URBAN POOR

Resettlement sites where those evicted from across Chennai are moved to are known to be constructed in poorly connected areas, with a lack of people-centric infrastructure, often neglected by the state. But another oft neglected complication that arises as a result of the resettlement is that many stop receiving their pension once they move to their new homes. The reason cited by local officials is that since residents' addresses change to another district, in this case from Chennai to Chengalpattu district, they would have to file a new application to receive pension. This results in a long drawn out process…

A study by the Chennai-based NGO Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) was conducted in five resettlement colonies — Perumbakkam, Semmenchery, Gudapakkam, Navalur and All India Radio (AIR) Site, was carried out with an objective of examining and understanding the issues faced by those resettled families. The findings show that there is an urgent need for the government to intervene as pointed out by Vanessa Peter, Founder of IRCDUC who had said that the study highlights the key issues that have to be looked into while framing the policy. Some of these had already been flagged…

Those tagged as ‘encroachers’ are the victims of the historical marginalization process, says Founder of Chennai-based NGO Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC) Vanessa Peter. A study by the NGO reveals that limited access to basic facilities, especially during the pandemic, has increased the existing vulnerabilities of the communities who are grappling with the adverse impacts of resettlement.  Life on the margins The report titled ‘Life on the Margins - Access to Basic Infrastructure Facilities in the Resettlement Sites of Chennai’ points out several key issues pertaining to living conditions at resettlement areas. It has been…

The Deonar dumping ground has mountains of garbage, some reaching 18 floors high, having accumulated 18.35 million tonnes and counting. Years have passed since the government agreed to close the facility, Mumbai's oldest. Its most recent deadline, 2023, is fast approaching. But it seems this time the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) might just make the deadline, by switching to a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant. Construction for the Rs 504 crore plant will begin in a month and a half, seven years after it was first announced. Just one clearance, from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), remains. Spread over 12 of…

Izzat ka Pani depicts the struggle of Abrar Salmani, resident of Bhim Nagar, Mankhurd, one of at least 62 informal settlements in Mumbai that are denied legal water access and have no piped water supply. This film describes Salmani’s decade-long journey to access his Right to Water, a prerequisite to the Right to Life, guaranteed by the Constitution of India. Through this journey, we take a glimpse into the lives of Mumbai’s urban poor, the political and systemic injustice they face when trying to access water and sanitation, as well as the on-going efforts of citizen collectives to reform this…

Dadul, a security guard at a construction site in Mira Road, returned to Mumbai from Allahabad a month ago. "I went back to my village by truck, paying Rs 3,000, at the start of the pandemic. All I was given from the government at the time was Rs 1,000 and some ration because of the 14-day quarantine. But I was scared of another lockdown, so I stayed back in my village, until recently." he says. Dadul is not aware of any relief announced for construction workers through the lockdown, and he is not alone in this. In the early months…

As one takes a left turn from the East Coast Road or the ECR, as it’s popularly known in Chennai, into the Kuppam road in Kottivakkam, which leads to the Kottivakkam beach, a sense of calm sets in. A complete contrast from the bustling main road, which is just a few metres away. This sense of calm can also be seen in the residents of the Kottivakkam kuppam (Tamil for hamlet), most of whom you will find unwinding on a weekday evening. The women folk, after having finished their day’s work of selling fish are huddled in one corner of…

"My youngest son was born here (near the landfill) and while I was pregnant, I had to rely on the water from the handpump”, says Anita*, a waste picker living in Shraddhanand Colony adjoining the Bhalswa Landfill in Northwest Delhi.  If you’ve traveled by road to Chandigarh, you would have seen this is the mountain of trash. “He's had kidney problems ever since he was born,” adds Anita. “Within 5.5 years, we have had to get him operated six times! Because of the medical expenses, we have to go without ration for a few days. Stomach, skin, and eye problems…

Translated by Sandhya Raju "நாங்கள் படும் கஷ்டத்தை நினைத்தாலே அழுகை வருகிறது," என தன் நிலையை வெளிப்படுத்துகிறார் சென்னை பெரும்பாக்கம் காலனியில் வசிக்கும் மேரி. சமீபத்திய வெள்ளம் மிகுந்த கடினத்தை இவர்களுக்கு அளித்துள்ளது. "தண்ணீர், மின்சாரம், உணவு என எதுவுமே இல்லை. அரசு அதிகாரிகள் எதுவும் செய்யவில்லை.". இவரைப் போலவே, இந்த காலனி முழுவதும் இது போன்ற குரலே ஓங்கி ஒலிக்கின்றது. மற்ற பகுதிகள் போல், தரைத்தள வீடுகளில் மட்டும் தண்ணீர் புகவில்லை. "தரக்குறைவான கட்டுமானத்தால், மாடி வீடுகளில் கூரைகள் ஒழுகின," என அங்கு வசிக்கும் மகா கூறினார். எங்கிருந்து ஒழுகுகிறது என சில பேர் தேடும் வீடியோக்களை நம்மிடம் காண்பித்தனர். மழை மேகம் விலகியதும் இந்த குடியிருப்பின் நிலை மேலும் தெளிவாக தெரிந்தன. காலனி முழுவதும் உள்ள சுவர்களின் ஓதம், கழிவு நீர் கலந்த தண்ணீர் சொட்டு சொட்டாக இந்த சுவர்களில் உள்ள பைப் மூலம் சொட்டின. தரை…

“I feel like crying when talking about the problems we are facing now,” laments Mary, a resident of Chennai’s Perumbakkam resettlement colony, who has been grappling with the recent floods. “We do not have access to water, electricity or food. Government authorities have not taken any relief measures whatsoever.” Anguished voices such as Mary's are now echoing across the resettlement colonies in the city. Unlike buildings elsewhere, people on the ground floor were not the only ones who had water enter their homes. “The top floors had water leaking in many of the buildings because the construction is of poor…