Social Issues
Challenges in Slum Redevelopment
- 06 Mar 2025
- 7 min read
For Prelims: Right to shelter, Article 21, Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), Floor Space Index (FSI).
For Mains: Efficacy of slum rehabilitation laws, Judicial activism, Conflict between real estate interests and slum dwellers’ rights.
Why in News?
Following a Supreme Court (SC) directive, the Bombay High Court (HC) has initiated a first-of-its-kind review of the Maharashtra Slum Areas Act, 1971.
- The review aims to address systemic gaps causing delays in slum redevelopment projects, which violate slum dwellers’ right to shelter (Article 21) and livelihood.
Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971
- Key Provisions of the Act:
- Empowers the Maharashtra government to declare an area as a “slum area” and can acquire (if needed).
- Establishes the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) to oversee redevelopment via private developers.
- Maharashtra Slum Rehabilitation Scheme 1995:
- Under it, private developers (in agreement with the slum dwellers) fund redevelopment and provide finished tenements free of cost.
- In exchange, they receive some additional area for construction and selling in the open market.
- Developers receive incentives like higher Floor Space Index (FSI) and saleable areas in exchange for free housing for slum dwellers.
What are Slums?
- About: According to the United Nations, a slum is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and poverty and lacking in tenure security.
- Slums are chaotic, overcrowded, and neglected areas that have emerged as unplanned and unintended settlements due to urban development processes.
- The slum population constitutes 17.4% of the total urban population of India (census 2011).
- Reasons for Growth of Slums:
- Population growth and poverty drive the urban poor into expanding slums, with 40% of the population expected to live in urban areas by 2026, creating high land demand.
- Climate-induced crises, such as food insecurity and frequent disease outbreaks, can drive population growth in urban slums, further exacerbating unplanned urbanization.
- Regional development imbalances drive rural-to-urban migration from less developed (Bihar and Odisha) to prosperous states like Maharashtra and Gujarat.(highest slum population in Maharashtra: 1.18 crore).
- Inefficient urban local bodies, unplanned city management, and a lack of political will to develop slums contribute to the worsening of slum conditions. (Dharavi, India’s largest slum in Mumbai).
What are the Issues Due to the Neglecting of Slum Development?
- Illusion of Urban Opportunity: Slums may lure the rural poor with the promise of better opportunities, but they often mask the harsh realities and challenges of life in urban slums.
- Health Risks in Slum Areas: Residents in slum areas face significant health risks, particularly from waterborne diseases like typhoid and cholera.
- Exploitation of Vulnerable: Women and children in slums are often victims of prostitution, begging, and child trafficking
- Crime and Social Neglect: The slums are commonly believed to have high incidences of crime due to inadequate government attention to education, law enforcement, and public services.
- This contributes to issues like hunger, malnutrition, and limited access to education.
What are the Challenges in Slum Rehabilitation?
- Land and Legal Issues: Land acquisition and legal clearances often hindered by bureaucratic processes, and regulatory authorities are major bottlenecks in slum redevelopment projects.
- Financial Constraints: Securing substantial financial investment for slum rehabilitation projects is challenging, as private developers are often reluctant due to low returns on investment.
- Social and Cultural Barriers: Rehabilitation in slum communities can face resistance as slum dwellers fear losing their strong social and cultural ties.
- Environmental Considerations: Environmental challenges in slum rehabilitation include limited green spaces and waste accumulation, as slums often lack proper waste management systems, leading to environmental degradation.
- Implementation and Governance Issues: Developers delaying projects to inflate land costs hinder slum rehabilitation, as seen in Mumbai's SRA model, criticized for slow execution and lack of transparency.
Way Forward
- Holistic slum Rehabilitation: Investments in slum resilience could yield fourfold social returns and significant intangible benefits for society.
- Holistic slum rehabilitation interventions, costing around USD 7500 per household, could potentially generate an impact of USD 1.3 trillion in India.
- Clear Legal Frameworks: Implementing streamlined legal frameworks for land acquisition, like the Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) land pooling policies, ensures fair compensation and legal clarity.
- Innovative Financial Models: Utilizing Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), such as the Mumbai Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) model, attracts private investment while ensuring social impact.
- Community Engagement: Engaging communities in planning, as seen in the Participatory Slum Upgrading Program of UN-Habitat, mitigates resistance and respects residents' social and cultural needs.
- Environmental Integration: Incorporating green practices, like in Delhi's Kathputli Colony project, improves environmental conditions in slum rehabilitation.
- Effective Governance & Transparency: Strengthening governance and transparency, exemplified by Ahmedabad's Slum Networking Project (SNP), enhances the effectiveness of slum rehabilitation projects.
|
Drishti Mains Question: “ Q. Discuss the socio-economic challenges faced by slum dwellers in Indian urban areas and suggest measures to resolve these issues |
UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)
Mains:
Q. Does urbanization lead to more segregation and/or marginalization of the poor in Indian metropolises? (2023)
Q. Discuss the various social problems which originated out of the speedy process of urbanization in India. (2013)
