commentary large, old bastis are concentrated are Basti Redevelopment in Metiabruz, Rajabazar, Narkeldanga, , Beckbagan and --Tangra. The overwhelming majority of the V Ramaswamy Muslim population of Kolkata and How- rah lives in bastis, and these are among The proposal by the n February 21, 2008 The States- the oldest, largest and most degraded and government to permit man reported that the West poorly serviced slums of the city. multi-storeyed buildings on OBengal land and land reforms minister had agreed to a proposal from the Slum Improvement ‘thika’ tenancy land in Kolkata urban development department per­mitting Bastis had suffered long neglect, and by raises a lot of questions about the multi-storeyed buildings on ‘thika’ (con- the early 1960s, were in a state of near terms on which the land would tract for temporary possession) tenancy collapse. Following the planning interven- be given to private builders and land. The minister reportedly gave his ap- tion of the Ford Foundation, through the proval provided the tenants agree to it. 1970s and 1980s, the basti improvement the fate of the present dwellers. Most of the slums or ‘bastis’ (low-in- programme financed by the World Bank Nearly three lakh people are come settlements) in Kolkata and was taken up in the slum localities. This directly and indirectly employed are on land under thika tenancy. They oc- involved conversion of service latrines, in basti-based manufacture of cupy huge tracts of land spread all over connection of water taps, surface drainage the city. The 2001 Census estimated that facilities, construction and widening of basic items in the city’s economy. about 1.5 million people in Kolkata lived in roads and pathways, and provision of slums. There would be over half a million street lighting and waste disposal facili- in Howrah. Thus, as a result of the new ties within the bastis. While living condi- proposed policy, the habitation of about tions in the bastis improved as a result, two million people of the conurbation this also opened the way for new construc- spread across the two banks of the Hoog- tion in bastis, principally of illegal build- hly is now threatened. ings. Bastis improved under the pro- gramme are once again facing acute Background deficiencies in services. Basti land, formerly owned by landlords, is now largely owned by the state. On this Illegal Construction land stand structures, typically tile- With terrible overcrowding in the bastis, roofed, owned by the thika tenants. And and given the thika tenants’ inability to in each such building live many tenant (or extend their structures, over the last 15 bharatiya or raiyat) households, each one years or so, illegal construction has been typically occupying a small room. Follow- taking place on a large-scale in basti ing a high court order, the thika tenants neighbourhoods. This happens through a cannot be ousted by the state. The tenant nexus of builder-hoodlum-party cadres- dwellers are protected too, by the tenancy police. The builder acts in the name of laws and the slum act. The thika tenants the thika tenant. He pockets the ‘salami’ also have limited development rights on (deposit) amount paid by the occupants their property. of the new apartments, and receives the Bastis are spread throughout the city. rent from the new occupants for some The city’s labouring population, and the years. The buildings thus constructed are bulk of the urban poor reside here. But generally of a poor quality. They discharge bastis are also the site of a lot of economic toilet waste into the open drains. Popula- activities. Workplace and residence are tion pressure also thus increases on the inter-woven. A good part of the produc- already overstretched basti services. Little tion of basic items in the city economy, wonder then that the combination of like garments, footwear and paper pro­ highly insufficient supply of drinking ducts takes place in the bastis. Various water and inadequate and poor sanitation trades are concentrated in specific areas, emerges as the principal environmental making location a crucial factor. As many health problem in Kolkata, resulting in as three lakh people may be directly and gastro-intestinal and waterborne diseases, V Ramaswamy ([email protected]) is with the indirectly employed in basti-based manu­­ and afflicting principally the city’s poor Howrah Pilot Project and is based in Kolkata. facturing activity. Among the area where and low-income.

Economic & Political Weekly EPW september 20, 2008 25 commentary For several years now, private builders Development Authority, was one of the There is a huge human development and their consortiums have been eyeing authors of the proposal. This too was gap between basti dwellers and the city’s basti land, because their location makes about basti redevelopment, but here it was middle and affluent classes. The value of them prime real estate. The key question visualised as being done for the good of the land on which basti dwellers live is the is: What happens to the dwellers? Would the city at large and of the basti dwellers only means of bridging that gap. Hence they get alternative shelter? Where? in particular. Squatters earlier living along basti land should be auctioned by the state What kind of shelter? And under what the canal were also to be rehabilitated to the private developers and the money terms? Would they, for instance, get title within the proposed development. The in- raised should be used to construct good to the shelter units, like the refugee dicative estimates made in the plan sug- quality apartment blocks for the dwellers colony dwellers were granted title to land gested that notwithstanding the social on part of the land, with adequate open they had occupied? How exactly would and public goals, the project could still and community spaces. Alternatively, the the rights and interests of the dwellers yield attractive returns to builders. But construction for the basti dwellers could be ensured? Can this be assumed to such a project calls for a new generation of be part of the private developer’s project. happen on its own? What would be the agencies and organisations, within state and Squatter resettlement should also be arrangement for temporary accommoda- local government, and at the grassroots undertaken in the redeveloped sites. tion of the dwellers while construction level. These are all presently lacking. Given the huge volume of economic takes place? activity in bastis, spaces for production There is also the larger question of City Renewal and marketing also need to be created. transparency in urban governance. What Since the basti is a unit in itself, both in This would give a much-needed fillip to happens to the land? Under what terms legal terms and in regard to civic services these trades, whose future is otherwise would the land be handed over to the large infrastructure, it is pertinent to ask quite bleak. private builders? What happens to the whether individual basti plots would be A concerted effort needs to be made to thousands of illegal buildings that have available for redevelopment or the basti ensure basti households are aware and already come up in bastis? Would the ap- as a whole. Redevelopment is not just fully informed of all matters, and partici- propriate resettlement of the erstwhile a matter of construction on land. The pate in planning and design of the new dwellers be part of the builders’ project? requisite infrastructure for water, sewer- housing. After having lived and worked Or would that be handled by the state, age and drainage have all to be put for many decades in the basti – and in utilising subsidies from the centre, so that in place. How far would the private some places for over a century – and hav- a promoter-friendly government and developers’ responsibility go? And what ing suffered harsh living conditions, the ruling party gifts the builders the would the municipal corporation do? households have a natural right to get title opportunity to make lucrative profits? Would not basti redevelopment across to their new apartments. A corpus should the city require major city-wide infra- also be created for maintenance purposes Dweller Security structure upgrading? and a management mechanism has to be Given the very attractive commercial po- A blighted basti is typically at the core set up, with the participation of the tential from multi-storeyed constructions of a decaying locality. Upgrading the in- resident households. in the bastis, these areas would only be- frastructure of civic services in the basti This would ensure that the transforma- come centres of frenzied activity by a site has to be part of a larger programme tion of the physical landscape of the city is range of vested interests, each seeking to of upgrading the infrastructure of the also accompanied by a transformation of grab a chunk of the golden pie. Hundreds whole locality. Thus, with blighted bastis its social landscape. Such a measure would of thousands of basti dwellers in Kolkata spread all over the city, one has nodes of significantly democratise property own- and Howrah eke out a marginal existence renewal across the city. Inte­grating all ership in the city, while also strengthen- through manual labour. Their daily life these nodes within a single, long-term, city ing the municipal corporation by enhanc- circumstances mean that they are least renewal blueprint would effectively mean ing its revenue base. empowered to stand up, be organised a vision for transforming the physical This is the challenge that the govern- and secure their rights. On the face of it, landscape of the city. ment should strive to realise. it does appear that they will simply be swept away by the tidal wave of greed a n d d e c e i t . In the late 1990s, a proposal was pre- pared by Unnayan and Asian Coalition Unbound Back Volumes of Economic and Political Weekly from 1976 to 2007 are available. for Housing Rights for comprehensive Write to: renewal of the blighted canal-side area in Circulation Department, -Manicktala. The late M S Moitra, Economic and Political Weekly a former chief engineer of the state public 320, 321, A to Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013. works department who retired as director [email protected] general of the Kolkata Metropolitan

26 september 20, 2008 EPW Economic & Political Weekly