “densification” of slums by new migrants generates city-wide health & environmental externalities
India: What are Slums?
India: What are Slums? Risbud (2006): GOI definition of “Slum” Settlements:
-- Apparent physical sub-standardness, irrespective of land ownership or tenure status – legal settlements as Slums?
-- Unfit for human habitation due to dilapidation, overcrowding, lack of ventilation, light or sanitation facilities – what are water, roads, healthcare, education?
-- If conditions met, settlements can be regularised as Slums
Bapat (1983); Verma (2001): If definition strictly adhered to, vast majority of Indian cities’ settlements & structures would be classified as “Slums”
India: What are Slums? Risbud (2006): Classification of “Slum” Settlements
-- Freehold land, such as those in the inner city, blighted
areas or urban villages
-- “Squatter” Settlements, which are encroachments on
public or private land
-- Illegal Land Sub-Divisions, where quasi/legal land
ownership but the land subdivision undertaken illegally;
-- Public or Private Leasehold Land, such as
cooperative-model in resettlement colonies or urban
villages
India: Scale of Slum Settlements
India: Scale of Slum SettlementsGOI 2001 Census: Inaccurate as does not
include “regularised” slum population & inter-jurisdictional urban slum population: --14% of India’s total urban population is living in
identified slums, and --Mumbai – 58%--Kolkata – 33%--Chennai – 26%--Delhi – 14%
Actual % of Slum Population in Indian Cities
much larger, but no Govt. System to capture
these figures!
India: Scale of Slum Settlements
Available data on slum populations’ decadal
growth rate (67%) nearly double of total urban
populations’ (36%)
Great variance in State-wise estimations of slum
population growth decadal growth rates:
-- Karnataka – 290%
-- Kerala – 231%
-- Orissa – 198%
-- Uttar Pradesh – 126%
India: Basic Services in Slums
India: Scale of Slum Settlements 2002 Survey data findings on basic services in slums:
-- 70% of slum dwellings’ were exposed or semi-permanent-- 25% of slums lacked “safe” drinking water & on average one
community tap served 63 households – true access?-- 72% of slums lacked community or individual toilets & on
average, 1 seat for 376 persons – forced open defecation-- 68% of slums lacked municipal rubbish facilities & threw
garbage in open areas – city-wide health epidemics -- 45% of slums lacked any drainage infrastructure – floods-- 85% of slums lacked underground sewerage -- exposure-- 63% of slums had no fully-surfaced internal road – time
India: Evolution of Early Slum Policy
India: Evolution of Early Slum PolicyRao & Risbud (2006); Verma (2001) argue that past
and current Govt. of India policies for slum settlements primarily focused on “quick-fix” measures such as slum clearance, improvement or regularisation
More importantly, they it has historically failed to address “preventive” or even longer-term solutions to slum settlement proliferation, such as:--Increasing legal housing supply for low-income groups
--Steering slum policy back to Urban Master Plans
--Vigilance against encroachment of public/private land
India: Evolution of Early Slum PolicyFrom 1946 – 1976, slum settlement eviction & clearance
with limited relocation were the predominant national policy
Risbud (2006): Slum clearance was justified for a plethora of reasons, including: -- Incompatibility to urban Master Plans’ land use regulations – but
firstly why were land use and zoning regulation not enforced?-- Location on hazardous sites – Govt. accountable to allow this?-- City beautification – are the urban poor & their coping an “eye-sore?”
From 1975 – 1977, National Emergency declared as
unpopular & notorious Indian slum clearance experience
incited public
-- Also declared due to emerging threat of concentration of prime urban
land owned by few wealthy in the cities & being speculated upon
India: More Recent Slum Policy
India: More Recent Slum Policy1972 Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums
-- Marked policy shift of providing a “minimum standard” of basic service improvements & continues for 30 Years
--Provision of community taps, community latrines, pathways , drains and streetlights; but no tenure issues
-- Subsidy based on per capita ceiling cost, irrespective of the disparate densities of individual slum settlements
--Mainly failed as fixed grant funding inadequate for more densely populated settlements where geo-spatial specifications for infrastructure engineering design more expensive
India: More Recent Slum Policy1980s – 1990s, international donor agencies
supported central and state governments for
piloting of several city-wide In-Situ slum
upgrading initiatives
--Most considered failures due to excessive “hand-
holding” and lack of an “exit strategy” after the project
--Lack of good post-project monitoring & evaluation
mechanisms & social/environmental impact
assessments
India: More Recent Slum Policy1972 Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums
--Marked policy shift of providing a “minimum standard” of basic service improvements & continues for 30 Years
--Provision of community taps, community latrines, pathways , drains and streetlights; but no tenure issues
--Subsidy based on per capita ceiling cost, irrespective of the disparate densities of individual slum settlements
--Mainly failed as fixed grant funding inadequate for more densely populated settlements where geo-spatial specifications for infrastructure engineering design more expensive
India: More Recent Slum Policy1997 National Slum Development Programme
--Marked shift to a development-oriented approach
by converging multi-sector support, allowing
States flexibility to design projects & community-
based organisations to assist in implementation
--Limited “success” due to weak public sector
capacities to design projects, mobilise
communities and achieve cost recovery through
collection of user charges
India: More Recent Slum Policy2001 VAMBAY Programme
--Targeted Below Poverty Line & homeless urban poor
--Promise of granting land tenure prerequisite for funds
--Central/State matching grant for provision of built
dwellings with trunk infrastructure
--Failure as States either no policy or willingness for
granting land tenure to slum households
--Also, requirement for States’ matching grant-
component made the scheme unattractive & often
unfeasible
India: More Recent Slum Policy2001 GOI Draft National Slum Policy
--Advocates large-scale In-Situ slum upgrading to all “regularised”
slums & “under-serviced” settlements
-- Provision of individual trunk infrastructure to all relevant
households
--Improvements with or without the transfer or formalisation of tenure
and land ownership rights to these households
-- Convergence of upgrading with cities’ trunk infrastructure systems
--Controversial as upgrading onto tiny and unsustainable plots & units
in extremely high-density settlements has failed in Indian pilots
--Also, “notified” slums will become mixed-use areas where there is
likely to be a substitution effect of more polluting industries shifting
India: Key Slum Issues?
India Slums: Final Thoughts?Risbud (2006, 210) states, “Improvement policies for
existing slum squatter settlements have been
implemented as softer, populist and cost effective
political and administrative options without any long-
term environmental consideration for empowering the
poor. Each slum has become vote-bank and
stronghold of a political party; and hence there is
implicit tendency on the part of politicians to
exaggerate the slum problem and resist sustainable
improvement with secure tenure...”
India Slums: Final Thoughts?How can the international community, including the Academia, Donors and Civil Society, put pressure on the Govt. of India to adopt more relevant, slum-specific and community-driven programmes that will gives these poor children hope for a better quality of life and future?