Jaunapur Slum Settlement

jaunapur slum resettlement ~B&SHF, World Habitat Awards, Finalist & Citation

~Paper for ‘Man & City’ Conference, Naples 2000 ~Hannover 2000 recognition

~Jaunapur is listed in the UNCHS ‘Best Practises’ Database as Good Practise

J

AUNAPUR

SLUM

RESETTLEMENT

SCHEME

Prevailing Housing Condition An urban crisis engulfs most parts of the “civilized” world. The basic perception of “progress being synonymous with the city” causes people to migrate to the metropolis, caught in the vicious trap of inadequate shelter, encroachments, prohibitive land prices and inflation. The major protagonists of this unlivable hell are the shelterless- their needs, their future and their financing often becoming mere items at board room discussions or seminars. Slum dwellers in Indian metropolitan cities have the stigma of being at once the city's backbone as well as its bane. A no-win situation exists between the policy makers and slum dwellers, the one being unable to provide meaningful housing and the other openly hostile to relocation. Planners, administrators, sociologists and architects have attempted to grapple with the situation intermittently, but like the “Loch Ness Monster”, the problem has eluded them, not only because of its gargantuan size but also because of the problems arising thereof. Being the capital of India, Delhi is one of the fastest growing metropolises in India. But, along with Delhi's urban growth there is a simultaneous growth and expansion of it’s slum population and slum areas. Delhi has a population of 14 million out of which 30% live in degraded tenements i.e 4 million people live in slums. Soon, Delhi may also have the dubious distinction of being rated as the fastest growing slum city in the world. This is an oft-repeated and cliched statement - one that Delhites have learnt to resign themselves to. “Living with dignity”, a basic constitutional right, is fast becoming a distant dream.

H

ousing Problems

Providing housing for the slum population is a perennial problem that defies all plausible solutions. There is no dearth of various planning strategies, technological efforts, slum clearance and rehabilitation schemes and the Government is constantly ready with new solutions, whilst the problem keeps outpacing the solution. The failure of rehabilitation schemes may be attributed to various deficiencies in the prevailing practices, as discussed in the following points.

1

. Incorrect planning

Centralisation Centralisation of planning policies and strategies, management, development and maintenance, slows down the process further, thus pressurizing and burdening the city. Choice of land and its tradability The principles of sustainable development begin with Appropriate Human Settlement Design and first on the agenda ought to be the correct choice of land for human settlements. The identification of water supply and waste disposal is significant, followed by the micro detail of the appropriate house, eventually leading to the street the neighbourhood and the Master Plan. However the present day concept of developing on flat land, the master plan being consequential to the road development, is the beginning of problems. The micro detail is a consequence of the master plan, whereas it should be the other way around. These faulty decisions lead to high infrastructure costs with the neverending spiraling of problems, thus leading to inflation. In order to meet these exorbitant costs land is treated as a tradable commodity. With excessive land costs, building costs get compromised further, compounding the problems. Land cannot and must not be treated as a tradable unit. The assets on

jaunapur slum resettlement

the land, however, could be traded. If the present day concept of treating land as a tradable commodity persists, then one may conclude that our very earth is a saleable commodity. Segmentation of Land uses The creation of mega centres in the city results in a massive energy inflow for short peak periods of time, resulting in the need to cater to complex design solutions such as a high onslaught of manpower, traffic, parking, power consumption etc. Such dense job opportunity areas are prone to encroachment, causing land prices to soar. This also creates zones that are not based on sustainability through interdependence.

2

.

Inadequacies of Government mechanism

Disregard of stakeholders Very often, slum dwellers are moved to the outskirts of the city, thus shifting their homes but not their economic dependence on the city. This makes them return to the city, perhaps somewhere else, only to create yet another slum. Scale of Projects The oft-announced large-scale unmanageable projects, devoid of functional, economic and political feasibility, often end up in deadlock situations. Paucity of Land Most people believe that there is indeed a land shortage in Delhi. This is what the decision makers are led to believe, while the Press also relies on this myth. In turn, the masses are also fed the same information. The fact is, there is more than ample land within the territory of Delhi to rehabilitate the entire slum population and also for the other sections of society that are finding it increasingly difficult to survive in Delhi. If all the slums in Delhi are to be relocated, a total of 7,000 acres or 2,800 hectares of land are required. Nearly 32,500 acres or 13,000 hectares of wasteland exists within Delhi. This has been classified as wasteland owing to the misconception that this land is too expensive to develop. Because the land is undulating and some parts have been intensely quarried, it is felt that this is unsuitable for human settlements. Contrary to this belief, it is this land that is most suited for human settlements, owing to large catchment areas that provide the constant recharge of the aquifers, provided that the wastewater is not transported outside the site. The Jaunapur slum resettlement scheme clearly establishes the veracity of this statement. No User Participation Due to the misconception regarding availability of land, Government housing schemes are often multi storey boxes, which on several occasions, have been rejected by slum dwellers.

jaunapur slum resettlement

3

. Unworkable Policies of Past Development Schemes

Government allotment to slum dwellers in the past has been 25 sq m per individual, with a stipulated buildable area of 18.5 sq.m. However, with land prices having soared, the slum dweller, perceiving this as a highly lucrative deal, built right up to 100%. This resulted in two-room tenements, terrace rights being sold and the doubling and tripling of density up to 600 du per hectare. Unforeseen pressure on the services led to breakdown of infrastructure facilities. The futility of expenses incurred was explicably expressed in the resultant inhabitable environment and creation of yet another slum.

Subsequent Government allotments of 18.5 sq m with100 % built-up area, with two floors and individual bath and w/c made the units more tradable. Our cluster planning for housing dispenses with all these problems, principally those of land trading, encroachment and overcrowding. The standard Government Scheme comprised of units arranged around closed courts (width of ultimate height ratio of less than 1:1. The central open courts, the so-called 'lungs', owing to the closed nature of the planning, sometimes enabled group consolidation, which resulted in encroachment of the central open court. The disappearance of central open space, at times left no scope for cross ventilation, creating unlivable conditions at the ground level. The facility of a community tap was sometimes misused, leading to wastage of water, shortage, intermittent supply and unhygienic conditions. Sites and services schemes (provision of plinths for definition). The government only provided demarcated plots using plinths, and the basic services. With the cost of construction being very high and limited finances available, the roof was often unbuilt or sub-standard, though the habitants managed to build the walls by using the salvaged scrap. As a result, the settlers often had no roof over their heads. Thus, the prime objective of the project failed. The new settlements were planned on low or flat land. As per the standard norms, the roads were constructed at a level higher than the ground resulting in higher plinths to avoid water logging. Thus, both the problem and the solution led to a phenomenal increase in costs. There was no segregation of waste water. The collection and disposal of waste water(from baths, kitchen and surface water) and sewage (from W.C.'s), together led to high, futile centralized infrastructure development costs. This made the entire proposition unaffordable. Connections to trunk sewage lines was considered inappropriate as this would result in overloading the existing lines laid out for the big housing colonies for other strata of society.