MOOSANAGAR EEN SLOPPENWIJK IN ,

EEN ONTWERPMATIG ONDERZOEK

Emily Pescod

Promotor: prof. dr. ir.-arch. Johan Lagae Begeleiders: Bert Gellynck, David Schmitz

Masterproef ingediend tot het behalen van de academische graad van Master in de ingenieurswetenschappen: architectuur

Vakgroep Architectuur en Stedenbouw Voorzi er: prof. dr. Pieter Uy enhove Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en Architectuur Academiejaar 2010-2011 TOELATING TOT BRUIKLEEN De auteur gee de toela ng deze masterproef voor consulta e beschikbaar te stellen en delen van de scrip e te kopiëren voor persoonlijk gebruik. Elk ander gebruik valt onder de beperkingen van het auteursrecht, in het bijzonder met betrekking tot de verplich ng de bron uitdrukkelijk te vermelden bij het aanhalen van resultaten uit deze masterproef.

Emily Pescod

6 juni 2011

THE CITY WITHIN THE SLUM

Looking down from Chaderghat Bridge into the bas of Moosanagar it seems obvious to believe most sought a er in this area along the is the ownership of a solid house. Beholding the eff ortless mo on through the maze of humble roofed construc ons, the roaming people below reveal the slum dweller within.

Upon acquaintance, during our two month stay in Hyderabad, Moosanagar however exposed a city within the slum enriching our train of thought with a vision there’s more to see than the mere wish for be er.

Surviving 60 years of threat of evic on, Moosanagar proves improvement, if me is on your hands. I I. THE INFLUENCE OF LAKHS

I.I THE EXPANDING URBAN FABRIC I.2 THE CITY’S THIRST I.3 SEWAGE PRODUCTION I.4 SHRINKING WATER BODIES II II. THE RIVER MUSI, DANGER OR SALVATION

2.I MUSI BANKS, A PLACE CALLED HOME 2.I.I THE EVOLUTION OF A SLUM 2.I.2 MOOSANAGAR & TEMPORARY MIGRATION

2.2 MUSI WASTER WATER & FOOD SECURITY 2.2.I LIVELIHOODS 2.2.2 ADAPTING CROPS

2.3 A HUNGER FOR DEVELOPMENT 2.3.I NANDANAVANAM 2.3.2 PROPOSAL Ar. Hafeez Contractor 2.3.3 SAVE MUSI CAMPAIGN III III. MOOSANAGAR SPECIAL SLUM ZONE

3.I HOUSING SCHEMES, A HISTOY OF TRIAL AND ERROR 3.I.I MOOSANAGAR STRUCTURAL COMPARISON

3.2 HOUSING BACKLOGS 3.2.2 HOUSING BACK LOG OF AP HOUSINGSCHEMES

3.3 SLUM IMPROVEMENT, ANALYSIS 3.I.3 MOOSANAGAR HOUSING BACK LOG 3.3.I SPECIAL SLUM ZONE I. THE INFLUENCE OF L<,^

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I

I. THE INFLUENCE OF LAKHS

I.I THE EXPANDING URBAN FABRIC I.2 THE CITY’S THIRST I.3 SEWAGE PRODUCTION I.4 SHRINKING WATER BODIES I.I THE EXPANDING URBAN FABRIC

The Damagundam forest in the Anantagiri hills 70km to the west is the source of Hyderabad’s Musi river which fl ows principally eastward over a total distance of 270 km un l it emp es into the Krishna river.

Before the Musi is joined by one of its tributaries the Esi, it accumulates behind the , one of the two dams built in 1920 as a consequence of the great Musi fl ood in 1908. The Esi has the second dam , which according to human need then allows the Esi to join the Musi just west of the city. They fl ow together for 30 km through the heart of Hyderabad dividing it into the North (New City) and the South (Old City).1

1 The history and evolu on of Hyderabad together with the popula on fi gures in this chapter are cited from: NARENDRA LUTHER, ‘Hyderabad. A biography’, Oxford University Press, 2006, Hyderabad; HMDA, ‘Revised Master Plan for Core area’, 2010 ,Hyderabad; and VARGHESE TECKANATH S.G., “Housing for the urban poor. Changing Paradigm in Hyderabad.”, 2002, Hyderabad Once pure wilderness, the underlying granite mass under formed a hill where the herders of the surrounding villages let their cows and sheep graze. Situated on the Deccan plateau 540 m above sea-level, the hill was so noted for its grazing ca le that it was named “grazing hill”, “Golla Konda” in Telugu1. It was on this hill about 1.000 years ago that Golconda Fort was built overlooking the Musi on its south side, today only remaining as a ruin 8 km west from the Hyderabad’s center.

As a result of the water shortages during the Qutb Shahi dynasty2 (1534-1724 AD), the kingdom of Golconda was relocated more to the east, along the banks of the Musi river. With its potable water, the river supplied the new city with drinking water. Thus in 1591, Hyderabad originated as a planned city in a grid drawn around Charminar3 , intended for a projected 5 lakh popula on. Spread over a period of 150 years, during the reign of the Asaf Jahi rulers (1724-1948 AD) (also called Nizams4 ), Hyderabad enjoyed a cultural and economic bloom resul ng in becoming the offi cial capital of the Golconda kingdom.

1 Local language 2 A Turkic dynasty ruling the kingdom of Golconda 3 Islamic monument meaning “Mosque of the four towers” 4 Title of the na ve sovereigns of In 1680 the Old City of Hyderabad was comprised of 88000 people over an area of 2,5km². In the mean me at the beginning of the 17th century, the Bri sh arrived in India. It was only in 1858 that India was subjected to Bri sh colonial rule.

The Bri sh Indian Empire consisted of two divisions: Bri sh India and the Na ve States or Princely States. The la er were not directly ruled by the Bri sh, but governed indirectly through an Indian head of state. Thus during the reign of the Nizams, Hyderabad became one of the princely states but kept control over internal aff airs.

Earlier in 1799, came the crea on of the Bri sh cantonment separated from Hyderabad by the 4km² lake. This sec on of the city later developed as a separate en ty: Secunderabad

In 1860, the borders of the Hyderabad Municipality (HM) were defi ned, in the mean me totalling an area of 56,98km². In 1901, the census of India1 counted 4,2 lakh people in the Municipality. Thus is took more than 300 years before the planned for 5 lakh popula on around was reached. It was mainly a er 1881 that Hyderabad’s popula on grew through the success of the expanding Nizam’s administra on.

1 The Indian Census is the largest single source of a variety of sta s cal informa on on diff erent characteris cs of the people of India. The responsibility of conduc ng the decennial Census rests with the Offi ce of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India under Ministry of Home Aff airs, Government of India. In 1908 Hyderabad was subjected to a great Musi Flood due to abnormally heavy rainfall. Thousands of people were killed resul ng in only a marginal growth in popula on un l 1911. The popula on of 5,92 lakh were however spread over a steadily expanding area which now summed up to 80km². The fl ood was the catalyst for the forma on of the New City bringing a relocated seat of government with it.

While the old city, capital of the former rulers, refl ects the tradi onal manner of life with its chaos of rickshaws, street vendors and unceasing commo on between the architectural heritages. The new city forms the city’s less densely populated centre for commerce, companies and entertainment.

Another consequence of the fl ood was the building of two dams; Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar. Osman Sagar, covering an area of 24,5km² and storing up to 110million m³, and Himayat having a capacity of 84 million m³ in an area of 19,5km², would besides the control of future fl ooding also guarantee the new potable water supply to the city.

In the periods of 1911-1912 and 1916- 1917 Hyderabad experienced some of the worst plagues it was ever subjected to . This was refl ected in the new Census of India results in 1921 that showed that the popula on had diminished to 4,06 lakh. In 1931, again ci ng the Census of India, popula on increased again to 4,47lakh. However in 1941 a spectacular jump to 7,20 lakh revealed a decadal growth rate of 61,10%, the highest Hyderabad had ever known.

A er 200 years of Bri sh rule, India gained its independence on the 15th August 1947. Following this, Hyderabad joined the Indian Union1 in 1948. This hailed the end of the Nizam Empire. With it’s strategic geographical loca on in the centre of the country and ample govt land available in the Peri Urban area, Hyderbad was able to a ract many public and private industries, turning Hyderabad into a hometown of Industrial and economic growth. With residents totalling 10,26 lakh in 1951, Hyderabad gained the metropolitan status along with Delhi and Chennai.

In addi on, during the Indian linguis c reorganisa on of 1956, the state of Andhra Pradesh came into being with Hyderabad as its capital. In 1960 the Hyderabad Municipal Corpora on (HMC) was formed covering an area of 172 km² and a popula on of 11,19 lakh by 1961.

HMC is comprised of the Old City, New City (also referred to as Hyderabad) and Secunderabad. Although called the Twin Ci es, ondergingen deze beide en teiten een verschillende evolu e. As Secunderabad developed under Bri sh rule un l 1947, Hyderabad grew as the capital of the Nizams. Today s ll separated by the Hussain Sagar lake, they really form one greater whole: the Core City Area.

1 At the end of Bri sh rule, two dominions were created: the dominion of Pakistan and the dominion of India (Indian union). A er leaving the Core City Area, the Musi con nues its path through several towns in the Urbanised City Area, which all together comprise the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corpora on (GHMC).

Today, this expansion is evident through the following: The crea on of Hyderabad as the capital of Andhra Pradesh brought a period of poli cal stability. Besides the rapid industrialisa on as from the 60’s, and the coming of the IT sector, the absence of fl oods, famine and epidemics all combined for the fast increase in popula on in the City centre. Beginning with 11,19 lakh in 1961 this fi gure rose to 16,07 lakh in1971. This made Hyderabad the 5th most populous under the Indian metropolises. As the thousands of poor immigrated to the Looking at Hyderabad as part of Andhra Pradesh city this only added to the natural increase of and India, we also see a general increase in the the urban residents resul ng in an exploding urban popula on. In 1971, Andhra Pradesh number of poor. Slums proliferated. In 1962 had a decadal growth of 33,92%, and India as 106 no fi ed slum were registered with a a whole of 38,3%. According to the Na onal popula on of 1,2 lakh or 10% of the total city Ins tute of Urban Aff airs (NIUA) this growth popula on. In 1971 this fi gure increased to 282 was due to a 41% increase in births, 40% no fi ed slums with residents totalling 3 lakh through in-migra on and 19% due to the represen ng 18% of the total city popula on. reclassifi ca on of se lements. The reason for this large scale migra on of the rural The expansion also manifested popula on to the ci es was due to a quickly itself far outside of the city centre. rising rural popula on that outpaced the In 1975 this resulted in the forma on availability of farming land. This in turn put of the Hyderabad Development Area great pressure on landless peasants who then (HDA). The predecessor of today’s sought work in the economically booming city. Urbanised City has an area of 1865 km². TO CONCLUDE... Along with the con nual growth, Hyderabad was transformed more and more into an urbanised area. Simultaneously, the Looking at the evolu on of Hyderabad and inhabitants of the city centre grew from 21,5 the accompanying graphs, we see that city lakh in 1981 to 30,5 lakh in 1991 un l fi nally area growth, total resident numbers and 36,30 lakh in 2001. In the last fi gure, a very the urban poor totals are all interconnected. conspicuous decrease in the decadal growth The se lement on the southern banks of rate of the urban popula on was evident, i.e., the Musi in 1591 changed the landscape decreasing from 41,86% to 19,3%. As the city around the river for good. A er Qutb Shahis became more and more congested, a possible laid the basis for Hyderabad, it grew past the explana on is the growing trend to se le in planned grid around Charminar during the the peripheral towns. This decrease was also reign of the Nizams. Hyderabad Municipality visible in Andhra Pradesh and India in general. was formed and a er the 1908 fl ood, the city crossed over the river to form the New City. However generally speaking we s ll see a moun ng city popula on growth, also in The subsequent Bri sh infl uence with the the slums. In the mean me the city had crea on of Secunderabad laid the basis for the in 1981, 470 no fi ed slums with 5,4 lakh Hyderbad Municipal Corpora on and Core City inhabitants of 23% of the total city popula on. area today. Due to the con nual popula on In 1991 the last record was made with increase and infl ux of outsiders for the 60’s 811 no fi ed slums according to GoAP industrialisa on, the Core City area was no with a popula e of 12,58 lakh and thus longer contained with its’ borders spilling over +/- 40% of the total city’s populace. into the urbanised city area and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Area today. This s mulated the forma on in 2008 of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development In spite of the tremendous urbanisa on, it is Area (HMDA) with an area of 7 100 km². the tremendous growth within the city centre which is notable. The Core City area comprises GHMC and the Cyberabad Development only 27% of the GHMC area but 60% of the total Zone, an upcoming IT centre developed by populace of both. With only 2% of the total HMDA the State of Andhra Pradesh, together with area it contains 50% of its’ total inhabitants. the Interna onal Airport Zone 16 km to the south of Hyderabad are all comprised in the The penalty of such a huge popula on mass Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Area cannot be overlooked on the environment. The (HMDA) and managed by the HMD Authority. Musi was made to pay through the shu ng off of its’ water source only being replaced by Today, Hyderabad is considered na onal millions of litres per day of sewage and industrial heritage and with its popula on es mate of waste. But not only the Musi lost its’ glory, many 40 – 45 Lakhs in the Core City area alone, it is other water bodies and important storm water one of the fastest growing metropolis’ in India. channels suff ered the infl uence of the lakhs.

area and blocked the fl ow of runoff water I.2 THE CITY’S THIRST to the reservoir. With lack of control on waste disposal, everything was dumped in As is usually the case with developing countries, Hussain Sagar. The construc on (in 1920 rapid and uncontrolled urbaniza on is and again in 1927) of two large drink water accompanied with environmental degrada on. reservoirs; Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar Typically, water pollu on is the main component. upstream and outside the city centre, were Waste water is seldom treated and there is both built as a result of the 1908 fl ood. Their o en a complete lack of an -pollu on policies. coming, consequently lead to the complete neglect and degrada on of Hussain Sagar. This is also true in Hyderabad as evidenced how industrialisa on and rapid popula on Today Hussain Sagar is a water body which growth went hand in hand to pollute the River only off ers some visual delight and space Musi and other water bodies. In what follows, for recrea on. However it does help as it is seen that as the increasing popula on a storm water buff er. The needed more potable water, it produced also suff ered the same fate and can no more sewage and, needing more space, longer be used as a drinking water supply. fi nally resulted in shrinking water bodies. A er independence in 1947 and its’ Experiencing water shortages at Fort Golconda, subsequent membership of the Indian Union the reloca on of the Kingdom to the banks of in 1948, Hyderabad quickly became a base the Musi river in 1591, forms the fi rst example for industrial and economic growth. The of how the Musi was u lised to sa sfy the populace now grew even faster due to the drinking water needs of the popula on. Hussain absence of fl oods, hunger and epidemics. The Sagar lake was formed in 1562 by damming thriving city acted as a magnet for immigra on. construc on on one of the tributaries even With a lopsided focus on economic growth, before the origin of the city. This formed the the fact that pollu on constantly increased fi rst source of drinking water for Hyderabad. through developing industry both in the city Following Hussain Sagar, many more tanks were and in its environs, was completely neglected. built by Qutb Shahis (1534-1724 AD), and later on by the Asaf Jahis (Nizams) (1724-1948 AD). Osman Sagar covering an area of 24,5km² and storing up to 110million m³, and Himayat Hyderabad’s bloom was mainly situated having a capacity of 84 million m³ in an area during the late part of this second period. of 19,5km² formed the new potable water Once the planned for 5 Lakhs popula on was supply of the city. The water supplied to the reached, the city began to expand outwards city today is 222 MGD1 . This means that to past the designed grid of the Qutb Shahis. sa sfy Hyderabad with drinking water more They built among others, monuments such than 1 million m³ water per day must be as the High Court, Osmania hospital situated supplied . Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar, along the Musi River, a new reservoir - the which together have a capacity of 194 million Mir Alam Tank (1908) and also the fi rst m³ would both be dry within a year without underground water pipes. In 1931 construc on further supplies from the Musi and Esi. started on the fi rst sewerage network. This consisted of two intercep ng sewers running To guarantee the constant supply to and from parallel to the Musi which collected waste the Sagars, new potable water programs were from pipes coming from all over the city. introduced in 1965 and s ll con nue today. While Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar each A er the 1908 Musi Flood, the growth of the respec vely provide 16 MGD and 11 MGD, New City north of the Musi commenced. As a result of the growing popula on, urbanisa on around Hussain Sagar decreased its’ catchment 1 Million Gallons per Day – 1 UK Gallon = 4,5 litre Singur (75), Manjira (45) and Krishna (75) were river dry of water for most of the me. The huge new sources. In a table out of the Hyderabad growth of popula on and associated increase Metropolitan water supply and sewerage in demand for potable water, have lead to the board (HMWSSB) it was dis lled that these drying up of the River Musi; perhaps for all me. sources are only found further and further away. While Osman Sagar (1922) and Himayat Sagar (1927) are close by at 15 and 8,6 km, Manjira and the Singur Dam are 58 and 80 km distant from Hyderabad. The most recent, the Krishna water scheme da ng from 2004, has to transport its water 130 km to the city.1

The need for new drinking water sources at increasing distances is due to the con nual increase in urbanisa on. This is also apparent today around Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar with a corresponding danger to their workings. Because of this, The Supreme Court ruled on 1st December 2000 that no water pollu ng industry could be situated within a radius of 10 km of the reservoirs. Even though the Supreme Court addi onally ordered; “The State is duty bound not only to provide adequate drinking water but also to protect water sources from pollu on and encroachment.” it is unlikely that the Musi will again fl ow with anything like drinkable water. Also Ar cle 21 of the Cons tu on of India which states “access to clean drinking water is a fundamental right under ‘right to life’.”2 has not had any no ceable improvement for most of Hyderabad’s slum dwellers.

While two decades ago the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar were overfl owing into the Musi river during the monsoons, now, to ensure constant available potable water, even controlled releases seldom occur, leaving the

1 KONRAD HAGEDORN et al,‘Hyderabad as a Megacity of Tomorrow: Sustainable Urban Food and Health Security and Environmental Resource Management’, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2007, Hyderabad 2 p5 RAMACHANDRAIAH et al, ‘Hyderabad’s Water Issues and the Musi River Need for Integrated Solu ons’, 2007, Hyderabad Hyderabad in the 1960’s, the industry became the I.3 SEWAGE PRODUCTION largest catalyst of the environmental pollu on. According to HMWSSB the total industrial In spite of the huge popula on growth, the effl uent generated is 19 MGD. Although sewage network was not expanded similarly. this forms only 10% of the total wastewater Da ng from 1931 it was extended again with produced, this effl uent contains highly fi ve other major sewers in 19851 . Today, toxic compounds posing a great threat to this sewage system s ll only collects 62% of the people using Musi river “water” for Hyderabad’s waste.2 In an eff ort to collect the whatever purpose: fi sh nurseries, fodder remaining waste water, the sewage network and vegetable growers living downstream, was connected to natural storm water drains. washer people, etc. Another danger is This means that the vast majority of waste water comprised of the fact that toxic compounds collected by the sewage network, ul mately eventually end up in the food chain. 1 returns to the environment untreated. As such, the Musi is forced fed huge quan es of raw Azamabad, Musheerabad, Sanathnagar, human waste. This is no secret as the 2010 Kavadiguda, New Bhoiguda, and Lalaguda, Master Plan for Core City area states only 23% of are six of the old industrial zone in the the city’s waste is treated and just 3% is reused. middle of the city. Later on came Jeedimetla, Assuming the sewage generated is 80% of the Balanagar, Chandulal Bardari, Medchal, total water supply; this means that 177,6 MGD Moulali, Nacharam, Cherlapalli, Uppal, of wastewater is dumped again in the Musi Katedan, Autonagar and Gagan Pahad, the river, resul ng in its new fl ow. While the river new Industrial Estates. Many of the industrial prac cally disappeared due to the city’s thirst, estates are situated close to reservoirs which it returned in the guise of polluted effl uent. ul mately reduced them to toxic ponds.

HMWSSB currently has only two STPs (Sewage Evidently industrial waste needs to Treatment Plants). STPs are a necessary be treated separately. This is done in development for the city for its treatment a CETP (Common Effl uent Treatment of household waste which is otherwise Plant). A study on environmental dumped directly in the Musi. As previously resource management in Hyderabad2, men oned, these two plants only treat 23% states presently there are only two CETP’s in (roughly equal to 40 MGD) of the waste the Hyderabad area. The fi rst, JETL (Jeedimetla water produced by Hyderabad’s inhabitants. Effl uent Treatment Limited) is situated in the catchment area of Musi. Being owned by an The fi rst STP was built in 1938, the Amberpet industrial group, this CETP has no rela onship Sewage Treatment Plant and was expanded with the government nor the Water Board. Each later in 1985. The only other STP present in new company wishing to use the facili es of JETL Hyderabad is the STP found at Hussain Sagar, must become a member. A second CETP, PETL ( covering 15% of the total treated 40 MGD. 3 Patancheru Envirotech Limited) is located in the Although a start was made in trea ng waste catchment of the Manjira River. When this plant water in the 1930’s, the techniques were is fully opera ng, it will be connected via mains not refi ned during the following decades. to the STP in Amberpet. There the effl uent will be treated further together with the household S ll more important than the treatment of waste before being released in the Musi. household waste, is the disposal of industrial refuse. Through the growing industrialisa on in Although the presence of few STPs and CETPs it

1 HMDA, ‘Revised Master Plan for Core area’, 2010 , Hyderabad 1 Humboldt 2 IWMI, ‘Household Food Security and Wastewater-dependent Livelihood 2 KONRAD HAGEDORN et al,‘Hyderabad as a Megacity of Tomorrow: Sustain- Ac vi es along the Musi River in Andhra Pradesh, India’ able Urban Food and Health Security and Environmental Resource Manage- 3 HMDA, ‘Revised Master Plan for Core area’, 2010 , Hyderabad ment’, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2007, Hyderabad is evident that for the me being, they clearly are inadequate for the capacity being generated.

Many ‘a empts’ have been made over the years to stop the pollu on generated by the Industrial Estates. There are approximately 200 Central and State laws to protect the environment in India whereby laws such as: ‘poisonous, noxious or pollu ng ma er shall not be discharged, directly or indirectly, into water bodies, sewers or on land.’ As per sec on 24 of the Water (Preven on and Control of Pollu on) Act, 1974, and ‘no person carrying on any industry, opera on or process shall discharge or emit or permit to be discharged or emi ed any environmental pollutant in excess of such standards as may be prescribed’ under sec ons 7 of the Environment (Protec on) Act, 1986. All are completely ignored.

Although it is the responsibility of the state to increase capacity through the construc on of new ST and CET Plants which will also keep pace with the popula on and industrial growth of the city, the two main problems preven ng this from happening have remained unchanged for decades. These are the lack of suffi cient fi nancing, and of adequate land in a suitable place.

255 growth brought both the need for drinking I.4 SHRINKING WATER BODIES water and places to live. Besides the alloca on of ground for industrial zones, there were Subject to tropical semi-arid weather, also large areas allo ed for “residen al” use. Hyderabad receives an average of 80cm of Through expanding urbanisa on substan al rainfall per year, most of which is during areas were built and covered in concrete. monsoon season. Hyderabad’s wet season starts from late June and ends early October under A paper presented at the Interna onal Water the infl uence of the South-West monsoon. Conference of 2007 in Berlin1 declared that many historical water bodes built by Qutub On September 28, 1908, Hyderabad received Shahi rulers (1534-1724 AD) and the Asaf Jahi approximately 43cm of rainfall in one day. rulers (1724-1948 AD) in and around Hyderabad, Following the huge downpour, tanks in the shrank in area and some even disappeared with catchment area of the river Musi fi lled to the the construc on of residen al zones. Although top and the ground was inundated. Overfl owing it is diffi cult for us to track back on these storm water drains helplessly disposed their disappearing lakes, some examples where given water in to the Musi resul ng in a huge fl ood. and some are easily recognised by the keeping Thousands of people were killed and many of their name for the residen al zone in place. more thousands were le homeless behind. As was the case with the reduc on in the catchment area of the Hussain Sagar due to Imprinted in Hyderabad’s memory this urbanisa on, the Masab Tank forms one of the fl ood showed the power of nature. As a most prominent examples of unsustainable result the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar urban growth. Built during the 6th Qutb Shahi, were built. As previously stated these this zone at the foot of the upmarket locality were built to supply the city with drinking Banajara Hills today forms a busy residen al- water but the other reason was to serve as commercial area named accordingly. control barrier to prevent future fl ooding. Besides the tanks themselves, came also the In spite of the absence of natural river water, a fi lling in of their tributaries and important fl ood again occurred between 22nd and 24th of storm water drains. Examples of these are August 2000 due to a local low pressure, there the residen al suburbs of Vijaya Nagar Colony was aberra on in the normal weather pa ern. en Shan Nagar which were located on a The Twin ci es of Hyderabad and Secunderabad tributary of the Masab Tank. Nallakunta and measured 24cm of rainfall, again in one day. Barkatpura were developed on a tributary Many of the low-lying areas, occupied by of Hussain Sagar. Also close to Saroornagar, Hyderabad residents and long known as fl ood- near the Hyderabad-Vijayawada Na onal prone, were inundated. Even though the deluge Highway we see no tributary any longer. was not extreme in de catchment area of the river Musi and its tributaries, the rain was the It is through the disappearance of similar cause of much damage. According to an es mate reservoirs and the destruc on of their links of the GoAP, 80 000 people were vic ms of that the 2000 fl ood was possible. In addi on, the so-called ‘fl ash fl ood’. The unexpected the physical construc on of the residen al and abrupt rise of water totally destroyed zones in these places blocked the water’s 7500 houses and damaged 3000 more.1 natural surface-runoff . This forced water away from its natural downstream path and as such In the enquiry into how this could happen, set these and other urban areas under water. one must go back, again, to the development Masab Tank, Vijayanagar Colony and Nallakunta of the city as from ca. 1960. The popula on were some of the worst aff ected areas due

1 VARGHESE TECKANATH S.G., “Housing for the urban poor. Changing Para- 1 RAMACHANDRAIAH et al, ‘Hyderabad’s Water Issues and the Musi River digm in Hyderabad.”, 2002, Hyderabad Need for Integrated Solu ons’, 2007, Hyderabad to the August fl ood in 2000 in Hyderabad.

Apart from residen al use, government today is blamed to be encroaching on several water bodies through ac ons such as the construc on of roads and fl yovers diminishing the size and number of natural channels. Other examples of so called government encroachments in the past are Lumbini Park and Mahatma Gandhi bus stand. Lumbini Park located on the banks of Hussain Sagar was developed by the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (present HMDA) in 1994. Reclaiming a part of Hussain Sagar, it forms a place of recrea on and amusement. Mahatma Gandhi bus stand, reachable by bridges, was created in the Musi river. It is owned by Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corpora on (APSRTC) and forms one of the largest bus sta ons in Asia.

It is clear that rapid urbanisa on and lack of “though ul” planning is responsible for the diminishing of useful water bodies and important storm water drains. Although reclaimed lands temporarily release the pressure from inhabitants and state, they later form serious problems when nature strikes again.

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II

II. THE RIVER MUSI, DANGER OR SALVATION

2.I MUSI BANKS, A PLACE CALLED HOME 2.I.I THE EVOLUTION OF A SLUM 2.I.2 MOOSANAGAR & TEMPORARY MIGRATION

2.2 MUSI WASTER WATER & FOOD SECURITY 2.2.I LIVELIHOODS 2.2.2 ADAPTING CROPS

2.3 A HUNGER FOR DEVELOPMENT 2.3.I NANDANAVANAM 2.3.2 PROPOSAL Ar. Hafeez Contractor 2.3.3 SAVE MUSI CAMPAIGN ‘In India, a river is a common property resource of the people and thus it is the responsibility of the State to protect water resources.’1

The Musi River forms the most striking example today in Hyderabad of the state’s impossibility, or unwillingness, to exert its’ responsibility to protect the water resources and hence the protec on of its’ people. Over- popula on and mismanagement have reduced a healthy river to a neglected strip of land, with in the middle pure waste water fl owing.

What happens when the water of a river, a common property resource, ceases to exist? What happens with the hectares of land which become “free” where once the river fl owed in a busy city such as Hyderabad? What happens with the waste water? And, what happens with the freed up space when nature demands it back?

When inves ga ng the river’s banks, we see three separate groups arising among the Hyderabad residents. Their reac on has manifest itself in two forms in these new condi ons: 1. Musi banks, a found object and 2. Musi banks, a fl ood zone

1 RAMACHANDRAIAH et al, ‘Hyderabad’s Water Issues and the Musi River Need for Integrated Solu ons’, 2007, Hyderabad

“We arrived at MN around 10 o’clock. While looking for Ashfaq, the bas leader, we encountered two youngsters Waliz and Rahaman instead, who showed us around Rasoolpura and Moosanagar. Moosanagar appears to be the most organic with li le alleys and diff erent ages and heights of buildings. Rasoolpura is more open and seems to be more orthogonal and structured. The boys introduced us to many friends and family. In Moosanagar, near the bridge with Kamal Nagar, mud huts had been constructed that clearly were of lesser quality than the other brick houses in this slum. A growing group of youngsters and kids took us further to see the Musi River (Moosa River as they called it themselves). The river is divided from the bastees by a green zone that fl oods when the river rises. We walked along a concrete canal parallel to the river that clearly was used as public toilet also. On the other bank of the river we could see a slum consis ng of huts made of plas c sheets and other waste materials. We assume this must be one of the many unno fi ed slums in the area. Following the river, we had a constant (unless interrupted by trees) view on Kamal Nagar and its government built apartments lying next to us beyond the green belt. Finally we ended up in the next slum, called Khalikabar. Industry and jobs seemed to dis nguish this slum from the others. We could iden fy a car garage, a generator company, a buff alo farm for milk, a recycling spot for plas c bo les, a ‘dry cleaners’ washing area founded near the river and a vast open space used to lay sheets for drying, a mber workshop for doorframes, banana markets and a another mber workshop (for furniture?). Only have passing through briefl y, we conclude there must have been more. Along our way back a couple of people warned us for the dangers of slums and of our company and voiced their opinion we shouldn’t be there. While in Kamal Nagar, a few boys le for Muslim mass. We met a new fellow named Amir who warned us for the boys we were with. A er several changes of guide we couldn’t help no cing the law of the strongest. Some kids would be guiding us un l some older kids get acquainted with us and chase them away. This pa ern keeps repea ng itself, un l fi nally an adult would gain interest and tell the others to leave. Interes ng is the fact only the youngsters know English and therefore, so far, are the best guides. The adults on the other hand are the only ones to allow us in their houses, which has been our most precious goal. A er asking us why we were here, Amir decided to guide us to the PIN- school. Guidance to places they recognise from our explana on has happened before without the actual need for being there. As always we followed our new guide anyway to see what would happen this me. PIN-school asked proof of permission to enter, so again we were guided (although we knew our way), this me to the PIN-offi ce in order to seek that permission. Ending up there we decided that we would have our lunch there from now on. As the only white people (so it seems) in Hyderabad we gain so much a en on every day it’s nice to have some peace and quiet to think of what we’ve seen in the past hours. We ate our lunch at around 12:30h and le for the roof to inhale the chao c view named Hyderabad. At 13:30h we went to Moosanagar once more in order to do some drawing. We decided this could be a new strategy to keep away the a en on obtained by roaming around on one hand and learn every detail of one small part of the slum on the other. Off course it did not take long for the word to spread and soon lots of a en on came, this me especially from women and children. Soon we were defi ned as ‘ar sts’ and Mohammed Moinudin, a real ar st (painter) wanted to meet us. He invited us to his place and fi nally we entered the fi rst slum house independently. We sat there for about one hour impressed by this small place fi lled with lovely pain ngs and humidity infected books. A er many pictures taken of us, the family and friends, we le fulfi lled, thinking we’ll need to gain everyone’s trust step by step.”

daily report, Hyderabad, 17/09/2010 Loïc & Emily According to a 2007 study of the Humboldt 2.I MUSI BANKS, A PLACE University in Berlin1 , in total 75 offi cial CALLED HOME and unoffi cial slums are situated, between Bapughat in the west to Nagole Bridge in Looking at the banks of the Musi River, the east along a 16 km stretch of the Musi. one sees that it is do ed with residen al se lements. Many of these se lements One of these 75 slums is Moosanagar, came into existence where roads, which were located on the Southern bank of the river constructed on uninhabited land parallel to Musi adjacent to Chaderghat bridge. the river, later branched away in another direc on. The roads’ physical subdivision During our stay in Hyderabad from of local space, uninten onally created the end of September 2010 un l the separate areas adjoining the river which beginning of November 2010 this was were thankfully taken over and adopted by the main Bas we did research upon. the infl ux of poor for their housing sites. With its fi rst se lers arriving in the mid ‘50s, Moosanagar today evolved into one Up un l the end of the 1940’s the extensive of the most prominent Bastees along the land all along the Musi River was just fi elds, Musi river, housing more than 350 families. temples, cemeteries and sites where Dhobis1 Through various interviews with the prac ced their job. From 1930 – 1945, the City Moosanagar inhabitants and with the grateful Improvement Board (CIB) began to build various help of Br. Varghese Teckanath, who lived in housing schemes along the Musi area with the Moosanagar for several years, we managed eye on local economic growth. In addi on, there to track back the history and evolu on of was a strong tendency for industrialisa on with Moosanagar and how this part of the Musi large projects in the whole of the country a er banks, slowly turned in to a vibrant li le town. India gained independence from the Bri sh in 1947. Much privately and state owned land was designated to industrial and residen al use.

Following this growth, the fi rst Muslim refugees immigra ng to the city in search of work began to se le along the Musi. As more and more poor followed their example in se ling themselves along the river, a long string of slums was the result.2

As the Musi condi ons started to change and the river transformed into a narrow channel of waster water, more space became available resul ng in the expansion of the slums individually, towards the river. Musi banks, the found object by many poor became a place called home.

1 Tradi onal washer men 1 M. VEDA KUMAR &The Musi River Study Team, HUMBOLDT UNIVERSITY 2 ANANT MARINGANTI, ‘Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyder- BERLIN, ‘Analysis and Ac on for Sustainable Development of Hyderabad’, abad’, 2007, Hyderabad 2007, Hyderabad 2.I.I THE EVOLUTION OF A SLUM from a private owner who owned some of the PART I land along the river. Later on, part of this land The fi rst people to se le in Moosanagar came was bought by Sardar Bhai who used it to grow in the middle of the 1950’s. They were only fi ve fl owers. The area was very sparsely populat- in number; Maisaih, Harasimah (s ll alive), G. ed. Much of the area was open or cul vated. Lingaiah and Khundel (name of the 5th could In course of me the open lands became more not be recalled). Coming from villages from Na- and more occupied with houses. A er the fi rst lgonda District 1, they where looking for liveli- fi ve houses, a few other houses came such as hood. Ini ally they did not bring their families that of Sardar Bhai. Ashwaq Bhai, the present but as they se led down and had a regular in- day bas leader of Moosanagar, and his sister come they started to bring their families along. Munna Bhai and others also se led around Nevertheless, s ll keeping in touch with their where they live now. In the late 1980’s, land rela ves in the village they kept going back was leased to Hanumantha Rao (the priest during monsoon season to cul vate their small of the temple previously situated in the east land holdings. Arriving, they se led on a piece of the land) and others for their houses. of land which they had bought for a small sum

1 A District in Andhra Pradesh situated East and South-East from Hyderabad.

Scale: 1/4000 1950: First se lers Sardar Bhai PART 2 began to se le. As more people where coming, A second part of the land was owned by the local many people of Moosanagar were forced to Hayatollah Mosque situated adjacent to the shi as families mul plied and hence had police sta on on the Main Chaderghat Bridge to fi nd new homes for the new families. today. This stretched from de Muslim Cemetery further on the whole area of Kamal Nagar. O en, occupying land, building a hut, payment Later this piece of land was given to Abed Ali of rent, etc. are informal arrangements. While Khan in return for his services to the mosque. some of the inhabitants paid regularly, other Khan later gave it to his son Sadiq Ali Khan, who paid once in three or six months depending gave small plots of land to those who wanted it on the work they had and money they against a small monthly rent from 1959-1980. could spare. The very poor did not pay at all. With the opportuni es of work, as the middle class popula on increased, Chaderghat Although in Moosanagar, up un l the 1980’s, and Moosanagar provided both work and the land division depended mainly on mutual shelter. Therefore, more Hindus, coming from nego a ons. Generally, the type of land Nalgonda district, through contacts of their in Hyderabad typically being available has rela ves already se led in the area, came to its origins back in the me of the Nizams. live in Moosanagar. But also many Muslims, There were Jagirs (Estates) Serf e Khas coming from diff erent parts of the city, (Nizam’s private lands), Diwani (revenue

Scale: 1/4000 Hayatollah Mosque Abed Ali Khan Sadiq Ali Khan 1559-1980: se lers

255 lands), lands given in life-long possession to slum, was addressed in two phases. The various groups of the aristocracies and land fi rst was in 1985. Under the fi rst phase of as shown above for temples and mosques. the Overseas Development Programme of When Hyderabad joined the Indian Union the Bri sh Government (ODA), slums that in 1948, the state became the legal owner were no fi ed were given basic facili es of all Serf e Khas. As such the state today such as community halls, street lights, is able to grant pa as1 for this type of water connec ons, cement roads etc.. land.2 Any other type of land needed for The part of Moosanagar, built up the same purpose, should fi rst be bought. ll now, got all these facili es.

Only a er the recogni on of the whole slum (slum no fi ca on3 ), can one begin to consider the individual property rights over a par cular parcel of land. Slum no fi ca on and recogni on depends en rely on the abili es of the people who take this ma er to heart. This process can be dealt with by par es such as an NGO who want to help the residents, to a local poli cian who off ers help in return for votes. In order to offi cially receive property rights, the state grants this en tlement through the issue of the so-called “D-form pa a”. This gives the poor the right to occupy a given piece of land, but without any selling rights. This pa a can also be withdrawn at any me when the public interest demands it.

From 1980 to 1982, prac cally all residents living in Moosanagar by then (up to 169 families) received ownership tles over their land in the form of a D-form pa a thanks to Mr. Azeez Pasha, a leader of the Communist Party of India in the area (currently a member of the Upper House of the Parliament of India).

Suppor ng a communist candidate in Parliamentary elec ons has its origins in the fact (and is easily understood) that Nalgonda district had been a stronghold of the communist movement in Andhra Pradesh. The peasants of this district had ac vely par cipated in the Telangana Armed struggle of the communists against the oppressive land lords, which had been suppressed

Following the no fi ca on of the Moosanagar, the issue of open sewages present in the.

1 tenurial cer fi cate 2 ANANT MARINGANTI, ‘Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyder- abad’, 2007, Hyderabad 3 offi cially acknowledging the existence of the slum 255 PART 3 Up and un l 1982, the land along the river remained unoccupied for two reasons. One, it was privately owned and was being cul vated. Second, there used to be fl oods more o en and hence people chose to live on land that was higher. Besides, there was land s ll available to put up their huts as the popula on of the area and also the city was not so high.

The land adjacent to the river and Chaderghat Bridge, originally the property of the mosque, was allocated to Krishna a local business man, who rented it for sand mining.1 In 1982, he bought full ownership of the land and subsequently divided it into small land parcels, all of which he resold.

1 ANANT MARINGANTI, ‘Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyder- abad’, 2007, Hyderabad

Scale: 1/4000 Krishna 1982: se lers PART 4 were not registered and hence did not enter Another part of Moosanagar was owned government records nor had any legal sanc ty. by Muktar Ali Khan, a Nawab (tradi onal aristocrate) and was used for farming. This Musi river had compara vely clean water and land is situated between the water and the it was used by people living along the river for land previously owned by the temple. It goes a long me. For domes c purposes, there were on past the next slum: Vinayaka Veedhi. In some Tube wells and open wells in Moosanagar. the late 80’s and early 90’s, his son Murtaza The Municipal coopera on also supplied Ali Khan divided it up, into smaller sec ons potable water to the area in tankers. A er and sold them to diff erent people. The houses the piped water came around 1985, people seen this land today were part of this deal. generally received their supply from common taps. The new Moosanagar residents that did Although not in the possession of a pa a, the not have such facility o en bought water from people who bought these lands from Murtaza Ali the few who had private water connec ons Khan, bought them on what is called “Notary”. – eg. Laxman Rao, the son of one of the fi rst This is an agreement entered into by the owner fi ve se lers had a private water connec on of the land and the buyer, on a revenue stamp paper which was notarised by a lawyer. Based on this people built their houses although they

Scale: 1/4000 Muktar Ali Khan Murtaza Ali Khan late ‘80ies- early ‘90ies: se lers PART 5 houses on the property of Krishna. However In 1992 construc on began on the New through protests the works were halted Chaderghat Bridge (causeway) resul ng leaving the property “unfi nished” behind. in the reloca on of the aff ected people by GHMC to a piece of land from Krishna.

In addi on as part of the nego a ng process between the residents of Moosanagar and the state, roads and electricity were promised in the newer part of Moosanagar in exchange for the building of the causeway. A great deal of work was done between 1994- 95 with the help of Mr. Ranga Reddy who was elected to the Legisla ve Assembly in 1994 with support of the residents of Moosanagar.

Subsequently, the release of the Nandanavanam Project in1998 is a less successful example of the demoli on of several

Scale: 1/4000 1992: construc on of Krishna New Chaderghat bridge 1992: reloca on PART 6 Finally, one of the most striking features of Moosanagar today is the area under the Chaderghat Bridge. According to A. Maringan , this area is offi cially state property, but was gradually taken over by Pasha Pehelwan1 . As an unoffi cial power broker, he presents himself as one of the original inhabitants of the area, and decides who can live where and how much they must pay. It is said that some of the people living under Chaderghat Bridge are the ones whose houses where demolished on the adjacent area.

1 “A Pehelwan is a tradi onal instructor in body building and wrestling. In the Old City, both Hindu and Muslim Pehelwans were respected and feared fi gures of authority un l the late 1960s. Since the early 1970s, Pehelwans have become increasingly integrated into the grey economy of what is commonly referred to as ‘land grabbing’. Land grabbing involves producing documenta- on for land ownership, occupying, selling or leasing land physically and policing it when necessary. The Business of land grabbing requires the support of lawyers, poli cians, government offi cials and police” p 57 ANANT MARIN- GANTI, ‘Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyderabad’

Scale: 1/4000 State property Pasha Pehelwan

“Today we arrived at the slums around 11.30 to fi nd the Musi River fl ooded. The river was fi lled to its maximum capacity due to the opening of the Gandhipet Dam1 upstream. There were more people in the bastees than usual, maybe because of the weekend. There was also a lot more agita on. Police offi cers were on site to ensure everyone’s safety and in Moosanagar a truck was bringing up earth and branches to build a dam along the waterfront. In Rasoolpura a crane was doing the same. We met some new youngsters from Kamal Nagar to show us around. In Rasoolpura construc on workers were fi nishing a house, it seemed as if the structure was made of concrete reinforced with steel gra ng, not poured but applied. The big shed in Rasoolpura next to the bridge is part of the Hindu temple according to our guides. At around 12.30 we had lunch at the PIN offi ce. A er this we went to see how high the water had risen in Khalikabar. A large part of the wash basins and some of the houses had fl ooded. By that me we le because the atmosphere had turned nega ve. Our guide, became too pushy and several people had warned us about the bad people we were with, so we decided to go. It became very clear how planned the boundaries of these neighbourhoods are. On a regular day the green zone appears to be very spacious but now you could see how houses have been built as close to the fl ood line as possible. “

daily report , Hyderabad, 18/09/2010 Loïc & Emily 1 An alterna ve name for Osman Sagar Dam 2.I.2 MOOSANAGAR & TEMPORARY behind fl ooding. As can be seen in the MIGRATION following pictures, the water level rose un l To discover how far the changed condi ons of just under the New Chaderghat Bridge, so the Musi river contributed to the development that it s ll func oned for the heavy traffi c. of Moosanagar, it was useful to watch When the need is greater, it is easy to what happens during one of the controlled imagine that the whole bridge disappears. fl oodings as happened on 18 september 2010. Nevertheless, it would be predominantly the Musi bastees which bear the brunt and eff ects of Not forge ng the large fl ood dangers, it is fl ooding every me one of the dams goes open. mainly these “controlled” fl oodings of the Musi which more commonly aff ects a slum such as Although when we were present in Hyderabad, Moosanagar. The storage volume of Osman the water, a er a heavy downpour near Sagar and Himayat Sagar suffi ce in normal Osman Sagar, only rose un l the fi rst row circumstances. However when heavy rain of houses near the river in Moosanagar, exceeds the dams’ capacity for further infl ows, one asks what the situa on is during the there is no alterna ve than to open the fl ood gates. monsoon with more frequent rainfall.

To us, during our visit to Moosanagar on One of the most intriguing aspects of Moosanagar 18th September 2010, there was calcula on thus, is how it copes with the situa on as a fl ood

Scale: 1/4000 MIGRATION zone. Despite its expansion into a small town, we can’t forget that it is s ll situated on the banks of the Musi River; not an evident loca on.

The migra on that starts in Moosanagar each me there is par al fl ooding in the area, is to move to the PIN school. This school, built shortly a er 1994 caters for the educa on of the youngest as well as an emergency relief centre when necessary. When we study the 18th September migra on plan, we see that the fl ood line almost laps the line of houses closest to the river. We realise that the inhabitants of Moosanagar know exactly how far they can build, and they go to the limit. It is conspicuous, that although right next to the water’s edge, some of the houses show zero migra on. Looking at their terraced structure we see they have been built on top of a wall that must have existed prior to their coming. Knowing the fact that Hyderabad was one’s a walled city1 and that Chaderghat Bridge layed on the edge of this city , the 50m stretch observed, could be a le over as the wall was washed away during the 1908 fl oods. If this wall eventually was built by the inhabitants or not, it clearly acts as a dike.

Other houses near the edge unfortunately completely were surrounded by water en thus became inhabitable for a while. The inhabitants had to move further up un l the water disappeared.

The houses on the same line, but under the bridge, remained dry. A possible indica on that the ground is uneven and that the Musi does not move in so far although the bridge obviously acts as a dike as well.

1 the construc on on the wall was started by the Qutb Shahis and completed by Asaf Jah I, the fi rst The normal procedure when a dam’s fl ood gates “Having seen no rain since our arrival, I are going to be opened is to warn all the local am thinking that it is a pity that we are offi cial bodies along the Musi. A policeman goes not experiencing the situa on as it is through the streets warning the people that during the monsoon. Today, now, the the water is coming. This gives the inhabitants water is falling in bucke uls from the the me to prepare. If necessary they leave. If heavens. Not two seconds pass, and I am mechanical earthmovers from the GHMC are soaked to the skin. Big, fat drops of water. sent in to build temporary dams each me the A day passes. water rises, is not clear to us. What is apparent, The land beside Moosanagar and a part of the is that the residents are used to this, accepted slum itself is drowned under a brown, swirling as part of their life and life with the Musi. liquid mass. I am asking a small group of people close to the edge about the fl ood. The na ves are laughing. “You call this fl ood!”” Finally, we can conclude that the changed condi ons of the river Musi contributed to the development of Moosanagar. Through the absence of water, new inhabitants gradually moved closer to the edge where the water would reach when high. The banks as a found object by the poor, seeking for a place to live, created a new residen al zone within the city.

The inhabitants of Moosanagar and all the other Musi bastees therefore have given new meaning to the banks of the river. These banks have become their homes and lives. How they cope with the second condi on, namely the banks as fl ood zone, is a calculated risk by building to the very edge. When due to heavy rainfall this limit is crossed and retaken by nature, they simply accept their lot. Those that must, move belongings to higher ground, all wait, and when possible they return home and clean up.

USI WASTER WATER & Today all of these are considered as Backward 2.2 M Classes (BC). FOOD SECURITY Over the centuries, the Musi, through a network KACHIS of dams and irriga on canals has been forced When looking at the Kachis we see a diff erence to forfeit its water to local village reservoirs, in cul va on in the city from those in rural to the benefi t of fi sh breeding and sa sfac on areas. This is mainly due to three reasons; the of household and agricultural requirements. amount of land available, the quality of the When the natural fl ow of the Musi was stopped water and the proximity to urban markets. ca. 1920 by the construc on of two dams upstream of Hyderabad, controlled releases The Kachis in the urban area are mainly of water happened periodically so that the located in the Old City near Kachiguda. In a downstream uses were not disadvantaged. study conducted by the Interna onal Water Management Ins tute (IWMI), up to 250 As Hyderabad expanded with correspondingly families over an area of 100 ha in the urban increased needs for drinking water, the area, use the Musi waste water for agriculture. controlled releases became fewer. The failing Most of them are found over a distance of 5 water quan ty nevertheless had an unexpected km along the river stretching from consequence. Waste water fl ows into the river, Bridge to Amberpet Bridge. Forming a green increased through the increased water usage. belt in the overcrowded city, most of them Nowadays upstream of Hyderabad the riverbed obtained the land because of their ancestors. is dry, while in the city and downstream the Some of them received land of the Mogul ruler, river current is due to the mainly untreated Aurangjeb (A.D. 1679-1707) a Qutb shahi(?) household and industrial waste water infl ows. a er fi gh ng with the army during war in Thanks to the city’s explosive growth in the 80’s, Hyderabad. Other are said to have received the Musi no longer fl ows periodically through the land during the reign of the Nizams. infrequent water releases from the dams In Kachiguda, most of the Kachis are s ll members or the absence of monsoon season earlier. of their age old society. Even today, it s ll handles Instead, the river now turned into a perennial disputes over landownership along the Musi.1 river and fl ows incessantly – with fl uid waste. Urban area With the crea on of this new condi on, many families located along the river made Due to the availability of only long narrow use of the growing available space and stretches of land on the banks of the Musi river constant fl owing of waste water to generate in the urban area, the type of crops grown in income through diff erent means. Looking the city are infl uenced by this. The most typical along the whole stretch of the Musi, we see crops in the urban areas are Para Grass, green that as the environment changed, so did the leafy vegetables and banana and coconut palms. infl uence on its use in urban and rural areas. Para grass, with its’ 65% share of the total 2.2.I LIVELIHOODS output, takes the lion’s share in the city’s agricultural produc on. This crop is grown The type of usage is dependant on the loca on for fodder and requires li le labour. Besides of the users in rela on to the city, but also the high demand for para grass, this crop o en on their caste. There are three groups grows very well due to the composi on of (backed up by caste) using the land along and the Musi waste water. The water’s high salt the Musi river as source for their income; content is easily coped with by the grass. Kachis (cul vators), Gollas (ca le breeders) and Dhobis (tradi onal washer men).1

1 STEPHANIE BEUGHLER; GAYATHRI DEVI, ‘Household Food Security and 1 ANANT MARINGANTI, “Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyder- Wastewater-dependent Livelihood Ac vi es Along the Musi River in Andhra abad”, 2007, Hyderabad Pradesh, India’, IWMI The plan ng of palm trees and a non-fruit Waste water irriga on systems bearing variety of banana trees forms the second most common produc on. Contrary to How the Kachis land is actually irrigated by what we would think, the income from these the Musi, diff ers from city to rural areas. banana planta ons comes not from their fruits Due to sewer pipes releasing their effl uent but from their leaves which are purchased for from diff erent places into the river, changing Hindu ceremonies. Together with a 30% share, condi ons occurred along the Musi in the they with para grass occupy almost all the urban landscape. Through a shortage of sewer available urban agricultural land along the river. mains, the waste ma er some mes fl ows into the streets, con nuing further as if by accident The remaining 5% area along the Musi into the lower lying fi elds along the Musi. in the city is used for the cul va on of Arriving, the waste is collected and channelled green leafy vegetables including a (very through various parcels of land. In other places, small) share for other fruit trees and even the water is pumped directly from the river. fl owers which are used for decora on. In rural areas we usually fi nd more of a well The choice of the green leafy sort of vegetables thought out system. The water is diverted via is necessary because they grow best considering weirs or “anikuts” from a main channel on both the composi on of the Musi water. These crops sides of the river. Water from the weirs is further are planted for private use, and this saves up routed to various smaller channels. In this way, to 20% on household expenditure. Some mes there are various methods to irrigate the fi elds, they are sold to local markets if close by, and i.e.; direct irriga on via a smaller or larger also exchanged for other vegetables. However channel, direct irriga on of the fi elds close to the growing of vegetables is very work the river through pumping, irriga on of higher intensive and most cannot aff ord the me. lying fi elds via pumping through underground mains, and irriga on of fi elds through channels Rural area which bring water from the local tank. This last, being connected to one of the main channels. Looking at the produc on in rural areas, we see that para grass has almost disappeared being replaced by rice paddies. This can be done because of the availability of more land needed for the produc on of rice. In addi on, the greater distance from the city means that the water quality is be er due to the self purifying ac on of water over me, the presence of several weirs and the crea on of Waste Stabilisa on Ponds (WSP)1 downstream of the city.

1 “anaerobic diges on taking place in the reservoirs created by the weirs (WSP) might have played an important role in water quality improvement.” p74 JEROEN H. J. ENSINK et al, ‘Sewage disposal in the Musi river, India: water quality remedia on through irriga on infrastructure’, Springer Science + Busi- ness Media B.V. 2009, Hyderabad Looking at the Musi banks as used by the Kachis, we observe land benefi ts and par al treatment of sewage as results. Depending on urban or rural loca on, the changing waste water composi on and varia ons in available land brought about changes in the crops cul vated. Due to a perennial fl ow, produc on changed to year round growing but much of the produce changed to a mono culture because of the polluted water. Finally, new infl ows into the Musi of ‘water’ due to an insuffi cient sewage network in the city, brought a new way of irriga on.

Waste water irriga on in urban and rural area GOLLAS 2.2.2 ADAPTING CROPS As men oned earlier, a large quan ty of land Finally, when we look at the func oning of the is cul vated by the Kachis for para grass. Many livelihoods connected to the Musi banks as a Gollas rent this land from Kachis to serve as fl ood zone, we see that in the city area, rela ve fodder for their ca le, while the Musi itself is few problems are experienced. When an area used for bathing of the animals. In some cases is expect to fl ood, the ca le are brought to Gollas own the land themselves. The most higher ground in safety un l they can return. common animals reared by Gollas are buff aloes. The Dhobis have no problem with their large They provide a higher fat milk which yields a washbasins in the river as they are made of higher income than e.g. cow milk. According concrete and can withstand the fl ooding. The to a study of the IWMI, es mates where Kachis have another tac c. They need to choose made through the observa on of a family of crops that are fl ood resistant if they don’t six persons owning one buff alo. It was noted want to have their crop wiped out together that the men of Golla families cut the grass with their income. Para grass is coveted not themselves saving up to 67% on expenditure only because of its’ resistance to diff erent of fodder, while women and children raise and water quality condi ons. It adjusts easily to milk the herds. Selling most of the milk in the long dry periods as well as wet, including city provides them with their income while fl ooding, just as long as the water level does up to 25% is kept for their own consump on. not rise more than one meter above the land.

DHOBIS Palm trees are also suitable with their lack of branches on the trunk with leaves only near The last caste found along the Musi river are their top. Their trunks off er li le resistance Dhobis, the tradi onal washer men. Their to the fl owing water, increasing the chances washbasins are located near the river. Waste of survival. Fruit trees on the other hand are water is used while bea ng the soil out of their less suitable in fl ood zones, but most of the clothes and the river banks are used to lay trees along the Musi generate their income (bed) sheets to dry. Chaderghat1 in Hyderabad from the use of their leaves. Obviously, the was at one me a place in Hyderabad where growing of vegetables close to the fl ood zone washer men used to work. Although the is asking for trouble. However since most are Musi river now contains polluted water, grown for private use, any loss has less eff ect Dhobi Ghats are s ll found along its banks. on income and as such is a calculated risk.

In spite of what has happened, we can justly say that thanks to the Musi waste water, and the resul ng change of environment, many families now have what is called, “food security”. Not only the owners of the fi elds profi t, but also the temporary and permanent labourers, the sellers of the goods, the rickshaw drivers transpor ng the goods, the ca le breeders, the Dhobis and all the other jobs made possible through the Musi waste water. If the waste water did not exist, this would lead to extra unemployment and immigra on.

1 ‘Chader’ meaning ‘bed sheet’ and ‘ghat’ ‘stairs or passage leading down to the river’

“The bus trip was the longest we had taken in Hyderabad. The site overwhelming us with its enormity. Lots of rubble, a swirling plas c bag, silence. This was it then, Nandanavanam Colony. A large blue board at the entrance convincing us that we are in the right place. “Nandanavanam Colony (VAMBAY)- Slums proposed for rehabilita on: Teegalaguda, 96 families; Chris an Youth Associa ons, 48 families; B.C. Welfare Associa on, 37 families; East Prasant Nagar, 68 families; Chaderghat Bridge, 50 families; A.P. Secretariat Colony, 165 families; Ka elamandi, 63 families, Total: 527 families”. I am asking myself if the blue kutchas in front of the housing block are included in the numbers? Choosing an alleyway between two blocks, here we stand. Slum paradise.”

255

2.3 A HUNGER FOR 2.3.I NANDANAVANAM proposed by EPC (1998) DEVELOPMENT Besides the people looking for a place to live in Under the mo o “Beau fi ca on” a the growing open space on the Musi, and those controversial riverfront development searching for a steady job, it is not surprising project called Nandanavanam (meaning that the government also takes an interest ‘paradise’) started in 1998. Hyderabad’s in the poten al of this expanse. 800 acres of Urban Development was focussed on public- Musi land right in the city centre, is a not to be private partnerships. The crea on of space neglected poten al towards the development for elite consump on and clustered IT of Hyderabad and economic growth. developments, took fi rst place. Hyderabad’s offi cials, with their surplus of “unused” space, MUSI related programs proposed by the a racted private partners with off ers of Government only started appearing a er 1994, land in return for shares in the partnerships. coincidently a er the gran ng of pa as and slum no fi ca on had stopped . Since then, three The Nandanavanam river front development projects appeared on the horizon with the goal project encompassed the area from Puranapul of so-called preserva on and improvement of to Chaderghat Bridge over a distance of 4 the Musi. The fi rst was Nandanvanam proposed km. The project included the redesign and by consultants, namely EPC (Environmental widening of 14 roads and 16 hopelessly Planning Collabora ve, Ahmedabad) in 1998. congested intersec ons. In addi on, new The second was the Musi Proposal by Ar. STP’s and storm water drains would be built Hafeez Contractor, Mumbai, in 2005 and together with a new vision for the freed up the third is the Save Musi Campaign by the space along the Musi. Although the land along Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2006.1 the Musi was claimed by diff erent groups the government argues that technically spoken the banks of the river Musi are property of the government and therefore public space, able to be claimed by the government. To emphasis the public space concept a heritage and nature walkway was suggested along the river.

The project would be self fi nancing through a public private partnership. Therefore obviously the private partners would be en tled to some of the so called ‘public space’. Looking at the sta s cs on the 800 acres of Musi land to be developed it clear that of the 800 acres, only 100 where noted as government land. 100 acres where Assigned Lands, 50 where Inaam Lands, another 50 was land in illegal possession but the biggest group which occupied this land where Pa a lands within the river bed. Represen ng 500 acres of the total stretch it was obvious this group would suff er most from the project.

It was es mated that 1300 families along the

1 KONRAD HAGEDORN et al,‘Hyderabad as a Megacity of Tomorrow: Sustain- banks of the river Musi would be displaced able Urban Food and Health Security and Environmental Resource Manage- through the recall of state property and ment’, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2007, Hyderabad all D-form pa as. The place designated to received all these reloca on vic ms would be To the delight of many, the project fl oundered Nandanavanam Colony – 13 km outside the city. because of the retreat of funding agencies, the protests and insuffi cient offi cial state “property”. All private property along the river would The never-ending land ownership disputes now also have to be given up. On top of this, took vengeance on the state. The unexpected there were genuine fears that not only the Musi fl ash-fl ood in 2000 infl icted the fi nal river bank inhabitants would be aff ected blow. A human and material catastrophe but also many livelihoods along the banks accompanied with chaos and misery. The dreams in the urban area and villages downstream of the building promoters were smashed. who are dependant on Musi’s waste water. This fl ood on the other hand, was also Another cri cal part of the plan was to squeeze too much for some of the Musi bastees the Musi into concrete channels, supposedly residents, who then decided to move to large enough for the sporadic controlled release Nandanavanam Colony a er all. Although from the dams. This would free up space taken offi cially the Nandanavanam project was by the Musi bedding and its’ banks, for roads, cancelled, construc on on the high rise green belts, IT, recrea onal and commercial accommoda ons there, silently, s ll con nues. zones. Although this programme had the inten on of conserving the river by ge ng rid of When looking to what Nandanavanam it’s “pollu ng slums” (which is only household has brought, today we see in the Heritage sewage like any other family in Hyderabad), Zone, a nicely constructed walkway along a it was clear, this new encroachment would completely neglected strip of polluted river eff ect the river to a much greater extent. water. Also, the concrete canal is visible in some parts but a great deal got washed away Although the project originally started in in the 2000 fl oods. While the walkway points coopera on with NGO’s, it quickly became to the mistaken priori es adopted by the apparent, that if the NGO’s wanted to defend government such as “beau fi ca on” instead of the rights of the Musi bastees, the collabora on solving the problem of the Musi waste water, would have to stop. The fi rst opposi on came the remains of the concrete canal show the in the form of an an evic on campaign in idea of canalizing the river was never thought one of the Musi bastees under the name out properly from the start. With respect to “Nandanavanam bastee Parirakshana Sami ” Musi banks as a fl ood zone, the government (NBPS). Between 1998 and 2000, this later grew has clearly closed its’ eyes to this fact. into “Musi Bachao Andolan” (MBA), a pla orm grouping together environmental ac vists, Although the programme was abolished, we farmers, slum residents as well as human rights s ll see today con nuing building construc on supporters. Finally a new NGO coali on was at the Nandanvanam Colony site. While many formed under the fl ag of CHATRI – Campaign families already had been relocated in the mes for Housing and Tenurial Rights. Its’ charter is of the fi rst demoli ons along the river, it is s ll to defend residen al rights through out the city. used as a reloca on solu on for new evic ons.

255 NANDANAVANAM COLONY, as income source, are already a small part of a government housing scheme the solu on. The collected refuse is sold and recycled and then used for new products. Wondering about the exact situa on at There have also been a empts to place the site, the following study brought much refuse containers but generally a recycling clarifi ca on. Most of the households present mentality is inexistent with Hyderabad’s in Nandanavanam Colony were relocated residents. Rubbish is always thrown on from the Core City area, i.e., Musarambag the ground or dumped in another place. near the Musi river, Uppal, Champapet, Ajumpur, Chanderghat, Ramtanpuram, and Technically spoken the structural condi on Pedda Ko apalli. The average household of the house would have improved for number is 4 – 5 members. The majority most families. All the houses have 2 rooms Hindu (80%) and 50% is scheduled caste. with separate kitchen. Nearly 66% of the surveyed households formerly lived in one- It was 2004 before people started moving room units. Nevertheless 2006 sta s cs into Nandanavanam Colony. It is important to showed that, two years a er the colony was note though, that the demoli ons due to the so-called fi nished, (it is s ll being enlarged Nandanavanam project had started in 1998. today), out of 96 houses only 30 were lived in. With the opening of the site in 2004 the colony s ll did not have basic facili es of electricity, water connec on and drainage. In addi on the colony was a long way away from the city. There was no public transport which caused a huge problem to all slum dwellers who obviously didn’t own a car. It need not be said, that this situa on was completely unacceptable.

Offi cials promised to put up permanent facili es once all the houses were occupied. However the lack of basic services and its’ distance to the city, only served to lengthen the me to convince people this was a good place. Eventually the programme of Nandanavanam Colony was shi ed into the VAMBAY housing scheme. A new name, although s ll really the same project.

Finally, in Nandanvanam Colony today (2010 as per the report), individual supply of water now covers 90% of the surveyed households. Before VAMBAY almost 66% of the households did not individual water connec ons. According to the VAMBAY scheme 100% is to have access to private toilets. Previously for almost 65% this was not the case. Sewerage line connec on and storm water drainage now is found throughout the se lement, although the process has been very slow.

Presently there is s ll no waste management provided. Although a thorny ques on in Hyderabad, informal sectors such as rag picking Even though the long delay in comple ng to move in because their house was demolished basic ameni es was important, the increase and they have no other choice. These people in overall household expenses would have are living in kutchas on the Nandanavanam site played the greatest role. In Nandanavanm wai ng to get approval to move in, although the study reveals that households have an the units are supposed to be complete. increased total expense of 33%. Transporta on is seen to have increased bt 47%. Due to its’ During our visit to Nandanavanam Colony it distance from the city, 55% of the surveyed was apparent that many housing blocks were households have reported that they have to completely empty. Much of the area around travel anywhere between 5 to 10 km for their these blocks was taken by homeless and their jobs. It was also noted the expenditure on kutchas. Although the State probably doesn’t food, educa on, medical needs and electricity give permission to live in the blocks un l all had increased because of its’ loca on. ameni es are completed, it is ridiculous that they stand directly in view of hundreds of families Excluding the households who refused to in kutchas. Surely they would prefer to live in a move to their VAMBAY housing because of its concrete house without ameni es than outside remoteness and in an area not served well by in a tent without the same ameni es? However public transport, many others are s ll wai ng we no ce that over the years the buildings have started to fi ll, and with a bus passing every half hour the liveability of the site is increasing. Nevertheless, it is mainly new immigrants who come here to live. With the goal of star ng up a new life they are apparently capable of buying a unit from the State or from a previous owner.

For the people who were forced to come here through evic on, the situa on is diff erent. A job is the most crucial aspect of the slum dwellers life. Jobs are never exchanged or le unless no alterna ve is possible. The result for the relocated families is that to keep their jobs in the city, they must spend very high amounts on transporta on. This cost is o en not sustainable and so they return to the city. Back to the place where they lived, but now without a house.

2.3.2 PROPOSAL by Ar. Hafeez Contractor Mumbai(2005)

This project was comprised of 2 areas. Just as with Nandanavanam there was the Heritage Precinct from High Court to Salarjung Museum (1,5 km long) but this me also a Garden Zone from Amberpet to Nagol Ring road bridge (2 km long)

The la er contained again IT parks, housing and commercial spaces. To fi nance the project the river bedding would be reshaped so that space would become available for commercial development. Obvious that this scheme varied li le with Nandanavanam, it also failed because of the many private parcels of land needed to be expropriated and the consequences on so many along the Musi.

255 2.3.3 SAVE MUSI CAMPAIGN On each side of the Musi river an East – Government of Andhra Pradesh (2006) West corridor would be implemented, connec ng the two na onal highways in the The Save Musi Project, introduced by GoAP centre of Hyderabad providing relief to the in 2006 tried (strategically) to place more nerve-racking congested Inner Ring Road. emphasis on the ecological improvement of the river. The name choice, “Save Musi” was Enclosing the Core City area, this 56 km long the fi rst step. This me the venture contained Inner Ring Road (IRR) hopes to facilitate three overlapping areas. With again the quick travel to and from several areas in the presence of the Heritage Precinct but with city. Ensuring signal-free traffi c movement, an addi onal Ecological and Metropolitan increasing road width, junc on improvements Precinct. The areas reached from Tippukhan and cross drainage works outside the Charminar Bridge to Puranapul (7 km), and Chaderghat buff er zone, would allow smaller vehicles (4 km), to Nagole Ring road Bridge (8 km) to circumvent the historic monument area.

To sa sfy the Ecological aim, the plan included Encompassing almost all developed area, the new sewerage lines to block the fl ow of Outer Ring Road (ORR) forms a peripheral, waste water into the Musi. In addi on four urban belt zone. Forming a 159 km con nuous new STP’s were foreseen with Na onal loop, the ORR connects Patancheru (NW)- River Conserva on Plan (NRCP) funding. Shamshabad (S)- Hayathnagar (E)- Medchal These would treat 130 Million Gallons Day Patancheru (NE) providing connec vity to (592 Million Litre Day) along the river in: various State Highway and Na onal Highways, A apur, Amberpet, Nallacheruvu & Nagole. to by-pass the city of Hyderabad. Finally, to

Although the ideas were creditable, the state saw no alterna ve again than to off er private enterprise land along the river in return for fi nancing the works. It goes without saying that Musi bastees would have to be cleared in order for the Metropolitan area they expected, to be able to exist. With the fast diminishing possibili es of fi nding available land close to the historical centre of the city, this land was much prized by the poten al private partners.

The most a rac ve aspect seen in this project for both the sectors wan ng to set up business along the Musi as well as the State with its’ priority on development, was the crea on of new roads, just as it was with Nanadanavanam.

255 connect the Core City area with the outer the problem. Since the emergence of the development areas, radia ng roads ensure slums has blocked the East-West corridor, linkage between Inner and Outer Ring Roads . the State now wants to reclaim this land.

Unfortunately the high capacity radial network in the hinterland overburdens the low capacity carriageway in the Core City area being unable to accept the infl ux of fl ows. Due to absence of convenient by-pass roads, explosive growth of surrounding suburbs and the rise of economic ac vity in the Core area, traffi c is being funnelled through exis ng corridors crea ng major traffi c bo le necks (e.g. East-West fl ows). The East-West Corridors, planned by GoaP would help in solving this problem.

The whole SMC was projected to fi nish in 18 months.

2010 MASTER PLAN

The building of the so-called “80 foot wide roads” (24 m.) planned in the SMC is confi rmed in the present Master Plan for Core City area.

Now, six years a er the start of SMC, there is s ll li le evidence of progress. Asking the locals why things aren’t moving, it seems that money again is the problem. During our stay in Hyderabad, we no ced construc on of a small sec on of the East-West road, on the south bank of the river at Malakpet. Looking at Google Earth imagery, it is striking to see the confronta on between the bas of Wahed Nagar in the West, the state’s highway in the middle and Abdel Nagar in the East. Again, observing the direct confronta on of the two opponents one feels it is only a ques on of me before both bastees will be demolished. This is the con nual threat that hangs above all the bas residents heads.

Looking at the situa on along the river, one sees that a great deal of the East-West corridor is already present in the guise of earlier built roads. Although many will have to be widened, the sec ons “where roads, which were constructed on uninhabited land parallel to the river, later branched away in another direc on” form TO CONCLUDE... Although the Musi slums do not endanger city, it is more a ques on of what happens when the Musi banks are completely urbanised, As in the mes of the rising industrialisa on of because the Musi is one of the last and largest the city, the popula on growth and associated storm water drain for the city, although increase in residen al zones together with greatly reduced in its present condi on. the change in livelihood ac vi es, brought about changes in condi ons along the The all powerful pressure of developers and Musi. The la er also infl uenced the former. offi cials keen to use land occupied by others less fortunate for “more noble goals” seems Whereas the livelihood ac vi es of slum unstoppable. The city’s hunger for bulldozing dwellers have rela vely li le eff ect on the city, slums and replacing these encroachments except for their posi ve economic contribu on, with new roads, IT and commercial estates this cannot be said about the offi cial residen al cannot be called “improvement” in human zones along the Musi. Nor can it be said for terms, especially in the light of li le or residen al areas such as around Masab Tank no compensa on or valid alterna ves. and many others which are (or did in the past) dangerously encroaching on important water When such “removal” plans are made, much bodies. Presuming lessons from the past would greater emphasis needs to be placed on real be heeded, it is then understandable that a ban alterna ves for the loss of livelihoods which on building on the banks of the Musi would are usually directly linked to the inhabitants be implemented. However, it is ques onable locality. Grand housing schemes which whether all the present residents of these relocate slum dwellers many kilometres same banks should be moved. The Musi away from their previous home usually dwellers did just as the inhabitants around eliminates their previous source of income. Masab Tank for example have done, fi nd a place Projects such as Nandanavanam and its Colony to live, and the la er are not forced to move. are considered by many to be blatant scandals. Others which have been be er prepared show So it seems that in the future, low-lying great defi ciencies in their implementa on. fl ood prone areas should be off limits to residen al uses. This can only happen Even if Hyderabad means well for its’ when there are suitable alterna ves for the popula on, it needs to place much greater people who want to go there. Alterna ves emphasis on the control and proper execu on that are not there now. One must not forget of well balanced plans which are vital to that the inhabitants of the Musi banks did the improvement of living condi ons of not go there willingly, they had no choice. hundred of thousands of its’ residents.

Assuming that changes need to be made to eliminate the fl ooding risk to the popula on, the offi cial residen al zones and slums along the Musi must be treated in the same light. Now city offi cials speak with two tongues. One says, channels must be built to take fl oodwater away from the offi cial residen al zones to the storm drains “because it is too late to move these residences”. The other says, that slums near the river must be removed “before it is too late” to save them from fl ooding. III. MKK^E'Z^^

II

III. MOOSANAGAR SPECIAL SLUM ZONE

3.I HOUSING SCHEMES, A HISTOY OF TRIAL AND ERROR 3.I.I MOOSANAGAR STRUCTURAL COMPARISON

3.2 HOUSING BACKLOGS 3.2.2 HOUSING BACK LOG OF AP HOUSINGSCHEMES

3.3 SLUM IMPROVEMENT, ANALYSIS 3.I.3 MOOSANAGAR HOUSING BACK LOG 3.3.I SPECIAL SLUM ZONE 3.1 HOUSING SCHEMES, A HISTOY OF TRIAL AND ERROR

When we look at the sta s cs in the 2010 Master Plan for Core City area (men oned in Chapter 1), no one will disagree that a huge housing problem exists. Besides food and clothing, housing is a primordial need. As explained in the previous chapter, the exploding popula on with its’ inexorable pressure for housing means every single piece of vacant land is under stress. Looking at satellite images, one recognises the appearance of a slum immediately through The fi rst a empts at housing projects came the dense structure and absence of design. A from the Hyderabad’s City Improvement Board jumbled heap of diverse materials, it marks (CIB) a er the fl oods of 1908. This organisa on itself as a separate area fl anked by straight roads became responsible for planning and city and residen al areas forming their own iden ty. improvement. Between 1912 – 1956 the CIB ins gated 19 slum clearance projects. Eight When in Hyderabad, the most conspicuous new residen al colonies were built, with 5,000 aspect of the slums are the miserable housing units for middle and low class income housing construc ons and their eye-catching groups. Similarly, the Town Improvement Trust loca ons in the middle of all the chaos. Many (TIT) was set up in Secunderabad. TIT provided are striking by their posi on along bodies 12,000 residences between 1931 – 1950.1 of water so making their poor inhabitants easily visible. As such the slums in Hyderabad It was only around 1950 a er independence, became its physical proof of urban poverty. (and with a decadal growth rate of 42,5% in the Core City area of Hyderabad) that the To get an idea of how various groups in State Governments in India began to realise Hyderabad deal with the urban poor, a worth that they needed to take the responsibility while star ng point is the policy varia ons for housing their popula on more seriously. from “slum clearance” to “slum improvement” The fi rst Five Year Plan was ins gated to everything in between. Besides their whereby emphasis was placed on aff ordable “dense structure” and “absence of design” and acceptable accommoda on for the it is becoming more common to see grids poor. Their houses were fi rst demolished, appearing (visible from aerial pictures) formed to replace them with brand new models. by housing blocks seemingly dumped in their middle for the benefi t of the slum dwellers. A er the State of Andhra Pradesh was formed Some, evidently think this is the solu on for in 1956, the slums were subjected to the the mass housing shortages. But does this idea Andhra Pradesh Slum Area Act. S ll in force work? Is the housing shortage problem thus today, it allows the State to declare any low- wiped from the table, or is it just a handful of lying, disease-prone or congested area to ramshackle houses that are wiped from sight? be declared a slum. If the slum is offi cially accepted as such, it becomes a “no fi ed” slum. In the following, “slum clearance” is weighed against “slum improvement” following the The legal process of no fi ca on starts with evolu on towards the latest housing schemes. the publica on of the no fi ca on in an

1 UMESH VARMA,‘Urban Poor and Housing – Reformed out of the system. Experience of Hyderabad’, 2008, Hyderabad offi cial newspaper. Subsequently objec ons instead of the large scale reloca on prac ced are considered. In the case of refusal, with the former years of “slum clearance”. the inhabitants have the ‘right’ (meaning However even though par cipa on and obliga on) to reloca on. Reloca on is never local engagement was strongly s mulated, freely accepted because o en there is the need for external fi nancing remained. insuffi cient alterna ve accommoda on or it has an inferior loca on. In the case where the The fi rst new scheme with the “slum present site is accepted, all the inhabitants gain improvement” stamp was the ‘Bastee se lement rights in the form of the D-form pa a Improvement Scheme’ in Kolkata . This was also previously discussed. This was one of the most the start of the Environmental Improvement important steps in improving one’s situa on. of Slum Scheme. The most important goal was the provision for minimal ameni es which Where the land belongs to the State the were important for the inhabitants and their process is simple. In the case where the land environmental condi ons. In spite of promising is privately owned, the State must fi rst buy it. prospects, the result was not sa sfactory. This whole procedure including the purchase This was caused when the installed facili es of land forms a prickly issue so that many were insuffi cient or of poor quality. Other say the State prefers the slum to disappear. factors were a complete lack of coopera on by the local people and the lack of necessary In 1960, the CIB and TIT fused into A.P. Housing maintenance later on. Again it was seen that the Board. From then on, it was responsible subsidies and works were seen more as short together with the Hyderabad Urban term fi nancial expenditures with insuffi cient Development Authority (present day HMDA) importance on real long term improvements. for housing the urban poor in Hyderabad. The Housing and Urban Development Several varia ons of Five Year Plans followed Corpora on (HUDCO) , established in 1970, in search of the best solu ons. With was supposed to bring change to this situa on. the increase in no fi ed slums and their This techno-fi nancing State organisa on was popula ons, it became clear the con nued responsible for the task of contrac ng and use of industrialised building systems was not fi nancing housing and city development possible. According to the 2010 Master Plan for projects. Its’ prime focus was to include Core City area, the number of no fi ed slums the weaker and low income groups. The more than doubled from 106 to 282 from 1962 HUDCO introduced the ins tu onalised in only 10 years. Even a er changing over to housing fi nance schemes in India. the use of na ve building materials, the fi nal conclusion was that the cost per public housing The fi nancing system as it exists in India today, unit was s ll too high for the people they were is comprised of the formal as well as informal intended for. This prompted the State to look sector. The formal sector is supplied with for subsidy alterna ves. This however limited budgets allocated by the Central State, fi nancial the housing programs in rela on to the poors’ ins tu ons such as Na onal Housing Bank of real necessi es and needs. Complica ng India (NHB), Housing Development Finance ma ers further, poor implementa on Corpora on (HDFC), etc. The informal sector meant that subsidy money was some mes fi nances through sale or mortgages of property, diverted to groups economically be er off . borrowing from friends and rela ves etc.

In 1970, a new fundamental idea was Nevertheless, following an example given by introduced into the housing programs. This me Varghese Teckanath in his Housing for the emphasis was placed on “slum improvement” urban poor , it is easy to understand that the poor will keep seeking help from the informal However, watching the model example of sector in spite of the existence of the formal UCDP, others followed suit such as Hyderabad fi nance system. With the HDFC demands for a Slum Improvement Project, Urban Basic detailed tle of land sale, building permission Services for the Poor (UBSP) over whole India in from the local authority and at least 25% personal contribu on to the unit cost, the 1992 and Environmental Improvement of Urban poor are eff ec vely cut off . Even though it is Slums all with the goal of slum no fi ca on. impossible for slum dwellers to get approval of the local authority to build on the land occupied Hyderabad Slum Improvement Project was by them illegally, in Hyderabad up to 80% of a project origina ng in the UK. Its’ Overseas the housing construc ons are illegal. This Development Agency (ODA) was responsible again serves to highlight the housing problem. for a con nual increase in the no fi ca on of slums in Hyderabad. When we look at the In 1979, another shi in responsibility came 2010 Master Plan for Core City area we see about with the establishment of the Andhra that between 1872 -1981 the number of Pradesh State Housing Corpora on Limited no fi ed slums rose from 282 to 470. To fi nance (APSHCL) which would take over the diffi cult this process, funds were used from UCDP. task of the A.P. Housing Board en HUDA. In An addi onal reason for the increase in spite of the con nuing fi nancial diffi cul es no fi ca on was probably the Urban Land and implementa on problems, it cannot be Ceiling Regula on Act (ULCRA) in 1976. denied that over the years many and various This placed a limit on the area of land an program were introduced with the goal individual residing in the urban area could of benefi ng the lot of the slum dwellers. own. In the case of Hyderabad was this 1,000 sq.yds (+/- 840m²). This introduced the The Environmental Improvement of Slum prospect that great areas of land which were Scheme, in Hyderabad Municipal Corpora on originally owned by noble families or other (today Core City area) morphed into the classes, could be expropriated by the State. Urban Community Development Programme (UCDP). The underlying idea was that “Any Without considering the reasons for the neighbourhood, now ma er how poor, can do encroachment, it is completely understandable something to improve itself by its own eff orts. that people se ling in an area through the Any approach for outside help should be take over of land without permission and resorted to only a er it has exhausted its own later even gaining the property rights, was resources fully” The idea was that pa as would and is for many, a completely unacceptable be issued to the inhabitants so that a ground situa on. Nevertheless, in Hyderabad this is plan could be developed by the community and commonplace in no small part due to the clear eventually units could be built where necessary. lack of respect of someone else’s property However pa as were only delivered to people and the State’s unwillingness to uphold residing on government land. UCDP issued the law. The surrounding neighbourhoods loans to the inhabitants for low cost materials (usually implying a higher caste) fi nd this for their construc on. According to Housing for situa on completely unjust. But, it is in the the Urban Poor, between 1981-1987 up to 60% light of this caste diff erence that we need of all the planned houses in the colonies where to look further than just the fact of who constructed this way. In spite of good results on actually owns the land. When understanding the small scale, the poor kept encroaching and this system (as an outsider, probably never li le change was noted in the bigger picture. completely understood) it becomes clear the The never ending infl ux of poor immigrants land subdivision from the start was not fair. constantly overwhelmed any progress made. Obviously the classes with the land were not development of new city areas and Special going to let this State land expropria on happen Economic Zones (SEZ) where the houses would be without fi gh ng back. Accordingly, Urban Poor made. Since this new city development program and Housing noted that techniques were used however, slum evic on is again prominent. to register the land in names of proxy persons, joint proper es were sub-divided into numerous In addi on, in 2008 the Urban Land Ceiling units, mul ple registra ons in the name of same Regula on Act was annulled whereby the person, which, could not be checked due to an original land owners demanded back their land. outdated system of land registra on and so on. The fact that two thirds of the slums are located on private land makes the magnitude of the In the end funding was stopped by UCDP by slum dwellers problem clear. Everything that means of the no fi ca on of slums. The last they had managed to achieve in improvements slum no fi ca on dates from 1994. The power risks to be lost. Lost for the inhabitants to no fy was transferred to the Revenue of the Musi banks, lost for Moosanagar… Department, but the absence speaks for itself. In the mean me, from the early 90’s according to A. Maringan , a group of prominent English speaking middle class played an important role in the lives of urban poor through the ins tu onal form of an NGO. Voluntary work was already known in Hyderabad before 1990, but these NGOs developed target- oriented projects based on surveys, organized thri groups and engaged policy advocacy to shape government projects and programs.

In 1996, the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) began to run parallel with UBSP. Valmiki Ambedkar Awaas Yojana (VAMBAY), a public housing programme for the Economically Weaker Sec ons (EWS) and Low Income Groups (LIG) in 2001 became incorporated under these two.

In 2005, the Na onal Government came on stage with the fi rst urban development program named Jawaharlal Nehru Na onal Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Although this was s ll a sub-goal of UBSP, the Na onal Urban Housing and Habitat Policy (NUHHP) saw the light of day. The goal of this policy was the provision of aff ordable housing for everyone, and to the increase the supply, private sector developers were brought in. Inside this Public Private Partnership, there was strong accent placed on the responsibility of the Private sector to house the urban poor. The State carried the accountability for the 3.I.I MOOSANAGAR STRUCTURAL COMPARISON

“When I fi rst walked through Moosanagar I was overcome by disappointment. An inappropriate word to describe that I expected to be confronted by something much worse. Collapsed buildings, crying under-nourished children, pleading beggars, absolute chaos and misery; I saw nothing of. Descending from Chaderghat Bridge, we strolled into the slum past deligh ully painted, small houses. Li le girls giggling a gree ng (I guessed because we were white) to our guide Jeevan1 . A motorized rickshaw passed, determinedly puffi ng its way to climb the narrow path we just le . Everywhere small groups of people cha ng, a woman washing. I remember asking myself when we would see the poor people and how on earth that rickshaw got there? A li le earlier, up on the bridge, Jeevan cheerfully hailed a man on his scooter. The rider was impeccably dressed in a fl owing white robe and white hat. A hint of makeup under his eyes. They conversed in Telugu and the man greeted us. A friend, we thought. Jeevan said he was the bas leader of Moosanagar.”

1 co-founder of CHATRI

ZONE I NSSO, pucca construc ons make up 77% of The First Zone with its centrally posi oned all housing types in the urban area in India. Hindu temple, the presence of a Mosque 3% is “kutcha”, the third housing type. and cemetery, the PIN school, shops and community centres has everything of a small Pucca dwellings in Moosanagar form the town. Along the paved roads, electricity poles overwhelming majority of housing in the pass on their lines, a water tank here and there. slum. The pucca structure comprises the walls and roof made from so-called pucca material. Colourfully painted houses close in on the Cement, fi red bricks, stone, concrete, iron, zinc roads, the so-called “pucca” houses. A pucca or other metal shee ng, wood and asbestos- construc on is one of the three housing cement roofi ng are just some examples. The classes used amongst others by India’s fl oor of a pucca house, will, according to the Na onal Sample Survey Organisa on (NSSO)1 quality the family can aff ord, be fi nished (or and the Census of India. According to the not) with stone pavers or concrete. The walls, Another 20% is considered as “semi-pucca”, usually built with bricks, are strengthened the second housing type class. The remaining on the outside with steel or wire ne ng incorporated in a layer of cement. O en 1 The Na onal Sample Survey (NSS), ini ated in the year 1950, is a na on- wide, large-scale, con nuous survey opera on conducted in the form of the inside is also cemented. The whole is successive rounds. The NSS was reorganized and all aspects of its work were brought under a single Government organiza on, namely the Na onal Sample fi nished with a layer of paint and decora on. Survey Organiza on (NSSO)

Scale: 1/1500 Zone I: Pucca zone It is the roof which is primarily the weak point. An impermeable roof is a luxury. Generally metal or asbestos-cement shee ng are cemented onto the top of the walls. Placed on top of these, posters, cloth, plas c shee ng and the like are held down by loose stones, slate, res or wood to keep the underlying shee ng in place. The be er puccas have a concrete roof that doubles as a terrace, but usually only used by children playing. O en in the corners of the buildings, reinforcing bars s ck up in the air wai ng for a second storey to be added. This phenomenon is typical for the whole of Hyderabad.

One systema cally recognises the puccas in Moosanagar through their commonly square form, o en internally divided into several small spaces. Flanked by planned roads, these buildings, ranging from one to several rooms with an inside courtyard and toilet, comprise the be er houses in Moosanagar. ZONE II them in the landscape with their typical wooden A Second Zone in Moosanagar is delineated frame structure covered with (blue) plas c, by the presence of open space where the fabric, mud, grass and leaves, all lashed together. roads cease to exist. In the open space, on Although at the moment in Moosanagar only the right side of Chaderghat Bridge, we see one of these tent dwellings exists, there are a few semi-puccas on the water’s edge. One many other sites comprised of only of these kutcha and a couple of free standing puccas ghtly packed primi ve huts. Abdel Nagar and spread over this space catch the eye. This the slum on the other side of the river, opposite fragmented spot in Moosanagar dis nguishes Khalikabar form a typical se ng along the itself through an apparent lack of “planning”. Musi. The solitary kutcha in Moosanagar sets Whereas the houses in the pucca zone form itself off from the other construc ons due to a structured terrace along the street, these its typical appearance. However, its dilapidated abodes are seemingly just plopped down. Each state becomes no longer noteworthy when solitary, and fully exposed in every direc on. the eye wanders to the adjoining semi-puccas.

A kutcha diff ers from the other housing classes A structure which doesn’t fi t the descrip on by its structure. In spite of the fact this shelter in of kutcha, nor pucca is classed as semi-pucca. principal, has walls and a roof, these are made Generally speaking, they have more rigid from non-pucca material. One can easily spot walls (mostly mud bricks) than just tent-like

Scale: 1/1500 Zone II: Semi-Pucca, Pucca Zone fabric, but s ll the all-present plas c shee ng or similar as roof. The semi-puccas, fl anked by the kutcha in the second zone, form a terraced row just like the pucca zone. This illustrates the saying that semi-puccas are the stepping stone from kutcha to pucca. ZONE III The semi-puccas at the water’s edge form a When we systema cally look at the layout long chain into the semi-puccas under the underneath the bridge, it becomes apparent bridge - Zone Three. This area, straddled by that human logic dictates that one wall the Chaderghat Bridge vaults over the western be formed by a bridge pylon to limit the part of Moosanagar. This zone forms the border cost of building material. Thus two rows of between Moosanagar and Kamal Nagar, the houses and a public pathway in between adjoining slum. Even though the Musi bastees come into being under each vault, physically including Moosanagar, form one long stretch joining Moosanagar and Kamal Nagar. along the river, bridges, roads and open spaces are convenient ways to delineate one’s bas . The horizontal circula on between the two Something the slum residents obviously think is slums is also apparent in the ver cal plane in important. Using the bridge and its suppor ng the both sectors. When Chaderghat Bridge structure as wall and/or roof, “encroachment” was enlarged in 1970 , an extra road sec on , reaches its’ peak. This zone is witness to vaulted over Moosanagar on the East of the the inhabitants’ enormous resourcefulness exis ng row of pylons. This new situa on in achieving maximum living space with was thankfully used by hundreds of people as li le as possible addi onal material. for addi onal accommoda on under the full length of the new segment. One now sees paths

Scale: 1/1500 Zone III: Semi-Pucca Bridge zone along the full span of the Chaderghat Bridge serving the houses underneath. Although the “Si ng under Chaderghat Bridge in the bridge’s deck subs tutes the roof for many of home of one of the families, I am wai ng the underlying residences, we no ce several for the tea the beau ful lady opposite me beginning to build their own roofs, real me has sent for through the services of a child. evidence of the transi on from semi-pucca to Normally (although I am asking myself how pucca before our eyes. Complaints of dripping normal this is when I am not there), tea is water, mosquitoes and noise from neighbours bought in one of the hotels on the other mo vate these owners to home improvement. side of Chaderghat Road. Holding another child on her side, her eyes shine proudly because she is receiving me. Momentarily distracted, my eyes are following the black, blistered wall beside me upwards as it vaults over us and becomes arch 2, (as I defi ne it) of Chaderghat Bridge. On my instruc ons, my translator for the day Praveen , is trying to start a conversa on with the lady. She is speaking about her husband and the fact that she would like to learn English one day. Overwhelmed by her beauty, my mind is wondering. When this beau ful lady is walking on the street with her colourful dress and jangling bangles who would ever think she lives in a slum? In the mean me I know her speech, bare feet, clothing fabric and the fact that she probably never takes a motorised rickshaw, quickly betray her. The minutes passing, my respect for these humble construc ons is being replaced by feelings of uneasiness. Humidity, acrid cooking fi re smoke, countless mosquito bites; all besieging me. Figh ng the impulse to leave, I am pitying myself that I’m not wearing closed shoes and that I forgot the Odomos .”

OUSING BACKLOGS This is evidenced by Nandanavanam Project 3.2 H (VAMBAY) and the proposals from Save Musi Campaign and further with the 2010 Master 3.I.2 HOUSING BACK LOG OF AP Plan for Core City area. But how much do HOUSINGSCHEMES these housing reloca ons projects achieve? How many houses have been built over the Hyderabad and AP State Governments have years and what is the housing backlog today? a lengthy history of urban improvement What is rate of building necessary to programmes over the years: Slum Clearance eliminate homeless and slum dwellers by Scheme, Slum Improvement Programme, 2021 as the latest census of India reveals? Environmental Improvement of Slum Scheme, the Urban Community Development Programme, Sta s cs from the 2010 Master Plan Hyderabad Slum Improvement Project , for Core City area, show the following : Urban Basic services for the poor, Na onal Slum Development Programme, VAMBAY, etc. According to the 2001 Census of India, Hyderabad counted 6,16 lakh occupied Today, for what concerns the Musi Bastees, residen al houses. The number of households the policy of slum clearance with reloca on as however was es mated at 6,52 lakh. Thus a inevitable consequence has the upper hand. housing gap of 0,36 lakh or 36 000 homeless households. Looking more carefully at the of 21813 this is a drop in the ocean with the fi gures, it becomes clear the homeless Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corpora on households were already present in Hyderabad Limited only delivering 7,7% of the need. in large numbers in 1971. Previously at 69000 the number has dropped however to 36000 in 2001. When we want to see how this approach has aff ected Moosanagar today, then we need To es mate how many of these 36000 have Kutcha fi gures from the past. The discussion on found a roof above their heads in the mean me, evolu on in chapter 2 remains however vague we need to defi ne which families Hyderabad for the type of construc ons and when they were defi nes as “homeless”. According to the 2010 present. As such, the descrip on on Moosanagar Master Plan for Core City area all Kutcha from M.A Khadir wri en in 1994, is useful. construc ons are seen as inadequate housing for the poor. As such, all Kutcha inhabitants need to be included in the Housing Backlog.

De structural housing condi on of 2001 in Hyderabad was approximately as the NSSO described over whole India. It was observed that 71,01% pucca is with RCC (reinforced cement concrete) roof and fl ooring, 16,60% is pucca with kutcha fl oor, 2,36% is Semi Pucca and fi nally 10,02% was found to be kutcha.

Thus, it was determined that 89,98% of the houses in Hyderabad were structurally acceptable but that the remaining 10,02% or 61670 residences needed to be added to the housing backlog. In addi on, the 2010 Master Plan for Core City area cites that the number of houses that will be demolished as a result of road- and other development is es mated to be 5% of the total housing stock; that is 30800 homes.

Totalling up, the shortage of units needed: 36000 homeless plus 61670 bad construc ons plus 30800 demoli ons due to development which all adds up to 128470 units. Based on the calcula ons made in the 2010 Master Plan, an addi onal need through natural popula on increase will be generated by 2021 of another 307800 units. So the total number of units that need to be built by 2021 is 436270 homes, or a yearly average of 21813. It is the unenviable task of the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corpora on Limited to meet this goal.

From fi gures out of the 2010 Master Plan we see that between 2001 and 2006 a total of 8364 housing units were built. Converted to yearly averages, this amounts to 1672 houses. Compared with the projected yearly need “The slum is situated adjacent to Chaderghat Bridge in Malakpet. The slum appears to be in existence for about 20 years. There are about 150 families in the slum. Main occupa on of the people is pe y business and daily wage earning. There are 3 pucca houses, though most of them are semi-kutcha and kutcha. It is a low lying area and the slum slopes towards the river Musi. Due to absence of proper drainage system, waste water fl ows into the Musi par cularly during monsoon season leading to confl ict between the residents of the slum. During monsoon water even enters the houses. There are no proper roads and the people use the lanes between the houses as roads. By- lanes are not paved and the pedestrians cannot walk in the slum during rainy season. Garbage is being dumped in the by-lanes and open places. Due to improper garbage disposal system, unhygienic condi ons exist in the slum. There are no sewerage drains and community latrines. There is scarcity of water supply as there are few public taps. Dwellers, some of them, also collect water from neighbouring areas. Most of the dwellers have laid own pipe lines to allow the waste water to fl ow on to the streets where again it stagnates crea ng unhygienic condi on.”

M.A Khadir 1994

“I remember when I went there in 1990, there were only two RCC houses and one RCC community hall. The houses were that of Yadiah (who worked in the Municipal coopera on and lives opposite to the Community Hall), and Ram Chander (neighbour of Ashfaq Bhai and also worked in MCH). All the others were huts or houses that were asbestos roofed.”

Varghese Teckanath 255 Depar ng with the informa on that M.A. Khadir from Moosanagar today would s ll be homeless cites, in 1994, 150 families lived in Moosanagar or at the most in possession of a kutcha. and that three lived in a pucca, with the rest in semi pucca and kutcha. Presuming these last Examining all the previous sta s cs of Housing two types were equally represented, this results schemes in Hyderabad and their results for a in 3 puccas, 73 semi puccas and 74 kutchas. slum as Moosanagar; looking at the number of housing schemes per year built by the Andhra Although some may debate the informa on Pradesh State Housing Corpora on Limited; it is given by M.A Khadir is en rely correct – the clear that an unrealis c strategy is being followed evolu on of Moosangar in the previous chapter when the results are compared with the need. stated that by 1982 there were already 169 With many decades and ini a ves past, the families. Credibility is added to Khadir’s fi gures State is clearly incapable of fulfi lling the task. by the evidence of Br. Varghese Teckanath; But what is the solu on? A be er management, Depending on the state of these asbestos roofed again a new policy? Or is the problem just too houses they could be counted for as pucca or big to resolve? Can the PPP’s, as the State semi-pucca. The State would fi nd it necessary now promotes, save the poor? Should slum to replace the 74 kutchas, and if we con nue clearance just be con nued and hope that the this train of thought, it makes no diff erence if private sector will succeed in diminishing the the others were semi pucca or already pucca. housing backlog? Are there other alterna ves?

In the mean me we know that here also, 4,25 % Just maybe, the solu on is no further than of the total housing stock should be added to the Moosanagar where now 99% of the households backlog to cover the demoli ons. This equates have pucca and semi-pucca with more as basic to +/- 6 extra houses. We know the housing ameni es including electricity. Seeing this, there growth un l 2011 was 222 houses, reached by is no alterna ve than to believe that the urban the subtrac on of the 150 previous from the poor, with help for infrastructure, are completely 372 present now. Thus the Andhra Pradesh capable of improving themselves – over me. State Housing Corpora on Limited according to its own rules would need to foresee 302 houses up to 2011 or; 17,76 houses per year.

With the previous fi gures used for the calcula on of the Housing Back Log over the whole of Hyderabad, is was evident that it fulfi lled only 7,67% of the need. Reasoning further, from the projected 302 needed since 1994 only 23 would have received a new home now. But what is more important, is that when we depart from the pure Rehousing Scheme model whereby a er 1994 no further self improvement is realised, 273 slum households 3.3 SLUM IMPROVEMENT, ANALYSIS

When we place the previous two Case Studies, discussed earlier, side by side, it becomes evident that demoli on history and the evolu on in the me span of land ownership, played a role in the structural appearance of Moosanagar today.

In the following, the three structural zones of Moosanagar are discussed again but analysed with respect to its evolu on. In addi on, the Floor Plan is studied comparing the points of improvement with respect to the subjects discussed in the previous chapter, and our own experience. Coun ng the housing back log of Moosanagar today the structural appearance of the houses built in Moosanagar as well as the community as a whole, is weighed against what would have been the situa on if the current housing scheme ‘method’ would have been implemented instead of the natural self improvement. ZONE A1 in 1994, and of Br. Varghese today (2011), is striking evidence, that this terraced zone of Structure rigid painted houses in Moosanagar underwent considerable improvement over the years. When we look at the sec on of land in the south west that was formerly the property of The declara ons that Moosanagar back in the Mosque, and the land formerly owned by the ‘90ies consisted mainly of Kutchas and Sardar Bhai in the south east of Moosanagar, semi puccas confi rms structural improvement we see that this evolved, as the oldest part though has taken me. However, other of Moosanagar, from the 1950’s un l now, factors also play a role in improvement. into a densely occupied zone of puccas. The 60 intervening years have given the owners When looking at the housing zone formerly the chance to improve their lodgings from owned by the Nawab, originated with the kutcha over semi-pucca to fully fl edged pucca. sale of small plots of land in the late1980’s, we see now it consists en rely of puccas. This Besides the personal surveys we performed in in contrast to the zone around the mosque this zone, out of which we deduced that almost (which although of equivalent housing quality), all the people lived here “for genera ons” , the started 30 years earlier. One probable reason tes monies in the thesis of M.A. Khadir, wri en for this “jump start” in the improvement

Scale: 1/1500 1559-1980: se lers late ‘80ies- early ‘90ies: se lers 1950: se lers rate of the housing zone in the North-East, is Floor Plan that at the same me it came into existence, the state began with the gran ng of D-form When we start to look more specifi cally at pa as. The slum no fi ca on of Moosanagar the ground plan of Zone 1 as a whole, we gave the residents (a semblance of) security see that 3 previously large domains are now so that the owners would be willing to speed subdivided into individual plots for 100’s up investment and make improvements to of families. A ques on worth asking is how their houses. Also the fact that they where much the Urban Land Ceiling Act introduced able to buy the land on Notary must have around the same me, infl uenced these been an infl uence on their security feeling. par ons. In the affi rma ve, this act then had a posi ve infl uence for the inhabitants Clearly, in a no fi ed slum like Moosanagar, the of Moosanagar as was its’ intended purpose. possession of a pa a by most of the inhabitants is a precious asset. It is kept in a safe place COMMUNITY SCALE and seldom shown. Consequently one can never be sure that the family concerned really As we cast our eyes over the area of the possesses a pa a. Among others, the residents fi rst se lers, we come across the house of Moosanagar are habitually visited by offi cials of Ashfaq Bhai. From what we deduced claiming that in spite of the no fi ca on, the through the evolu on of Moosanagar, he slum will have to be cleared. Nandanavanam, was one of the fi rst to se le in the slum. Save Musi Project and the 2010 Master Plan Examining his personal posi on as Moosanagar all make their posi oning unsure. For the grew, we observed that Ashfaq became determina on of the number of offi cially the local Bas leader. Helping in the family authorised families who would be aff ected business and through his friendship with by an enforced reloca on, the presenta on Pasha Pehelwan, Ashfaq over the years of the pa a is necessary. Some residents became a person to fear and respect. When will claim having a pa a even if untrue, to Moosanagar became no fi ed in 1982, Ashfaq strengthen their posi on to stay. Others, on secured pa as for his family members but the other hand will refuse coopera on by also helped others who where loyal to him. showing their pa a saying it is kept in another safe place. For us, it is prac cally impossible Apart from Ashfaq, there were other individuals to work out who is speaking the truth. and organisa ons driving the improvements in this zone. Examples coming to mind are Mr. Azeez Pasha, the leader of the Communist Party who provided the ini al Slum No fi ca on and the following help from the Overseas Development Authority of the UK (ODA) and of Mr. Ranga Reddy in the building of basic ameni es such as roads, electricity, sewage and potable water.

Separate from the general improvement in the slum’s infrastructure over me, we see that more specifi cally changes begin to occur which are more in keeping with a small town than would be associated with a slum. This is the case for the cemetery and new Mosque. The graveyard which was present before 1950 is the fi nal res ng place of the slum’s Muslims. The Mosque adjacent to it was built in the 80’s and caters as a gathering place for the Moosanagar Muslims for their daily prayers. It is unclear if the Mosque was built by the offi cially registered by the Revenue Department. residents or someone outside the slum was the mo vator, but our experience taught us Ini ally PIN had good contacts with the GoAP that no ma er how poor the community is, so things got done. Offi cial acceptance resul ng they always seem to be able to build a Temple, in the recogni on of the children’s diplomas Mosque, or temporary shrines for fes vals. a racted children not only from Moosanagar Other Material objects such as mobile phones but also from the surrounding slums . Later, with and TV’s, bangles for personal decora on, the ins ga on of the Nandanavanam Project, and sweets for children are also common. the PIN school became the basis for resistance. Of course some have more than others. NGO’s ini ally suppor ng the Nandanavanam project, pulled out once they saw the “The slum is basically seen as an area of consequences of their ac ons. The strong PIN darkness, despair and poverty” is typical for the opposi on soured the rela on with GoAP. To middle class images and percep ons described divert problems away from the PIN school, by John Desrochers in “India’s growing slums” the resistance movements were transferred to . But the Moosanagar slum inhabitants show NBPS and later CHATRI. Today the role of PIN us a way of life much like many others outside school is educa ng the youngest but it also the slums. They go to work, they go to prayers, caters for local gatherings or ritual occasions they feed their children, they go to sleep; but as well as a shelter when houses are fl ooded. their level of income and expenditure, house and posi on in society is on another scale. HOUSEHOLD SCALE Accordingly the li le shops we saw in Moosanagar are setup on the scale of a slum. Finally, zooming in on the individual fl oor They are spread out over all three zones. plans in the pucca zone, we no ce that the They are operated by people in an adjacent expansion visible throughout the community house and act as a magnet for children and is also refl ected in the household’s fl oor plans. for social life. Sold are washing products and other sundries but par cularly sweets. Comparing most Pucca houses to those under the bridge, it is clearly seen that some of the The fi nal thing no ceable within the community houses have mul ple rooms, a centre courtyard of Moosanagar and posi oned in Zone 1 is the and a toilet. Our surveys also revealed that they slum’s school. We see in the North East it is usually had a private tap for water which was one of the most conspicuous construc ons in evident throughout the evolu on in Moosanagar. Moosanagar. This building, the PIN school, was built a er the ground was bought by Br. Varghese Having several rooms in a pucca was a sign Teckanath in 1994. This school is an example of of family enlargement. Rooms were added what can happen when English middle class or divided in two, when for example a son begins to take the lives of the urban poor to was married. It was then appropriate for heart in the 90’s. Arriving simultaneously in him to have his own room to live with his Moosanagar to work with the urban poor, he wife and children. Generally the girls leave started the People’s Ini a ve Network (PIN). the family house to live with their husbands. The network’s objec ve was to take care of the slum inhabitants but specifi cally their educa on One pucca can be shared by not only families, needs. Outside of the slum where the caste but also by several ren ng from the same owner. system is s ll so prevalent it was known that The owner will o en live outside Moosanagar. slum children were o en discriminated against. So we see that ground was bought by outsiders The decision was made to buy ground and with the aim of ren ng to people who wished to build a school. PIN school is not only unique as live there. The small squares are o en a mee ng a school in a slum, but a er much eff ort and place since the doors of their houses open into insistence the ground was also the only one it. There, people wash or cook or where also frequently seen to be making leaf garlands .

While most households naturally manage to make improvements, the case of Munna Bhai, is an excep onal example of upgrading through me. As the sister of Ashfaq Bhai she too was one of the fi rst se lers. Owning one of the few three storied buildings in Moosanagar, she manages a garage on the ground fl oor of the building from where auto-rickshaws are rented out to individuals. In addi on she owns several houses in the slum which she also rents out to residents. While the factor me in an essen al ingredient contribu ng to the household development of many people, we couldn’t help feeling a li le suspicious of the manner Munna had managed to expand her property; perhaps quiet unjustly. In contrast with Ashfaq Bhai’s poverty, it is exactly this that earned him credibility as a respected Bas leader . ZONE A2

Structure

When we analyse the “sca ered” area in zone 2, proves the structure of the row of houses it seems evident that some of the houses were situated completely on the eastern border of demolished around 1998 leaving Moosanagar former owner Krishna. Here it is s ll the pa a with deserted open space. The place that security that enhanced a fast improvement. became free allowed new residents to come This is an example of how good compensa on as witnessed by the structural diff erence in the for demolishing one’s house due to road works, various houses. Where the puccas remaining can get. These houses are decent pucca houses. probably dated from before the demoli ons, In 1992, with the building of New Chaderghat the semi-pucca and kutcha probably came Bridge, the Government demolished all the later. Looking at our surveys and interviews houses on its path leaving Moosanagar and conducted in this zone, we could conclude that Viyenaka Veedhi to end up in 2 separate slums. most of the houses here are indeed recent. As compensa on, the Government provided the But not only semi-pucca houses. Few of the vic ms with new land (from Krishna), a D-form pucca houses in place evidenced structural pa a and Rs. 20000 to rebuild their house. improvement at a fast pace since 1998. So

Scale: 1/1500 1982: se lers Floor Plan

COMMUNITY SCALE Although of Semi-Pucca structure, it’s fl oorplan refl ects one of a pucca. Upgrading in proces Whereas in Zone I, a Mosque is present, here we For what concerns drinkable water, our survey fi nd a Hindu temple as evidence of an expanding shows that people of Semi Puccas mostly have community. Their simultaneously presence access to shared taps while in Zone 1 most people is typical, as in the whole of Hyderabad, of used private taps. This is also true for the toilets. the diff erent religions living closely together. Most puccas in Zone 2 however again have all ameni es, though some others have none S ll more remarkable is a Community centre and a so-called Anganwadi (day-care). The Anganwadi formed the bas on of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) which started in 1975 and off ered day-care for the poor and support to pregnant women. Anganwadi staff members are selected from the community and taught the necessary skills to help run the scheme. Although a good idea, we no ced that help wasn’t necessarily off ered daily. Once when the pensions were distributed to the inhabitants of the Moosanagar and surrounding bastees, the day-care was opened and completely overrun by people.

The Community Centre is adjacent to the Day- care. This had its’ origin in the expansion of the Chaderghat Bridge in 1970. This building was constructed as warehouse for the materials . In nego a ons with the slum dwellers, it was agreed that in return for a piece of land, the building would be made strong enough so it could be used later for something else. Thus the Community Hall came into being, controlled mainly by the slum leader. This hall also was usually closed during our stay.

HOUSEHOLD SCALE

The diff erence in structure between the pucca and Semi-Pucca construc ons in this zone cleary is refl ected in the Floor Plan as well. Whereas the fi rst again show mul ple rooms and a courtyard, the Semi-Pucca has only one room. Looking at the Semi-Pucca closest to the water adjacent to Chaderghat bridge, we nevertheless see how a single room later expanded with courtyard and toilets since there’s nobody around. ZONE A3

Structure Floor plan

The semi-puccas built in the last few years in COMMUNITY SCALE Moosanagar, are one with some of the semi- puccas under the bridge. This implies that What mainly groups these houses together these houses are also recent. Scru nising our in the community is the presence of the surveys, confi rms this. In spite of the fact that Chaderghat Bridge. With their dominant some people in recent dwellings claim that they presence, the bridge arches defi ne the have been in Moosanagar “for genera ons” it condi ons for the surrounding houses and could also be interpreted that their previous their direct surroundings. As men oned house was demolished and they have rebuilt, earlier, due to these construc ons both perhaps on another spot. Other possible horizontal and ver cal circula on is brought reasons are the death of a family member, about. The former connects the slums marriage or business misfortune which of Kamal Nagar and Moosanagar, with forced people to move. However most say the la er serving the slums individually. they live there between 5 – 10 years which is Another uni ng factor joining these houses consistent with the state of their construc ons. is that they are all controlled by a Pehelwan.

Scale: 1/1500 HOUSEHOLD SCALE

As noted previously, their fl oor plans refl ected a young age. No extensions have been added. Their recent construc on is highlighted by the absence of many roofs, the overlying bridge providing par al subs tu on. It is also noteworthy that few, if any, had a toilet. When the owners answered our survey concerning this amenity with “open”, this implied that they used the banks of the river for this need. O en in the covered area near the bridge, toilets belonging to one person were shared, with rental being paid by the others. This was also the case for drinking taps. 3.I.3 MOOSANAGAR HOUSING BACK ‘Zone 1’ in total has 269 families. Almost all LOG these families noted as pucca although we chose to qualify 2 as semi pucca. The total for zone 1 is: 267 puccas and 2 semi puccas. Using our examina on of the local situa on in Moosanagar, we are capable of tracing This brings the total to: the real housing backlog today. Through the 324 puccas, 46 semi puccas, 1 database on the reverse side of this thesis, it kutcha and 1 homeless person. is possible to count how many families live in each zone and the type of their construc on. The housing backlog in Moosanagar today is thus 2. This is how we proceeded. When in our previous calcula on we departed with the approach that Comparing this result with what the State housing would come from an outside source, had achieved, it is striking that through slum this me we use the factor slum improvement improvement, the slum dwellers show they are due to the owners as well as coming from small in state to improve their housing structures. outside groups. In passing, we must men on that because of me limita ons, we were not able to fully inspect the area of zone 1. Although it was clear through our numerous passages through this area that it contained only puccas, we were not certain of the number of households it included. To circumvent this uncertainty, we begin with the other zones and subtract their total number from the 372 family fi gure quoted in a survey by CHATRI.

This gave the following situa on:

‘Zone 2’ counted 56 families living in a pucca home, 5 in semi-pucca and 1 in kutcha. Although in ‘Zone 3’ some of the houses could already be defi ned as pucca because of their asbestos roof, we chose to use the term semi pucca for all of them due to their miserable state. One house is however in good condi on. Also one woman in this zone lives under the bridge but clearly has no house. The total for Zone 3 comes thus to: 1 pucca, 39 semi puccas en 1 homeless person. TO CONCLUDE helped. Mr. Azeez Pasha pushed through slum no fi ca on in 1982 and later Mr. Ranga Reddy provided the impulse for basic ameni es in It is clear structural improvement of slum the 2nd phase. Brother Varghese and PIN had dwellings is not only possible, but happens important infl uence in the building of a school automa cally when the necessary me for the slum. The la er were prominent in the factor is present. When we compare the struggle against the Nandanavanam Project number of puccas in the 3 zones together which they won – at least for the moment. taking the factor me into considera on, one cannot ignore its’ infl uence. It can also not be overlooked that Also, while looking at the fl oor plans of the demoli ons too had direct repercussions. zones it is easily seen that Zone 3 contains Clearly when in zone 2 everything is suddenly more enlarged plans complete with a water demolished and everything has to start from connec on, toilet and courtyard. The zone scratch (viewing the state of the semi-pucca under the bridge is o en represented houses houses) the general rate of improvement of consis ng of nothing more than a high walled the slum as a whole is decreased. By contrast, 10m² square with the bridge deck as the “roof”. demoli on caused by New Chaderghat Bridge brought about a series of solidly built The loca on itself was also an obvious infl uencing puccas. This shows posi ve implementa ons factor in the development of the house. Under of road projects can have a good impact. So Chaderghat Bridge we found roofl ess houses, it becomes evident that it is not what one which we never saw elsewhere. A case of does, but how it is done. In the last example, fi nding a solu on when the need is greatest. the State got its’ new Chaderghat Bridge and the people relocated got a new house. It can be seen that the evolu on in the diff erent slum policies have had their direct It is important to realise the posi ve eff ects on Moosanagar. The land subdivisions consequences for the slum dweller when a er the Urban Land Ceiling Regula on Act reason prevails. In Hyderabad, it’s clearly a (ULCRA). The building of basic ameni es ques on of give and take. Nego a ons are in the fi rst phase of the Hyderabad Slum clearly Moosanagar’s strongest weapon. Improvement Project together with the Amen es in exchange for votes, votes for Overseas Development Agency (ODA) from no fi ca on, a new bridge for new housing the UK. The coming of a Anganwadi through and a new community centre traded the Integrated Child Development Scheme for a temporary building site storage. (ICDS). Other infl uences such as no fi ca on and other “semi secure” factors such as notary, It’s certainly clear that the community as a water availability, roads or paths, electricity, whole tries to make improvements, but also etc, make home improvements happen faster. every individual. Community improvements More security and the slum as a whole profi ts. are visible in the form of a Temple, Mosque, roads, drinking water and shops. Individual Not only the policies had an eff ect, but the improvement expresses itself not only with direct help from mo vated people also the transi on from kutcha to semi-pucca to

255 pucca, but also in addi onal land ownership. “Rich” or poor, the urge to improve one’s lot is universal, and this is no diff erent in the slums.

As is also universally the case, the road to improvement is diff erent for everyone. In case of the slums, families have spent many years and o en genera ons doing so. People without family or marriage partner are o en disadvantaged in this respect. The homeless woman under the bridge was a case in point. Without extern help, it is improbable that she will advance. Even inadequate help is much be er than nothing.

“I have seen nothing in the world of the poor to compare with the misery of slums” Varghese Teckanath

In spite of the “good score” on housing backlog, we cannot forget that this is s ll a slum. The image of self improvement must not be over roman cised. Although the great majority now live in a pucca, most complain of leaking roofs and water seepage. It cannot be anything than very hard to endure during the wet season. Especially the houses on the water’s edge and under the bridge, it is an understatement to say they have less than ideal living circumstances. The point is however, what would be the situa on without the slum improvement. Simply put; much worse.

When we ask the people in Moosanagar what they want the State to do, then they ask for a new house. However, only if the new one will come in the same place as the old. 3.3.I SPECIAL SLUM ZONE industries and other commercial projects. The new roads would connect these developments and ease the already s fl ing traffi c conges on. Looking at the 2010 Master Plan, there are two Such projects however are aimed at the formal noteworthy aspects concerning Moosanagar. sectors of the economy whereby all lower castes The fi rst; it is specifi ed as “residen al area”. again lose out. Not only are the shopping malls The second; it is separated from the river by prohibi vely expensive for these groups, but a new 80 foot (24m) wide road. As far as the also the entry to the planned Nandanvans would road is concerned, there is no doubt it will be not be free (just like other parks in Hyderabad). built once suffi cient funding is found. Since This implies the complete banishment of the the slum is offi cially recognised as residen al poor since the whole development involves area, the State is obliged to give each pa a the complete elimina on of the slums. household that has to be moved a new home. However it is already clear that the Reading through Chapter 3, we can compare implementa on of this reloca on, even for how the State’s a empt to meet the poors’ only the pa a houses, is prac cally impossible. housing needs through such Musi River Front projects pales in comparison to the o en modest Chapter 1 showed us that as the popula on of housing improvements the slum dwellers have Hyderabad grew and correspondingly the size manage to achieve for themselves. It becomes of their city, so too did the growing number clear that through the changed condi ons of of immigrated urban poor increase the size the city, the underprivileged were forced to look and quan ty of slums. Because of the huge for a shelter close to their work and they found addi onal need of potable water the Musi it through the transformed Musi condi ons. was denied its’ water and would have dried up, were it not for the massive infl ows of History teaches us that such uncontrolled sewage and industrial fl uid waste taking its’ encroachments, sew the seeds of strife place. A new condi on along the Musi banks. for the future. The remedy is not however to remove these intrusions without Chapter 2 showed how these new river condi ons off ering a valid alterna ve, but to tackle were coped with and u lised by various groups. the problem at its’ source, namely the Moosanagar is part of one such group, namely growth of urban poor in the Core City area. the new Musi residents. The evolu on of this slum taught us that the shrinking of the Musi Although this issue is outside the scope of water body formed the opportunity for them this thesis, a burning ques on that needs to increase the area of their residen al zone. to be dealt with is, how to incorporate city Nonetheless, it was not only the slum dwellers development with a well structured slum who saw the benefi t of this extra space. that has managed to improve itself into a small self respec ng township. In addi on Through the popula on increase and it can be shown that such se lements are accompanying extra sewage produc on, the the fi rst steps in decreasing the number of Musi provided a second group with the means urban poor. In the informal sector, having to a ain “food security”. The freed up space and housing close by jobs is of primary importance. constant waste water fl ow made it possible for sustained agriculture along its’ banks as well as other ac vi es which provided income and jobs. If in the case of Moosanagar, like the New Chaderghat Bridge project, good can be The third interested party with an interest in made from necessity, then the building of the Musi space was the State. With an eye for the new road corridor suggested in the 2010 development and the expansion of the road Master Plan could bring an advantage to network, plans were made to u lise it for IT Moosanagar. On one hand, the road could act as a dike and protect the enclave from future As one long chain, high and low caste would be fl ooding. On the other, through the close connected. Even though poor will always buy passage of many people each day, possibili es from poor, and rich from rich, none are banned for the informal sector could arise providing with the economy of both sectors s mulated. new income and jobs. When before the slum dwellers fought for a place close to their work, With the presence of the dike, a pedestrian one could hope that work would come to them. path along the informal sector would form a barrier to the further encroachment The road dike perhaps also could become of the river Musi. However, the State’s a marketplace(/walkway) not only for encroachment would eventually have to be Moosanagar but also further along the length compensated with other space as wel. A new of the road. In this way, besides the other fl oodzone, perhaps situated just outside the formal zones des ned for commercialisa on, city centre therefore would be necesary. space would be created for the informal sector. Diverted from the Save Musi project these ideas The cul vators of Musi land could benefi t of are similar with the important diff erence that the these new closeby markets. Metropolitan Zone here comprises of all castes. As such the cul va on of the vacant land in de the fl ood zone behind Moosanagar could Trea ng the slums as a place to respect also be worth looking into. Perhaps some and preserve, the acknowledging of Special Moosanagar residents could help on the land Slum Zones in the 2010 Master Plan, while others sell the goods. would give the urban poor the chance to become respected residents Interac on between Musi land, the dike markets, the road and the slum residents would in this way alternate with the more expensive areas situated along the road.