URBAN POOR

Taufiq, an electrician in Shivaji Nagar, sits in his shop surrounded by wall-mounted fans. Despite other shops like his in the area, he gets at least 2-3 fans for repairs daily. As Mumbai is headed into summer with temperatures touching 40 degrees Celsius in March, it’s no secret why Taufiq gets business everyday. The general ceiling fans, he says, are not cutting it anymore. “Most people here don’t have ACs or coolers, so they look for a fan that is fast,” explains Taufiq, showing me a fan unlike any other in the market. “We assemble this here. The motor comes…

The revival and restoration of eris in Chennai has long captured the imagination of city authorities and residents, with these tanks often rightly lauded as an important solution to the flooding problem that has terrorised the city in the past few years. However, a recent paper titled "Lines in the Mud”, authored by Karen Coelho of the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), points out how eri restoration efforts have become sites of social tragedy, as a result of the almost exclusive focus on removal of encroachments. They result in the brutal eviction of thousands of working class families that…

Mohammed Irshad, a garment worker in Dharavi, recalls being gripped by the fear of policemen lathi-charging him when he would step out in search of odd jobs during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. His garment unit was shut down. He wasn’t the only one, and many workers were suddenly faced with a crisis that appeared to have no solution ahead. Laxmi Kamble, co-ordinator with Acorn Foundation, which distributed food and ration kits during the lockdown, recalls the humiliation, desperation and embarrassment faced by workers, who were suddenly stuck with no tiffin service or hotels, no vessels to make food and no…

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…