Housing

Living on the streets with all its dangers and risks has made people like Sabita fearless about pandemics and cyclones. Few inclemencies match the storms they have battled for survival.

Given the global pandemic, Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) has called upon the central and state governments to implement special measures to prevent and check the spread of this virus among the homeless and those in informal settlements.

Both AAP and BJP had initially claimed credits for initiating steps to regularise 1,734 illegal colonies in Delhi. However as elections drew near, the ruling party laid greater emphasis on its performance in health, education and women’s safety. The BJP’s plan to leverage the issue also came a cropper.

6.48 lakh houses remained unsold across India’s top seven cities in 2019, and Mumbai alone accounted for nearly a third of these. Yet scarcity of affordable housing pushes people further and further away from the city. What could explain this?

The Union Cabinet recently approved the state government’s proposal to give ownership rights to those living in 1,797 unauthorised colonies in the Delhi-NCT area. While usual political rhetoric by parties continues, what really lies ahead?

A team of researchers met villagers and activists engaged in anindefinite dharna at the marble market site in Noida’s Sector 48. Here are the stories that the protesters shared as they explained their anger and grief.

Take a peek inside the melting pot that is Humayunpur, where you will find northeastern migrants from across the city gather to shop for groceries, eat native food and look for houses to rent. ‘It’s just like home,’ they say.

With thriving infrastructure, a blooming arts and entertainment scene and an encouraging start-up culture, Kochi has a growing population of young creative millennials, many of them single. But ask them about their experiences with rentals, and horror stories emerge. Especially if they are women.

Bangalore University is all set to open up an exclusive hostel facility for female students from the north-eastern states. Delhi is also likely to follow soon. These hostels will create a safe space for the students who have historically borne the brunt of casual as well as violent racial prejudice, but do they really want safety at the cost of mainstreaming?

Around 8 lakh workers from Odisha, after strenuous shifts in Surat’s powerlooms, stay in rotation in crowded rooms, amid power cuts, scarce water, filth and noise. Illnesses are common, as are stress and alcoholism.

Notification of the revised Delhi land pooling policy is a welcome step, but is the government ready to implement it? Effective application would require coordination between different stakeholders and ramping up of institutional capacities and resources.

A new report from policy think tank, Housing and Land Rights Network, has strongly criticised the Smart Cities Mission for neglecting the rights and concerns of the poor and marginalised. A look at what the report recommends for truly inclusive cities.