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Initially, outdated land-use regulation led to economic growth in peri-urban areas and then cities’ urban core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?