Descending down in a craft to Mumbai, the realization of being surrounded by black blotches
of settlement that had caught the eye minutes ago is soul-clawing. Slums have
been an evident part of Mumbai. And our views too have been very disgraceful of
them. But, beneath the tin roofs and trampoline, a lot has deceived the eyes.
Bombay, as
was called earlier, is the financial capital of India. This factor has caused
great migration to Mumbai, and as a result, from 1961 to 1981 the population
grew by 10 folds, from 4 lakhs to 4 Million. Back then, only 5% of it lived in
slums. Now, a shocking 60% of Mumbai inhibits them. Such statistics do not
guarantee development to a city where vast majority lives in misery, filth, and
no fundamental rights of existence.
For people
to claim that the government has turned a blind eye to the idea of Slum Rehabilitation
is easy. But to delve deeper is hard.
The concept of slum rehabilitation is not new to Mumbai. It has been in
progress since its inception. Many government agencies like MNC and Bombay
Housing and Area Development Board, Maharashtra Slum Area Act have worked on
it. The Mumbai Housing Board, established in 1948, has been housing the lower
strata of the society for years.
In 1970, SIP – a scheme meant for improvement
of slum conditions – spent Rs.63. crores on 3.64 million slums in Mumbai. Not
as effective in nature, but it was by far the biggest scheme that had reached a
massive crowd of slums. Another partly successful attempt is the Slum Rehabilitation
Act (SRA) of 1995. It does its bit to fulfill its promise of an apartment and
all civic amenities to the slum dwellers. SRA projects are implemented with investments
from private firms. All in all, efforts are being put up to attain the
objective of Slum Rehab.
Looking at
it from the receiver’s perspective, slum dwellers do not benefit widely from
schemes such as SIP. Mainly, due to their unimaginable population and loop
holes in the administration of the scheme. Moreover, slum dwellers usually
locate themselves near their source of income. They as working community, fend
themselves off the piece of land they own. For instance, the Koli fishermen who
lived near the river. At present, for 80% of Dharavi – Asia’s largest slum, the
slum area is their main source of income. Dharavi, in fact, has evolved as a dynamic
industrial area where people live in hazardous work conditions to add to the
GDP of Mumbai.
News reports
blare about collapse of Slum rehab buildings, mass loss of employment, and
breaking of slum work communities. Seemingly, it is senseless to move slum
dwellers from horizontal slums to vertical slums, as there is no change in
their living standards. Moreover, the distrustful experience of slum dwellers
with government aids are significant failure at helping today’s condition.
Giving ear
both these views, it is a recurring wonder, as to who is to be blamed: the system
or the population, Scarcity of land or finance. At a superficial level, each
one of us can taunt another. Blame for the unseen efforts that are rendered
useless through corruption. Or for the terrible behavior that poor people have adapted to for survival. Well, I believe the culprit
here is the unlimited financial strength and hope that Mumbai offers in vain.
Strength to those rich, who get richer by the day and night, and with-hold
their power - alas! It gets stolen in Mumbai. Hope for those who flow into
Mumbai like cattle from far away places, in search for livelihood and a single
home.
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