Profiling “Informal City” of Delhi City” “Informal Profiling of Intervention Institutions & Scope Norms, Policies, India WaterAid WaterAid – Water for All WaterAid is an International NGO, established in 1981, in response to the United Nations declaration of the Water and Sanitation Decade, 1980–90, to enable better access of poor communities to adequate, safe water. WaterAid remains the UK’s only major charity dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people. WaterAid works in 15 countries across Asia and Africa, through local organisations and communities, helping them set up low-cost, sustainable projects using appropriate technology that can be managed by the community itself. WaterAid also seeks to influence the water and sanitation policies of other key organisations, such as governments, to secure and protect the right of poor people to safe, affordable water and sanitation services. WaterAid in India WaterAid began working in India in the latter part of the 1980s with a few small projects and has since grown in strength and coverage. Today, WaterAid works in more than 10 states with three regional offices in Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar and Bangalore, in partnership with local NGOs and government departments Profiling and ministries that seek assistance in the specific areas of rural and urban water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion. Community sustained improvement in drinking water and sanitation has been WaterAid’s watchword in all its programmes. “Informal City” Different models of community participation and management, of both rural and urban water supply and sanitation, alternate delivery mechanisms, school hygiene promotion programmes, water conservation and recharge measures have been demonstrated to the sector. These projects have a strong partnering of Delhi component with state governments and departments and have proved to be the inspiration behind successful replications in other states. A vast array of publications, including training manuals for development workers, issue sheets and concept papers for advocacy initiatives and IEC material have been jointly developed with Policies, Norms, Institutions & Scope of Intervention NGO partners and are in wide circulation. WaterAid has participated in collaborative initiatives with the government and other agencies including the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), the Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) of the World Bank, UNICEF and DFID. Alliances are important for core programming concerns of rural and urban programming for water and sanitation, Integrated Water Resources Management and Networking with a range of government departments and government organisations, at the national and regional levels in India. WaterAid India is committed to making its own contribution to the MDG challenge and is open to exploring ways of partnering with all stakeholders for achieving water and sanitation for all. WaterAid India Country Office Regional Offices WaterAid India Regional Office East Regional Office West Regional Office South (proposed) 25, Navjivan Vihar Plot No. 1266, E7/846 Arera Colony Rahat Residency Malviya Nagar Bhoinagar, Unit 9, Bhopal - 462016 Gitanjali Paradise #102, 1st Floor, Rahat Bagh New Delhi - 110017 Bhubaneshwar - 751022 Madhya Pradesh Nagavarpalya, Bangalore-560093 Tele: 91-11-26692206/ Orissa Telefax: 0755-4294724 Karnataka 26693724/22692219 Tele: 0674-2531266 Telefax: 080-25240704 Fax: 91-11-26691468 Telefax: 0674-2531267 Email: [email protected] WaterAid – water for life The international NGO dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world’s poorest people. WaterAid India 2005 Profiling “Informal City” of Delhi Policies, Norms, Institutions & Scope of Intervention Prepared by Kishore Kumar Singh Shikha Shukla WaterAid India & Delhi Slum Dwellers Federation 2005 Foreword v Acknowledgements viii Abbreviations ix Executive Summary xi CHAPTER 1 Expanding Urban Arena: Issues and Interventions 1 1.1 Changing Complexion of Urban Centres 1 1.2 Cities and its Poor in Statistics: Trends and Issues 5 1.3 Water and Sanitation Coverage: A Fuzzy Statistics 7 1.4 National Policies and programmes for Planned Urban Infrastructure and Urban Poverty Alleviation 9 1.5 Reality of International Aids for Urban Poverty Alleviation and Water and Sanitation: The Big May Look Small 17 1.6 Conclusion 18 CHAPTER 2 Settings of the Study: Macro (Delhi) and Micro (Wards) 20 2.1 Changing Geographical and Physiographic Features 20 2.2 Delhi: Sketching the Past and the Present 22 2.3 The Informal Settlements of Delhi: A Tale or Tail of ‘Another City’ 27 2.4 Settings of Policies, Legislation and Institution: Urban Governance in Delhi or Lack of It 31 2.5 Water Supply in Delhi: Issues and Initiatives 35 2.6 Sanitation Services in Delhi: Sewerage, Drainage and Solid Waste Management 38 2.7 Governance Institutions Impacting Water, Sanitation and Informal Settlements 39 2.8 Conclusion 40 CONTENTS ii Profiling “Informal City” of Delhi Policies, Norms, Institutions & Scope of Intervention CONTENTS CHAPTER 3 Micro Settings of the Study: Wards of the Urban Poor 43 3.1 The Study: Purpose, Approach and Methodology 43 3.2 Micro-Settings: Wards of Urban Poor and Pollution 47 3.3 Main Findings 59 CHAPTER 4 Situational Analysis: Micro Level 60 4.1 Population and Demographics 60 4.2 Housing 67 4.3 Level of Provision of Infrastructure Facilities 72 4.4 Health Status 94 4.5 Prioritised Needs and Expectations 96 4.6 Comparative Nature of Issues Across Different Types of Settlements 98 CHAPTER 5 Recommendations 101 5.1 Current Situation 101 5.2 Recommendations 103 Bibliography 107 Annexures 109 iv Profiling “Informal City” of Delhi Policies, Norms, Institutions & Scope of Intervention Foreword The term “Informal city” is a polite expression, often used to describe a substantial section of the city population living in slums, unauthorised colonies, resettlement colonies and urban villages, mostly in sub human conditions. In case of India, it covers as high as forty per cent of urban population. Barring the case of the national capital, a few state capitals and industrial cities, the State has not taken up the responsibility of planned development of cities and towns. The process of urbanisation in the country has, therefore, remained largely market driven, even after the country’s liberation from colonial rule and much hyped model of “socialistic pattern of development”. Importantly, the democratic socio-political structure in the post-Independence period allowed the poor to gain entry into the urban centres but they became some kind of “illegal settlers”. The political space provided through the competitive politics of elections enabled them to secure a foothold but either in urban fringe or low valued land within the city. Importantly, the building of cities, running its economy and maintaining its services require labour. This ensured entry to the poor but they could live there only as temporary squatters or slum dwellers, under perpetual threat of eviction. The case under study is the national capital which grew under the protective umbrella of the State, as noted above, at least during the first couple of decades after Independence. An analysis of the data over the past few decades suggests that the Delhi urban agglomeration and its surrounding towns and villages have experienced rapid population growth. This is primarily due to its strong economic base, which has grown even stronger over the years due to the rapid growth of industries and commercial activities. The central city, however, has succeeded, although partially, in diverting population growth to geographic or socio-economic “periphery” of the metropolis. Large sections of poor migrants have been absorbed either in the hinterland or in the marginal areas within the agglomeration viz. sides of railway tracks, around factory sites, swampy lands etc, wherein the quality of life is low. Using instruments such as master plans, environmental legislations, slum clearance/ rehabilitation projects etc, the state has off and on pushed out informal settlements to the “periphery”. It has thereby successfully carried out a process of sanitisation. Functioning of informal land market, too, has facilitated a process of socio-economic segmentation through population redistribution within and around the city. Micro-level surveys reveal that low-income groups residing in outlying towns and villages or in marginal areas in central city are paying heavy environmental costs. The peripheries have reported serious problems of physical congestion and economic deprivation that have been accentuated over the years. There seems to be a process of institutionalisation of socio-economic segmentation and unequal sharing of developmental benefits within the agglomeration. Despite this hostile market scenario and a passive state policy, a small section of the poor have discovered ingenious ways of finding a shelter in and around the central city through establishment of linkages with slumlords, government functionaries and politicians. A few among the new migrants, too, have been able to gain a foothold here. This, however, has been possible generally in informal settlements, located in marginal lands, as noted above. The governmental programmes of in situ upgradation, in operation in an ad-hoc manner and for v Foreword short durations, have directed and indirectly supported the initiative or entrepreneurship