SUSHILABEN MANIBHAI NAIDU, 44
The government did not provide any financial
assistance while displacing us. We have created these huts with our savings.
The place is very unsafe for girls and being a mother of four girls I am always
concerned about their safety. My husband had written a letter to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi that our entire family would commit suicide if we weren't
provided with houses but we never got a response.
A study funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
has found Ahmedabad's style of consensual politics inherited from Gandhi being
supplanted by the paternalistic and statist approach of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.The study focused on understanding the lessons the city has for the Indian
Researchers Tanvi Bhatkal, William Avis and Susan Nicolai from UK-based
think-tank Overseas Development Institute worked on the study, `Towards a
better life: A cautionary tale of progress in Ahmedabad' for four years and
collaborated with Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Self-Employed Women's
Association (SEWA) and Saath.The report will be released today (Friday) and the
researchers will come to the city to hold discussion on it by the end of the
month.
Modi has often claimed and been credited with transforming
Ahmedabad into a “model city“. Carrying forward his ambition at the national
level, his Finance Minister Arun Jaitley declared in his last budget speech to
establish 100 smart cities in India. But Modi has overlooked the basic needs of
poor people which provides a severe challenge to Gandhi's legacy, claims the
study.
“The concept of development has increasingly shifted
towards the creation of `global cities' marked by capital-intensive
projects...the development aesthetic now is less human and more economic,
aiming for homogenous megacities that have no room for pooper sections,“ states
the study.
It highlights several challenges of Modi's top-down
private-sector approach to urban development. It states that with the advent of
the 100 `smart cities', it could be a microcosm of India nationally.
“Gandhian way of dialogue and negotiation between
communities and the government was the strength of Ahmedabad. However, recent
efforts have gone against this system. A large number of slum dwellers were
displaced. Similarly, longstanding markets were displaced along the riverbanks.
It raises questions of who is meant to benefit from development -the poor or
mainly the middle class and developers?“ wrote Tanvi Bhatkal, one of the
researchers in response to an email sent by Mirror.
INEQUALITY IN ACCESS TO SERVICES
Though the city has performed in terms of
construction of housing for low income families under the Basic Services to the
Urban Poor (BSUP) a component of the JnNURM, which has often been used to house
those displaced by large infrastructure projects such as the BRTS and Sabarmati
river front project, there have been several challenges in implantation.
The sites selected to rehabilitate displaced slum
residents are far from the city centre, often in poorly developed or industrial
areas and with poor access to transport links. Many people are unable to
continue with their earlier occupations, while others need to spend more travel
time and money to reach their place of work.
Due to the shifting under the riverfront project to
BSUP housing, 18 per cent of children dropped out of schools and an additional
11 per cent lost school attendance. This was due to a greater distance and poor
quality and higher cost of public transport to reach schools. Besides, many
students who stayed in schools faced longer travel at higher expense.
The primary health centres constructed on all
occupied BSUP sites have often been found nonfunctional. Moreover, drinking
water quality at many sites have shown high concentration of chemicals and
coliform bacteria, which have contributed to illness among the residents.
“Ahmedabad, which has had strong municipal governance
even before the JnNURM too, has failed to provide voice to citizens and not yet
created ward sabhas that were mandated as it reforms,“ stated the study.
DIVIDED ALONG RELIGIOUS LINES
The study also noted that Hindu and Muslim
communities have become increasingly distanced from each other.The city is
divided into two parts -eastern is largely occupied by lower caste and Muslim
families and western side is occupied by the rich and middle classes. Also, it
highlighted wide evi dent inequalities in access to basic services. “The
western side of the city has the highest level of basic services, public spaces,
schools and universities, and other amenities. On the other hand, the east has
much lower levels of amenities, exacerbating inequalities in living standards
and opportunities,“ stated the report.
ENVIRONMENT IGNORED
Several industries in the city are also drawing
groundwater in significant quantities. The AMC lacks the means to monitor
private wells.
“Ahmedabad once had sophisticated water management
structures such as stepwells and rainwater harvesting and storage systems but
these structures now lie derelict. The AMC lacks a strong water management
policy...the groundwater table in Ahmedabad is being depleted year on year.“
It also reports that inadequately treated industrial
effluents are directly released into Sabarmati River, much of it from the
textiles, dyes, chemicals and ceramics industries along its banks.Most of it is
released by government industrial body, Gujarat Industrial Development
Corporation (GIDC).
Dhirendra Mangerdas, 45
My husband was a vegetable vendor at the Sabarmati
riverfront but when we got uprooted from there, he went into depression. Due to
lack to money, we couldn't get him treated and he lost his mental balance.
Three years ago, he left home at night and since then we have no news about
him. The government has taken everything from us. We are like garbage which got
dumped here. The air is so poisonous here that 90 per cent of the people suffer
from breathing problem.
Jaishreeben Vijaybhai, 50
A study funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
has found Ahmedabad's style of consensual politics inherited from Gandhi being
supplanted by the paternalistic and statist approach of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. The study focused on understanding the lessons the city has for the
Indian context and other developing countries as it is projected as a model
city.
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