Bhopal, India Fieldwork 2018
AAR4525 Urban Informality
Urban Ecological Planning
Department of Architecture and Planning Faculty of Architecture and Design Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Report by Group 1 Gunika Rishi, Ningning XIE, Solrun Skiple Fjær
This report is the outcome of a one semester fieldwork in Bhopal, India, conducted by students at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in collaboration with the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) Bhopal and SPA Delhi. The fieldwork was part of a research project “Smart Sustainable City Regions in India” (SSCRI) financed by the Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU). The one semester fieldwork is an integral part of the 2 year International Master of Science Program in Urban Ecological Planning (UEP) at NTNU. Previous fieldtrips have been undertaken in Nepal, Uganda and India.
As is tradition, the diverse backgrounds and nationalities of students participating in the UEP fieldwork ensures a multi perspective view. This year’s 21 fieldwork participants are architects, social workers, engineers, landscape architects and planners, coming from Albania, Bangladesh, Canada, China, France, Germany, Honduras, India, Lithuania, Morocco, Mexico, Norway, Tunisia and the USA.
This first semester fieldwork gives students a real life practice of the so called ‘UEP
approach’, which focuses on an integrated area based situation analysis followed by strategic proposals. Through daily interactions with local communities and relevant stakeholders, students became acquainted with the community and discovered the complex realities of these areas, with their specific assets and challenges. By using a design thinking and participatory methods, this exercise gives the community a voice by making them active participants.
The main topic studied was informality in all its forms, and particular attention has been given to public space, gender, heritage, land and urban transformation. Students were also asked to put their areas and proposals in the perspective of the Smart Cities Mission, which is the largest urban development fund and initiative currently implemented by the Government of India.
The semester started with two intensive weeks of preparation with a number of lectures at the home campus of NTNU in Trondheim. The first weeks of our stay in Bhopal, the students became familiar with the city while staying at the SPA Bhopal campus, through a number of lectures and presentations from students and staff from SPA Bhopal and a
heritage walk through the old city. By the end of these first weeks, students were divided in six groups and assigned an area.
Through a joint workshop with SPA Bhopal, SPA Delhi and Krvia Mumbai on participatory methods familiarized themselves with their communities and participatory methods, which helped them to build trust with the residents. They continued using these methods and design thinking methods to conduct a situational analysis involving different stakeholders. A joint workshop with the design students from SPA Bhopal on co
design followed by a number of community workshops integrated the design thinking approach that helped to co design a series of proposals.
Students prepared four situational reports with proposals. This reports sums up the work done by group 1 inVisvakarma Nagar.
Hanne Vrebos, Rolee Aranya, Brita Fladvad Nielsen and Peter Andreas Gotsch, Fieldwork supervisors, NTNU, Department of Architecture and Planning
To India, for being sometimes sweet, sometimes spicy.
It’s hard to believe that our hard work and perseverance has finally taken the shape of this report. This wouldn’t have been possible without the help of an army of professionals, friends and organizations that have relentlessly helped us along the way.
We’d like to extend our deepest appreciation to Dr. Rolee Aranya, Dr. Peter Gotsh and Britta Fladvad Nielsen, for their teachings and insightful remarks. A very special thanks to Hanne Vrebos for not only answering our gazillion questions and guiding us academically, but for always believing in us, even when didn’t.
To Dr. N. Sridharan and the Institute for the Town Planners of India, Bhopal for their valuable reviews and helping us develop our ideas
To the staff and students of SPA Bhopal, for working with us during various stages of
research development. We’re grateful for their support and especially their hospitality.
We’re also grateful to the students of SPA Delhi and KRIVIA, Mumbai for sharing their experience and valuable opinions with us to help shape this research during its early stages.
Lastly, a big warm thanks, to our classmates. We got by with a lot of help from our friends.
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”
Jane JacobThe commotion of the road changes into children’s laughter and the fresh tar of the four lane road converts into dusty narrow aisles, as soon as we step down to walk into our site. We’re greeted by a vast stretch of dense tin roofs, each hooked with dish antennas. A change of height, from the main road to the site, doesn’t only feel metaphoric to the conditions we are about to enter, but is also a good reminder of the world we’d have to leave behind to understand this new one a little better.
Vishwakarma Nagar literally translates to the land for the god of architects, the one who creates. A lot of inquisitive faces greet us with questions and half smiles, we reciprocate with a namaste, trying our best to ease this new strangeness. For the residents of Vishwakarma Nagar, their basti, as they like to call their informal settlement, is the home they’ve always known. Three generations of family lineage have been brought up in this neighborhood, and for better or for worst, they wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
The residents have been living with unsurety for the past 20 years and today they face insecurity more than before. Knowing that one day their basti would be taken down seems like a hard pill to swallow. However, the strength and the resilience of this community lies in its verve and vitality.
As a part of the course Urban Informality at Urban Ecological Planning Programme, our group of three spent 8 weeks in close proximity with the residents, trying our best to understand their day to day lives, the dynamics they share within the community and the issues they face. We intend to study all these aspects to narrate an honest translation of our research from this fieldwork to have a better understanding of the assets and vulnerabilities of this area. To achieve this level of understanding, we’d be using Carole Rakodi’s Livelihoods Framework that puts the citizens at the center and looks at their assets from five different capital lenses.
Our focus lies on studying the complexity of Vishwakarma Nagar, a notified slum, which has found itself in the heart of an upcoming commercial area of Bhopal. The length of our study would be covering the participatory methods we used to involve the community in
Habibganj Railway Station
Vishwakarma Nagar
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our process of data collection, our analysis of the current situation based on the collected data and livelihood framework, which lead to our findings that would help draw us our focus. With these aforementioned understand ing we’d base our subsequent proposals that would act as strategic interventions resulting in both short and long term benefits.
A very famous Indian saying goes like: ‘Kos kos par badle paani, chaar kos par baani’
Translation:
The language spoken in India changes every four kilometers, just like the taste of water that changes every one kilometer’.
When one talks about India, it’s inevitable to not talk about its population and it’s diversity. With a population of 1.3 billion, India is one of the most densely populated countries in the world with almost 23 official languages and a kaleidoscope of religions and sects (Census 2001). With such a rich cultural and social diversity it’s hard to study the country in a pre set format that gives it a conventional identity.
We live in a world, after all, where the rights of private property and the profit rate trump all other notions of rights one can think of (Harvey, 2018). With urban migration
happening at a rapid pace, it’s hard for the city dwellers to survive the increasing prices and harder for the urban poor to own a rightful place in the city.
The central state of Madhya Pradesh is known for its rich culture and heritage. Owing to its location, it experiences migration from all parts of the country. This blend of culture and tradition has only added to the value the state has upheld. The capital city of Bhopal holds the same cultural richness as a testimony.
Bhopal gained a lot of international attention after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984 when thousands died due to lethal gas release at the Union Carbide factory. This industrial disaster that affected generations of survivors, even after 34 years, has the city fight for justice and compensation. However, the citizens of the city refuse to dwell on this tragic past and have moved on for a better future, but the crime and hurt are still alive in the hearts of many.
The city of Bhopal was also known as the princely state of the Begums and the Nawabs, the Islamic rulers. Today, this state capital is an administrative center and has gathered limelight for being one of the 20 projects under the first phase of Indian government’s acclaimed Smart City Project of 2015. It’s interesting to note how a part of Bhopal gears
up for this new dimension that it’s soon to receive and the other half of it holds onto its rich legacy and culture.
The smart city’s vision for Bhopal on its website says: “It (Bhopal) is amongst the 20 lighthouse cities with a dramatically different approach which is driven by ‘Redevelopment’ rather than ‘Retrofitting’” (Smartbhopal.city, 2018). This investment by the government would not only be focused at improving the infrastructure of the city, but also to improve the living standards for its citizens. However, this concept of digital utopia is neither inclusive of the marginalized nor does it take into consideration the social risks involved.
The year 2020 envisages Bhopal as a “zero slum city" with rehabilitation and relocation of as many as 20000 slum dwelling units in a phased manner (Saxena and Joshi, 2018). Through our project we intend to study the Smart City of Bhopal from a bottom top approach. Wherein, we seek the participation of those citizens whose opinions were left out from the grander schemes planned for the city.
Habibganj area, what once was the sub urban part of Bhopal is now considered one of the most prime locations of the city. To ease the traffic of the Bhopal Junction railway station, the Habibganj railway station was constructed
in the year 1979. In 2017, the Habibganj railway was taken over under the scheme of
Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), responsible for redevelopment projects across the country. Habibganj railway station is not only one of the many projects but is also the one spearheading the entire scheme, making it the first private railway station of the country.
The lease for the Habibganj Redevelopment Project (HRP) was won by the Bansal Group of Infrastructure, a local multi national company (MNC) that won the lease for 45 years. The project is split in two phases: Phase one would be looking at expansion and the development of three commercial blocks, while, the second phase would include a hotel and a hospital around the premises of the station. It’s anticipated that these high scale developments would contribute to the hike in land prices of the area and also give employment opportunities to many.
Right opposite the Habibganj railway station, to the southern part, is home to one of the biggest Indian industrial company: Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). In the year 1955, the government gave huge pockets of land around the city for the company to set up its mother plant. This development has
attracted a lot of industries and given many job opportunities. Back in the day, when the industry was flourishing it employed thousands, attracting a lot of job migrations. With time, and more competition, BHEL lost a lot of its projects to the more competent market, hence, downsizing the entire capital.
Abandoned quarters of BHEL employees today remain in wrecked and abandoned around the Habibganj area.
After the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, a lot of Bengali migrants moved towards Central India towards Bhopal, in search for a home and opportunities. A majority of these migrants settled in the outskirts of the city in a ‘forest like’ area called Habibganj. In front of the Habibganj railway station and next to the BHEL quarters, this migrant squatting occurred and thus came Vishwakarma Nagar into existence; and hence its second name, Bengali colony.
From our conversations with the residents, the first settlers that we could trace were the rural migrants who came here in the year 1960s from the neighboring town and villages of Madhya Pradesh looking for jobs. For this reason, today the area is segregated in two mahallahs, or communities: the Bengali and the Bihari mahallah, based on the place where one has come from. This squatting on a vacant
land grew denser every decade. Due to no formal intervention, the area grew organically without any planning. What once was a sub urban forest area soon turned into a dense settlement of migrants who called it home.
In 2013 Vishwakarma Nagar had around 848 households (Slum Free Plan for Bhopal Metropolitan Area, 2013). This organically growing informal settlement functions amidst a planned urban location. With commercialization and development happening in Habibganj, this settlement finds itself in the midst of great risks of eviction. When our group was assigned this site, we were told that probably the settlement won’t survive till the course of our fieldwork. Our assumption of the resident’s tenure security developed even before we visited the site.
Today, Vishwakarma Nagar is one of the slums listed in the Slum Free Plan that envisages a ‘Slum free India’ by encouraging States to tackle the problem of slums in a definitive manner (Sudaup.org, 2018). For the citizens, the future of Vishwakarma Nagar, their home, remains unknown.
Our assumption and their unknown future took us through deeper levels of research, each of which was developed through methods and procedures that would be discussed in detail in the subsequent chapters.
Co-workshop with SPA Delhi and KRVIA Mumbai
Identify issues: unemployment, marginialised women and tenure security
Identifying concerns: sanitation, water supply in addition to tenure security
Frustrated and confused by the interview with Bansal group
Data analysis and findings
Final report
Getting familiar with Bhopal
First visit to Vishwakarma Nagar
Co-workshop with SPA Bhopal
Interviews with community residents
Interviews with BHEL and Housing For All
Co design workshop with the community
Final presentation Seminar in Delhi
Seven participatory methods were mainly applied in our fieldwork to facilitate our process of understanding the situation, identifying the needs to find the focus, and developing proposals based on feedbacks from the residents.
Our study starts from getting familiar with the general situation of the research area, Vishwakarma Nagar. The ongoing redevelopment project gave us the assumption about tenure issue in this area. Instead of narrowing down our topic from a broader identification of needs and issues, our study direction deviated from the regular route as we directly went to the focus on tenure security before needs assessment, which was later proved to be hasty.
Although abundant information about land tenure and housing constantly came from residents through conversations, inadequate foundation for our assumption weakened our confidence and eventually guided us to a participatory needs assessment for supporting evidence. The needs identification stimulated us to look further into the topic of tenure security. We intended to find out to what extent residents’ needs are overlooked in a relocation project, and how people’s needs
could be taken into consideration in the future project of Vishwakarma Nagar.
However, an interview with Bansal Group revealed that both the residents and our group have misconception about the land owner, the future plan of this area as well as the power and interest level of different stakeholders.
It urged us to reflect where our misconception came from, which led to our focus on deficient information exchange. We thus seek to find out how such information inaccuracy and inadequacy happened, what information is usually missed, what are the consequences, and how we could contribute to addressing the issue with small interventions that could bring about changes in short term and longer.
This study aims to identify needs of residents in Vishwakarma Nagar through community participation, so as to explore how the prioritized issues could be addressed. Research questions of this study include: (1) What are residents’ main needs in Vishwakarma Nagar? (2) To what extent the information residents have matches the information from the official sources? (3) What are reasons of deficient information
exchange? (4) What are consequences of deficient information exchange? (5) How the deficient information exchange could be improved?
In order to answer abovementioned questions of this study, a qualitative research is carried out, as a qualitative research to describe and understand the situation (Streubert and Carpenter, 1995). Specifically, as our study places emphasis on needs of the marginalized groups and their informalities which are not fully taken into consideration in the formal planning, we attempt to conduct a participatory action research to involve community participants. Participatory action research is concerned with empowering the poor and marginalized members of society (Freire, 1970), and emphasizes that local people have rights to decide their development and to participate in the process of developing their solutions which they are able to control (Attwood, 1997).
This study is designed to obtain the inductive result, to understand the dynamics of our area and seek to develop strategic interventions to meet the needs of now, while working toward the aspirations of soon and later (Hamdi, 2010, p. 65).
Purposive sampling. Purposeful sampling is a technique widely used in qualitative research for the identification and selection of information rich cases for the most effective
use of limited resources (Patton, 2002). In order to select of cases with maximum variation to serve our purpose of identifying important common needs that cut across variations among different age, gender and community groups, we thus adopted the heterogeneous purposive sampling in our stage of needs identification.
Convenience sampling. Convenience sampling involves getting participants wherever you can find them and typically wherever is convenient (Dudovskiy, 2016). During our Co workshop with local residents, convenience sampling was used due to the availability of participants.
To serve the purpose of this study, participant observation, participatory mapping, transect walks, participatory needs assessment, semi structured interviews, surveys, documentary analysis are used to collect the data in our process.
allows the researcher to learn about the cultures and social customs of local communities with the direct involvement into their daily life.
During our fieldwork, we moved from the campus to the city and stayed 15 minutes away from the area on foot. Every day we spent several hours in the settlement and communicated with local residents, giving us a better understanding of how local residents live and shaped the society that they possess now. During the local Ganesh Festival, we were invited to participate in the celebration events in Bengali community, where we had interaction with local women, who usually lack the opportunities to choose their career. Some stay unemployed at home for religious, cultural or domestic reasons. On the other hand, for days we were also involved in the daily game playing of children in Bihari community.
Participant observation is a fieldwork technique used by anthropologists and sociologists to collect qualitative and quantitative data that leads to an in depth understanding of peoples’ practices, motivations, and attitudes (World Bank, 1996). Originated from ethnographic research as a data collection method, participant observation enables the researcher to cultivate personal interaction with local residents, and
Transect walk is a type of mapping activity, but it involves actually walking across an area with a community member or a group, observing, asking questions and listening as you go (Thomas, 2004). Walking around in the communities with local residents deepens our understanding on the community from diverse dimensions.
On account of the invisible boundary between communities, we fortunately had 5 different groups of local children from different communities to show us around in transect walks. During transect walks, kids made decisions about where we went and the sequence of visiting different areas and paths. Transect walks gave us an overview of the estimated household numbers, the residence density, the detailed boundary and the complex physical structures deep inside the settlements.
High density of wells which supply water in addition to several water tanks is one of the elements making this area special. It is also one of many ways in which informality takes place here. In addition, the transect walks also highlighted the issues of toilets and drainage. We also accessed marginalized households that we neglected before because of the complexity of path network in this area.
Before we conducted the needs assessment, our group was unconfident about the focus of our study, as numerous issues were identified based on previous observation and interviews. The needs assessment thus also served to help our group narrow down to a topic that could bring residents something they demand for. The goal of a needs assessment is to identify the assets of a community and determine
potential concerns that it faces. A straightforward way to estimate the needs of the community is to simply ask residents their opinions about the development of services within the community, their satisfaction with services, and what particular services they need (Sharma, Lanum, and Suarez Balcazar, 2000). Rating activities offer opportunities for local residents to weigh up issues either related to each other or according to criteria, while the short interviews enable us to understand what these people value and why.
Accordingly, in order to allow residents to prioritize their concerns based on our preliminary study, we designed a card sort and rating game. Brief interviews followed to allow each respondent to give their explanation and opinions about their choices.
The participatory mapping and transect walks we conducted earlier facilitated our selection of 8 respondents that range in age, gender and origin of the community. In our two day needs assessment activity, we collected responses of 3 residents from Bihari community and 5 residents from Bengali community. Among them 3 are males, and 5 are females. The age ranges from 15 to 60. 25 cards with different topics originated from our previous findings were provided for selection and some blank cards for adding topics that we didn’t cover. Respondents were asked to pick 5 10 cards of specific topics they regard as the most urgent, and to rate according to their satisfaction degree on these topics.
According to the needs assessment, housing and toilets are the two most frequently expressed concerns for respondents, which corresponds to our earlier findings. A girl mentioned that the public toilets are deficit not only in number but also in its accessibility in night, as the one run by the municipality is usually closed by 9 P.M., while the drunken
men gathering around make her feel unsafe about going to movable toilets in the night.
“We have to pay every time we have to use the public toilet. It’s very important to have your own toilet, because where would you go when your stomach is upset in the night.”
Female, Bengali, 15
“Toilet in the front closes at nine. But if we in the night have to go to the toilet in the back, it is unsafe, because boys smoke and drink around that area.”
Female, Bengali, 16
Respondents also ranked houses as their high priority of concern. Some expressed the concern of being evicted, to which our group has been paying attention to considering the ongoing Habibganj railway station project.
“In theory everyone owns the house, but in reality the government owns the house. And we never know when they are going to tell us to leave. We don't have a document for the house.”
Female, Bengali, 16
“House is the utmost important thing that everyone should own. I have been staying here for 20 years, in the same place, I have no property elsewhere in the city.”
Male, Bihari, 40
The often mentioned coming eviction triggered our curiosity about the future plan of
the authority and the current situation of residents, leading us to the decision of digging into it.
Besides, the needs assessment also highlighted water supply as another issue, hidden behind the harmonious scene of abundant wells.
“Getting water is a big issue here. We get water from the hand pumps which are far away. The hand pumps and wells are divided according to the communities.”
Female, Bihari, 24
“Getting water is troublesome because ten people have to queue to get water. I have to go five times to get water.”
Male, Bihari, 40
Therefore, four sessions of interviews, which are filming interviews with local residents regarding tenure security and housing, interviews following needs assessment, interviews with Bansal Group, BHEL and government officers to find out the formal planning information, and finally interviews after co workshop with NGOs and government officers to facilitate the proposal. We spoke to the residents about their day to day life around the area, the potential loopholes in their present neighborhood and how they would possibly try to solve them.
It’s very important to know the objective of your conversation. However, in an informal setup the conversation needs enough space to move into all possible directions. Semi structured interviews, or conversational interviews, are flexibly structured with certain number of predetermined questions, ensuring the focus of the interview on specific issues while allowing participant to develop related new topics (World Bank, 1996). One merit of semi structured interviews to collect data is the possibilities of collecting detailed information with open ended questions.
Interviews about tenure security and housing. We adopted heterogeneous purposive sampling to select 6 participants from different communities and of age and gender, to conduct 6 interviews on this topic, so as to get the common concern and maximum information. Questionnaires from UN Habitat helped us keep the conversation on track and proved essential in not skipping any important details. We had conversations with participants to find out how local residents perceive their tenure security, how they obtain information about their area, and how they react to the potential resettlement, while taking videos of our conversation that recorded their body language and feelings on their face. Videos deepen our understanding on what people are trying to express with the
supplement of gestures, facial expressions and eye contacts.
However, during our interviews with residents, we were unable to make sure the interviews take place in a perfect environment due to lack of time and resources. It is suggested that in conducting an interview the interviewer should attempt to create a friendly, non threatening atmosphere (Dudovskiy, 2016). Our interviews were carried out inside participant’s house, on the street, and sometimes with the presence of family members or strangers, which could undermine the validity of participants’ responses.
Interviews with the private sector and the government. To gather the information about the land use plan and future redevelopment scheme, our group interviewed the construction manager from Bansal Group, which is the developer of Habibganj Railway Station, the Officer of Publicity & Public Relation at BHEL, which is the land owner of our area, and the city engineer as well as the department head at Housing for All.
Interviews with the NGOs about community empowerment. Aarambh Bhopal is an organization with focuses on urban sanitation, women empowerment and community development. With the realization that residents in our slum lack access to receive
and convey information regarding their future and demands, we sought to get contact with non governmental organizations working in this field. In literature we found NSDF, whose main aim is to mobilize the urban poor come together, articulate their concerns and find solutions to the problems they face. Although NSDF doesn’t have a branch in Bhopal, we visited its partner organization Samarthan here in this city, through which we accessed Aarambh. We seek to learn experience on providing capacity building trainings in the communities. And we were told that it is possible to go through the procedure to get funding for our suggested projects in the future.
Survey is a sequence of focused, predetermined questions in a fixed order, often with predetermined, limited options for responses (World Bank, 1996). Surveys can be used to identify development problems or objectives, narrow the focus or clarify the objectives of a project. In our study 12 surveys regarding demographic information were carried out in the early stage of our study to help us grasp the basic situation about the household characteristics and employment in our area. 10 surveys in the form of quiz were finished by community residents during the workshop, demonstrating their lack of correct information related to their area including the knowledge about the real land owner of their slum. A lot of residents have the misconception that the Habibganj Railway Station Co. Ltd. owns the land.
Matrix Scoring and Ranking is a way to structure the perceptions and opinions of informants so that individual or group qualities can be ranked in order of importance and the reasons for this ranking discussed (Chatty, Baas, and Fleig, 2003). In our study we conducted the activity both for the needs assessment and the co design workshop. In the co design workshop, two scoring activities were carried out to find out how residents get information about their own
rights and how they convey their demands. Participants were asked to score the different ways of getting and delivering information that they use the most often, that they think the most effective, and that they think need improvement. High percentage of respondents indicated that friends is the most common source for them to gather information about their own rights, and media/internet is the most effective way, while government officers such as ward councilors are anticipated to communicate more with them.
Maps are important means to illustrate resources, socio economic features, movements and outside contacts of local groups or communities (Chatty, Baas, and Fleig, 2003). Throughout our fieldwork
mapping activities are frequently conducted to help us collect visual data demonstrating the physical setting, the demographic characteristics as well as the strengths and weaknesses of our area. Through involving local residents in our mapping, we also learned from their discussion about their concerns about employment, water supply, sanitation and housing.
At the earlier stage of our fieldwork, we conducted several visits to the Vishwakarma Nagar, during one of which we commenced mapping in cooperation with students from SPA Delhi and KRVIA Mumbai. Albeit new in the village, we fortunately attracted a number of residents ranging from children to elderly to engage in our mapping activities, which gave us the idea about Vishwakarma Nagar and the surrounding area from the perspective of local residents.
Due to the weak signal in our site, we were not able to map precise location of all the objects such as indoor wells or small drainage along building with the GIS collector on our smartphone. Luckily with printed google satellite maps from different years and the help of residents, we mapped important ones. In addition, we also mapped temples, stores, schools, toilets, hospitals, public space, etc.
Based on residents’ feedbacks, in our co design workshop we carried out a more elaborate community mapping activity for participants to identify challenges that they face and resources they can utilize. Residents came to realize that the invisible boundary between communities might be an issue. But it also strengthened their understanding about the public services they can access and the community strengths brought by members with a variety of skills in this area.
Content analysis was mainly used to analyze the data collected through semi structured interviews. It enables researchers to structure the qualitative data collected in a way that satisfies the accomplishment of research objectives (Langkos, 2014). However, human error that might be involved in content analysis will also lead to misinterpretation of data, increasing the risk of unreliable conclusions (Krippendorff and Bock, 2008), which is a limitation.
Households or individuals are considered poor when the resources they command are insufficient to enable them to consume sufficient goods and services to achieve a reasonable minimum level of welfare (Rakodi, 2014). To understand the complexities and the assets of the community we chose to follow the Livelihoods framework. The objective is to get a holistic view of the constraints and opportunities through five different capitals. The idea of assets is central to the sustainable livelihoods approach. Rather than understanding poverty as simply a lack of income, the sustainable livelihoods approach considers the assets that poor people need in order to sustain an adequate income to live. (Soas.ac.uk, 2018) Through this method of approach the development tends to be people centric (ibid.).
It’s essential to understand that while we discuss the assets of the residents, it’s undeniable to address their disadvantageous living conditions that they cope Livelihoods Framework builds upon people’s own definitions of constraints and opportunities and, where feasible, it then supports people to address/realise them (Livelihoodscentre.org, 2018). Our observations have, therefore, been through
conversations and participatory methods. This qualitative analysis helps put a clearer and a more realistic picture of the livelihoods of the residents, which would further contribute to our future intervention to facilitate the community’s resilience.
Housing. When one enters Vishwakarma Nagar from the main access road the first sight is of a sweeping array of tin roofs with dish antennas fixed upon each of the dwellings. Though the nature of houses vary every third dwelling, temporary roofs have been mostly common. The ‘kutcha’ (temporary) houses are made of tin or plastic sheets whereas the ‘pucca’ (permanent) houses are made of brick and mud mortar.
These temporary and semi temporary infrastructure speaks volumes of the mindset of the dwellers that live with an uncertain future. Due to lack of interest in infrastructure investment, the condition of the houses are
shabby. During the summers, the houses heat up causing heat trap and suffocation. In the monsoon period, a lot of seepage occurs through the temporary roofs. To avoid this situation the residents have layers of plastic sheets piled over the roof that act as a waterproof layer.
It’s only in a few affluent pockets where people have room to invest in form of infrastructure development. These bastis would have a concrete slab for a roof and walls made of bricks and mud mortar. To avoid direct sunlight they extend a layer of the tin sheet that acts as a projection. One of the streets has a pergola.
Sanitation. A general observation and trend suggests that slums generally appear along rivers, drains or railway tracks. In Vishwakarma nagar, a natural ‘nala’ (drain) runs through and through making it both an opportunity and a threat for sanitation.
Public toilets. Toilets are a major concern in this area. The local municipal body has constructed a public toilet block on the western front, facing the main access road and transportable toilet cabins on the rear end. The toilet block was constructed in 2015 under the Swach Bharat Mission that focuses on ensuring 100% toilets in each urban household by the year 2020 (http://swachhbharatmission.gov.in, accessed on Nov, 2018). For a majority of the residents in Vishwakarma Nagar the only accessible toilets are the two provided by the government. The other handful few, have constructed their own private toilets by digging pits that haven’t been emptied since the time of construction. Lack of awareness makes them ignorant of the health hazards that might follow due to no maintenance.
Open drainage. One major tangible issue evident in the area is the amount of open drains that run through the length and breadth of the settlement causing pollution and unhygienic surroundings. These drains are in close proximity to the houses making the
current state of sanitation questionable. To add to this woe, poor condition of waste management increases health risks and puts the public hygiene of Vishwakarma nagar under low charts. To deal with the menace of open drains, the residents have covered them with stone slabs at some crucial points, for instance, near the entrance of their homes. Every two months there is a collaborate effort made by the neighborhood to call the municipal team and get these drains cleaned and unclogged. The entire process takes almost half a day, for which they collectively pay in terms of both, money and time.
Water supply. Vishwakarma Nagar has no fresh stream of flowing water around it. So, the residents get water from a variety of different sources, each of which caters to different needs.
Wells. When the community first settled in the area they found groundwater at 10 15 feet. This resulted in a lot of digging of well some of which are used by the community and some privately. The community wells are divided within the neighborhood to ensure lesser waiting time and access to all. Due to the well being open to pollution and other disinfectants this water is used for cleaning purposes only. In the Bengali area, we found some houses, which have their wells in their
kitchen. To avoid any mishap or water pollution they have covered the well with wooden logs and finished it with a layer of concrete leaving a hole big enough to let a water hose pass by. This water hose is connected to an electrical motor that pumps out water with a click of a button. This convenience, though a privilege for a handful, helps the residents have easy access to safe water. During an interview in one of these houses, that explained to us the mechanics of the motorised well, it was also brought to our notice that certain amount of chlorine and other tablets are dropped in the well to ensure the pH balance of the water making it fit for consumption.
Tanks. The municipal cooperation has installed huge tanks over pedestals on the rear side of the area. Twice a day a water tanker fills these tanks for the people to have access to water round the clock.
Hand pumps. Another water supply option is the pumps that tap the ground water. Some of these hand pumps are for communal use while the smaller ones planted in front of the houses are for personal uses.
electricity is being tapped illegally from the formal electrical circuit. During our need assessment session, one of the participants expressed their concern of these open electrical circuits that have caused deaths due to short circuiting during the monsoon season. Even though this access to free electricity is illegal, this informality is almost a way of life.
“We’ve professionals to come home to install our Dish antenna but we don’t get an electrician to make these circuits safe. This mentality has to change”
With every second household, having a cable connection it wasn’t a surprise to see heavy appliances like refrigerator, washing machine and LED screens. A few of the houses where we were invited had invested a lot more in the newest gadget and latest technology. This indoor scenario was in stark contrast to the outdoors condition where there were no streetlights in some of the dingy areas.
Access to energy and appliances. “We’re not poor, everyone has an iPhones.” Due to no formal electrical grid system, a common sight throughout Vishwakarma Nagar is of open electrical. It’s easily identifiable at what nodes
During our quest to find the state of gas connections, we found out that a lot of houses purchase gas cylinders from the black market at half the cost. When we spoke to residents about the same during the need assessment we realized that there was a general awareness of hazards of using a mud hearth with coal to cook food as the smoke may cause long term breathing problems or worst, suffocation.
However, in a few houses, the latter was still prevalent due to economic constraints.
serve as a social and religious focal point. The Bengali mahallah is said to be older than the settlement and attracts thousands of devotees from around the country each year for a three day festival in April. This temple, also known as the only Bengali temple of Bhopal, serves as political support bait for both the residents and the local leaders.
Every evening the families gather around these temples not only for religious offerings, but also discuss politics and TV shows, too.
Religious and public spaces. Vishwakarma
Nagar also known as the Bengali colony is socially divided into two parts. The Bengali mahallah (neighborhood) was formed after the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 when Bengalis started migrating towards Central India. The other part known as the Bihari mahallah has people from Bihar, Orissa and various cities in Madhya Pradesh. Due to these two mahallahs there is a strong sense of regional and religion based community mobilization which is spearheaded from their points of worship. There are two major temples that cater to each of the mahallahs and
Mobility. The main access to Vishwakarma is via Sri Aurobindo Marg (refer to map), which is a 30 meter wide main road, owing to this area’s commercial value. If one accesses the area from this main road, inside the slum, the
main alley runs through and through serving as the spine. This is also the approach for two wheelers to cross from one side to the other. However, the alley isn’t wide enough for 4 wheelers, hence, making the entire Vishwakarma Nagar pedestrian friendly. We gathered that the roads were tiled and concreted as a promise before elections by various politicians. In the depth of the settlement the roads get narrower, with some small enough for only one way pedestrian traffic.
The residents are well connected to the public transport route and catch their buses and auto rickshaws from the main road. The Habibganj Railways Station right in front of the settlement ensures ease in commute of any form. Children, too, board their school buses from either the main road or from the rear side.
This capital covers the land, soil and all the other environmental services rendered to the area. The fact that Vishwakarma Nagar is set amidst urban settings, adds another dimension to its resource network. Urban agriculture is one of the most prominent resource stocks. A lot of the households have chickens, cows, and goats for their day to day dairy needs. The livestock is either tied outside the house or in the communal space. A few houses have taken out chunks of their courtyard to grow basil, coriander and other day to day consumption leaves.
This capital looks at how the community can benefit from its human resources. Our observation, conversations and subsequent surveys suggested that this area has high percentage of young population, which gives it more dynamics and potential.
Access to basic education. Within the boundaries of Vishwakarma Nagar there are two ‘anganwadis’ (kindergartens) for children at the age of 3 to 8. These anganwadis are run as a joint collaboration between UNICEF, Bhopal and Madhya Pradesh Health Department. Parallel to functioning as a kindergarten, the anganwadi also doubles up as a health center for both pregnant women and children. The two ladies that work to run the organisations are the residents of the Vishwakarma Nagar. Every fortnight they go around the area to vaccinate the newborns and to ensure the health of the pregnant women. Besides, children between the age of 10 to 18 years have access to affordable education with a lot of schools around the area. A government run senior school right next to the settlement is one of the most viable options for the children of the area.
However, for teenagers the options after school are either limited or far away from the city. The ones who are eager to complete their higher education face the challenge of
exorbitant educational fees and puny chances for government funding. Furthermore, despite of the large unemployed population, necessary skill training programmes from either the government or NGOs are currently absent in Vishwakarma Nagar.
Access to healthcare. Good health is not simply a means to earning a livelihood; it is of course an end in itself (Soas.ac.uk, 2018). A clinic run by one of the local residents is present in the commercial lane of Vishwakarma Nagar. However, its functionality and credibility is questionable as, according to local residents, it seldom opens. Still, residents have access to both public and private hospitals within the radius of 6 kilometers, although one of the residents, aged 62, expressed the long waiting hours at the public hospitals and the inability to afford a private treatment.
As previously mentioned, the anganwadis work at grass root levels to ensure medical help to children and pregnant ladies. A regular vitamin test is done on children and specific care is given to malnourished children and women right after their delivery.
In this part of the Livelihoods Framework we investigate the various ways in which the residents earn an income to support their
households and ways in which they access their financial resources during times of distress.
Owing to the prime location of the basti (settlement) there are a lot of commercial hubs where people find daily jobs to earn a basic income. For instance, MP Nagar, the busiest commercial hub of Bhopal attracts a lot of the residents from the basti for jobs in hotels or shops. Our perception of Railway being one of the prime employers for the residents was false when we realised that people only have private jobs. The luxury of having a government job was unknown in Vishwakarma Nagar.
A stretch of small thelas (temporary shops) in the front was one of the most viable options for the residents to work from their own area. This way they could cater to the passengers who were commuting via the railway station. A similar such commercial belt is on the rear end of the basti where people run salons, daily confectionary shop and even tailor shops.
We understood that gender plays a major role in financial standings. Men usually work as a daily labour or have private jobs in the commercial areas around Habibganj. The fact that a majority of the women don’t get the choice to pursue a regular job results in households run only on one single earning
hand. The reason for a few women to have a regular stable job is either to support the erratic job conditions of their husbands or in case of no earning hand at all. The proximity of BHEL quarters insures relatively steady housekeeping jobs for women. Though there aren’t any on site work organisations, small businesses exist that run within the house premises by women. These jobs add to the extra income and mainly consist of stitching or ironing clothes.
The young demographics of Vishwakarma Nagar find it hard to get a decent job due to the economical slack and are generally found working as unpaid labour or starting a small scale business with friends/ family.
The more affluent Bengali community has a religious committee that works closely with the local leaders. In return of votes these political parties fund their religious festivals and provide infrastructural aid.
Noticeably, from the interviews we conducted we drew out the conclusion that a lot of the savings of the family are either transferred back to the home back in the village or is used to buy land in the city. Due to the absence of any savings group, the financial literacy isn’t high.
Social capital refers to the interpersonal relations within the residents and the network they make outside the community that create trust (Livelihoodscentre.org, 2018). To study these social dynamics of Vishwakarma Nagar we delved into this capital in two dimensions: vertical and horizontal relations.
Vertical relations. These relations mainly refer to the power dynamics of the residents with the local government. There is lack of community representation for the residents creating a loophole in the communication between the two parties. During the co design workshop residents mocked the fact that they get to see the ward councillor only once in four years, that is, right before the election period.
The influential families, on the other hand, have contacts in the municipal office and tend to get their demands heard. This results in the marginalised being more invisible creating insecurity and lack of trust in the system. Some NGOs and government healthcare schemes work in the area via the anganwadis ensuring some sort of attention and platform for future schemes to be implemented.
Horizontal relations. Within each household, men and women hold different social space due to the existent patriarchy and due to the
financial independence of the former. It’s a common sight to see women take over public gathering space every evening to either knit or debate about the latest happenings and men to gamble.
The strongest social capital in this dimension is residents’ strong sense of belonging to their community, among which the most well built form is the religious strength that is evident in the networking within.
However, the Bihari and the Bengali mahallah have an unsaid boundary that is respected by both the communities. This regional and religion based disparity, though sensitive, clearly depicted an unhealthy atmosphere for the weaker and the minority.
The above capitals give a brief insight into the strengths and assets of the grounds on which the community is built on. During times of shocks and distress the community taps on these assets to deal and recover. It creates an interesting case of how the abundant assets balance the ones that are absent. It’s essential to draw on these strengths of the community to ensure their potential is utilised to its full potential.
On the other hand, ‘asset poverty’ is an indication of systematic discrimination in the development process (Aliber, 2001; Du Toit, 2004: Hall and Patrinos, 2005). The fact that within one community there lies various region and religion based disparities is a clear indicator of the distribution of resources and the ability to afford them. This brings us to social capital, which didn’t exhibit high competence but has high potential if intervened. The strong sense of community and neighbourhood ensures a healthy bonding within the community. However, the social structure that divides the community in unsaid halves.
From our study of Vishwakarma Nagar it’s clear that the human capital of residents is one of its strongest assets owing to the plethora of options in healthcare and education institutes. The young demographics,
too, proves to be a favourable asset that ensures complete harness of opportunities and provides young workforce.
Informality attributes to the physical capital largely due to tenure insecurity which doesn’t allow the residents to invest in infrastructure and services.
Politics of land. During our initial days on site, we enquired from the residents as to who owns the land of Vishwakarma Nagar. The only answer we repeatedly got was: Railway authority, Habibganj railway station being right opposite this settlement. It was interesting to note that there was a prevalent image of how the future would like, in multi storey building, on the outskirts of the city. We were aware, through the local news, about the Habibganj Redevelopment Project that is to be executed through Public private partnership. This tender by the railway authority was awarded to The Bansal group of Infrastructure, a local private multinational company. The Bansal group leased out the Habibganj railway station for the next 45 years, making it one of the first privately run station in the country. To investigate further on the ownership and entitlement of the land rights we went to, what we assumed were our biggest and most powerful stakeholders: The Bansal Group.
We hence went into further institutional investigation. We met Mr. Asif Ansari* the project head from Bansal Group of Infrastructure for the Habibganj
Redevelopment Project (HRP). Under his supervision the entire project is to be executed in alliance with the railway department and a German architectural company that is hired to design the terminal. Mr. Ansari detailed out the entire vision of the project whose first phase is targeted to be completed by 2020. We learnt that the Habibganj Station not only was important for the city’s transportation development but also was of prime importance nationally. The IRSDC (Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited) is assigned the task to enhance and upgrade the facilities of eight national railway station (Irsdc.in., 2018). Out of these eight, Habibganj is ranked as the pilot project to spearhead this PPP project.
After a walk through the entire premises of the newly sanctioned railway station, Mr.
Ansari explained the ‘boundaries’ of the project. To our utter surprise and shock, Vishwakarma Nagar wasn’t a part of the project. The scope of the project was limited to only the northern side of the road, hence, eliminating any chance of immediate eviction as part of the redevelopment project. Furthermore, our information gathered from the residence regarding the ownership of the land was also proven wrong. Mr. Ansari explained how the Railway is an old patronage of BHEL and has leased out a lot of land pockets around Habibganj for storage and workshop purposed. The landowner of Vishwakarma Nagar, legally speaking, was BHEL.
Our focus on immediate eviction and tenure security took a back seat after this interview. The quest for more grass root answers began, the most important one being what’s the future of the residents of Vishwakarma Nagar. If the eviction is not immediate, then when it is? This led us to the rightful owners of the land, in the office of: BHEL, Bhopal.
At the office of Mr. Hasan Minhaj, the Sr. Officer, Publicity & Public Relation, BHEL, we got to know more about the history and the prevalent footprint of the company in Bhopal. In the 50s when BHEL came to Bhopal the government gave massive land pockets around the city for it to set up its
‘mother’ factory. Decades later, with more mechanical systems and even more competition in the field, the company saw losing its foothold in the market. This resulted in a drop in employment number and a lot of land left abandoned due to no new future expansion.
One of these abandoned lands, owned by BHEL, is what we know as the Vishwakarma Nagar today. On scrutinising further, we found out that the squatting on similar such properties has been a trend around the city. Mr. Minhaj narrated the incident wherein similar such settlement had squatted near the AIIMS Hospital and was to be evicted within 6 months due to its proximity to the hospital.
On asking him about the future of Vishwakarma Nagar, his explanation was ambiguous. Mr. Minhaj had a plausibly unprejudiced opinion about the existence of a settlement that has been on their land for over 30 years. When asked to choose one out of three options, which are “unhappy”, “don’t care”, “happy”, to define their feeling about the squatting, he frankly answered “no one will be happy about others occupying their property”. It was implied in our conversation that at present BHEL had an indifferent outlook towards the residents of Vishwakarma Nagar due to their development predicament, but it also adds more uncertainty to the future.
‘We give a two month notice to the people for eviction. That’s enough time for them to look for another place. After that we bulldoze and clear that land.’
It’s essential to emphasize on the complexity of decision making processes that occur in this policy web network. This not only makes the process complicated, but also, would be the cause of confusion if one of the stakeholders changes power of position.
tool to clear the lands and disperse the poor (Ramanathan, 2018). The eviction in the name of public development has lead to distress and often confrontation between the people and the government. Residents of Vishwakarma Nagar, not been granted Patta, have been living with this fear of eviction for over 20 years now, not knowing what the future holds for them.
Urgency of tenure issue. If Darwin’s theory of survival was befitting in this century it would include owning property as one of its key theories. With inter and intra state migration happening every day at a rapid pace it’s a nightmare for the poor to hold a steady place and call it their own. "Cleaning up" the city usually employs demolition as an effective
The Patta Act is formulated by the Indian government to ensure that there is a legal binding for the ownership of a land. The document guarantees a squatter a rightful occupation of land in case of eviction. Residents of Vishwakarma Nagar don’t own a Patta, which means that a secure future or resettlement may or may not be possible. During our interviews we learnt that the resident either rent or lease out land as per their convenience. Informality takes place when they sell their houses, as they fill a form of ‘donation’ to transfer the ownership of land to the buyer for free, but take money for the built structure that they’ve erected. This system of land and ownership transfer is not a proof enough for the legal bindings of the country.
Considering the current situation of the redevelopment project and the legal weakness of the residents, the tenure security of the residents remains very high.
We took reference from the article Conceptualising Informality by Uwe Altrock (2012) to examine the nature of services present and available to residents in Vishwakarma Nagar. To speak of informality only makes sense if there is something like formalization that has led to formality. (Waibel and McFarlane, n.d.). This 30 year old settlement, today, has carved a niche for itself in the urban fabric of the city. However, the truth lies in the fact that the absence of formality has led to a substitution from the informal sector.
Notably, unsatisfied needs are conspicuous even though the basic services, such as water, electricity and sanitation, are available for every resident, since they are in shoddy conditions resulting in poor infrastructure. To have free access to these services, the residents tap on the formal grid laid for the neighborhood. This informal ingress results in unsafe conditions that can prove to be, both, illegal and hazardous.
Such unsatisfied needs and sub standard living conditions are partly caused by residents’ reluctance to invest in the infrastructure due to their high tenure insecurity. The magnitude of this issue depends on the caste and economic status of each household. The minority and the ‘invisible’ being the ones that are the most affected.
The difference between informality and formality is one of degree (ibid). For residents of Vishwakarma Nagar, access to services and utilities is a fight against the formal system of energy distribution that excludes them from acquiring even the essential commodities. In the absence of formal provision of services, they have found out ways to get these resources, illegally. These resources include negotiations with the authorities and, very often, bribery. The struggle to run a household with bare minimum necessities reflects in their day to day hustle for chores.
Our perception of a homogenous community was broken by the truth that the community is segregated, not geographically, but both hierarchically and economically. Moreover, there was an unsaid disparity and hierarchy even within each community. This division is either based on the caste system or the financial situation of each family.
Between communities, there is a socio economic divide deriving from origins of families which further widens the gap of their financial status. The Bengali community, for instance, is more affluent and has better chances of dealing with a shock than the Bihari community. Through our observation, such divergence has led to formation of invisible boundaries, which resulted in rare interaction between these two communities.
It is also important to notice that while the former is from parts of Kolkatta and Bangladesh, there is a variety of origins in the Bihari community ranging from the state of MP itself to south India. This heterogeneity
divides the community in further smaller segments.
To understand this hierarchy within Vishwakarma Nagar, it’s also essential to understand the prevalent caste system, which is engrained in the Indian society. This dogma doesn’t allow people from the bottom of the system to avail equal and fair opportunities, hence, hindering their growth.
Even a poor community doesn’t escape the caste dimension. In Vishwakarma we identified these ‘invisible’ pockets within each mahallah (community). These were generally the people with smaller houses in the interiors of the basti (settlement). As alleys grew narrower, even living conditions deteriorated. Apart, from the physical aspect, they also lagged behind their community. While carrying out various participatory methods, it was evident how the opinions and answers changed within the community, as we moved from the more affluent to the marginalised pockets.
This social division was perceptible during our analysis of community capitals. Everything from services to opportunities funnels down to the lowest parts of the community, leaving them with either little or no option. This division reflects poorly on the area’s unity and representation.
Description of issue. Information holds prime importance in shaping the security and confidence of citizens in a democratic country. Access to information doesn’t only guarantee a secure future but also strengthens the vision the citizens hold for their future. In a country like India, where the billions are divided in various layers of caste and class, it’s difficult to ensure a uniform conveyance of information from the top down, to the marginalized.
The two way transmission of information between the dwellers and the local government is miniscule. The accuracy of information depends on ones’ caste and societal privilege, hence, leading to high levels of insecurity amongst the marginalised. As discussed in the previous chapter, information not only is a powerful tool to peddle through the current socio political scenario, but it also ensures that the shock affect is minimised for the residents when eviction happens.
The information inaccuracy and insufficiency is mainly comprised of two parts. One is residents’ misconception about their land future, as their belief that the Railway authority was the rightful owner of their land and the eviction was anytime this year contradicted with the information from the powerful stakeholders that there was no
planed eviction or relocation for the settlement now. It thus shifted our focus from tenure security to deficient information exchange.
Another is the unawareness of their own rights. Daily conversations and interviews suggested that the residents of Vishwakarma Nagar weren’t aware of their basic rights or the government laws/ schemes, like the ones that ensured housing as a basic right for every citizen, crippling their ability to fight for their better life.
The frail system behind insufficiency and inaccuracy of information excludes the minority, the ones who have no voice, to seek a platform for a two way dialogue. Our focus lies on the informality of this dialogue system and the political and social web that is wound around it that disables to grow in any one direction. It is only when accurate information is accessible, would the community be mobilized, irrespective of their social standings.
Also, insufficiency and inaccuracy of information contributes to higher tenure insecurity, which deteriorates the living condition of residents as it results in lower investment willingness.
delivery of accurate information, and lowers the probability of verification and rectification of rumors from multiple sources of residents.
Dynamics of issue. While residents’ inaccurate conception about their future could be mainly ascribed to the dysfunction of current information exchange in the political limbo of India, it is also undeniable that social division driven by the caste system and gap of wealth partly contributed to the predicament that residents of Vishwakarma Nagar are now confronted with.
The deficient dialogue system demonstrates not only between the planning authority and the communities, but also between and within communities themselves. For the information about their uncertain future on this land, on the one hand, the deficiency of information exchange between the communities and the formal planning led to insufficient information transmission to the entire settlement. On the other hand, the deficient information exchange between communities and within the communities hinders efficient
Social division contributes to the deficiency of both the two dialogues. It jeopardizes their capability to develop dialogue system with the government and other powerful stakeholders to get the information about their uncertain future. It meanwhile weakens the social strength within and among communities, rendering it less possible for residents to interact efficiently within their communities where they are supposed to share same goals and interests. It also undermines residents’ ability to learn about their rights and potentials of obtaining better services. In return, the weak dialogue system in communities exacerbates the degree of social division.
The vicious interaction between social division and deficient information exchange resulted in residents’ wrong conception about the land future, and their low capacity to negotiate for their rights, which calls for interventions.
In the case of participatory planning project in Cuttack India in 2012 initiated by the Alliance*, residents were equipped with skills and knowledge in GPS to gather information about their own communities, so as to better
express their voices through digital media.
The practice helped to open and sustain a dialogue between the residents of informal settlements and city government around “slum” upgrading, and has influenced the use of a central government fund to support local upgrading plans (Livengood and Kunte, 2012).
The concept of capacity building was largely underscored in the efforts made by the Alliance in equipping the urban poor with knowledge and tools.
While the acquisition of knowledge and skills contributes to capacity building in the dimension of human capital, it should be noted that, as to our case in Vishwakarma Nagar, social capitals including the vertical and horizontal relations as analysed earlier based on Livelihoods Framework, should be focused on more, due to the obvious negative effects of social division and their potentials of cohesion.
Noticeably, social division within and between communities has torn apart individuals and groups in this settlement, overshadowing the well built religious bonds, and along with the deficient information exchange, undermining residents’ capacity to unite and to negotiate as an integrated alliance.
This brings us to our two focus statements:
(1) How the social capitals could be built in Vishwakarma Nagar to relieve social division?
(2) How could social capital building contribute to improvement of information exchange?
Private sector
Gov’t Community
POWER
Future developer
Low
High media
BHEL International regulations
Smart City Bhopal
Central gov’t
Ward councilor & Municipality
Media/NGO add interest add power Bigger spots: more important according to respondents
NGO (Aarambh)
Housing for all & State gov’t
Religious leaders
Habibganj Railway Station
Bengali community
Bihari community men women
Other community
The skilled
children
The unemployed
Low INTEREST High
In this chapter, we seek to analyze the level of power and interest as well as the interaction with each other of different stakeholders, individuals and organisations that are involved or affected in the decision making and future of Vishwakarma Nagar. During our fieldwork, we identified stakeholders and adjusted their positions in our mapping in accordance with our development of idea and shift of focus, the feedbacks from residents in the co design workshop, as well as the networking we have carried out to seek external support.
As we focus on the exchange of information regarding Vishwakarma Nagar and its residents, we redeveloped our stakeholder mapping. Four main categories of stakeholders were identified. Their power and interest in contributing to information exchange are shown in the coordinate.
The community as a whole is the most important stakeholder group with regard to information exchange. They are the most influenced by the deficiency of information exchange, and have the strongest interests in performing their rights to know the information that will affect their life. In general the community is placed at the less
powerful position in information exchange as they don’t generate official information themselves and lack the approaches of expressing demands. Noticeably, within communities, subdivision of groups demonstrates different degree of power and interest.
Bengali community. Bengali community is the dominant group in Vishwakarma, whether in population size, territory size or financial capability. The people of Bengali community inhabit mainly southern side of the main alley of Vishwakarma, occupying the major part of the settlement. By average stronger in financial and social status, Bengali community possess more power and access to information related to development plan of the area as well as services and rights they deserve.
Bihari community. Bihari community is the second most dominant community that resides in this area. With its population concentrating in the northwestern part of the area, the community is less powerful and have less resources compared with the Bengali group.
Other communities. In addition to Bengali and Bihari communities, other residents also gathered here from Bhopal or other parts of India. They live together with the other communities and have established close linkage.
Religious leaders. As religious leaders in the communities, they own the privileges with respect to information gathering and publishing due to their position. Religious leaders are also capable of organizing and mobilizing within communities to facilitate information exchange.
Men. As the inheritance of patriarchal society, men’s dominant status in this area is prevalent without doubt. Men take control of the finance in households and thus have the prerogative to represent their households and communities in any form of formal information exchange.
Women. Women in Vishwakarma Nagar demonstrated various vulnerability and resilience. More inclined to be in the disadvantaged position, women possess less power to exert in information exchange. Women that are employed may show higher level of resilience while women without jobs or skills could be the most vulnerable. Overall women have strong interests to engage more
in information exchange, and have needs to be empowered so as to improve their situation.
Children. Children are the active factors that could contribute to information exchange within or even between communities, and children shared the interests of knowing the plans and rights related to them. However, children lack the ability to leverage the formal information exchange process.
The skilled/ employed. The skilled or employed group is relatively powerful group in the area, as being employed means more opportunities of external information acquisition. Also, being employed and income generating, the group will could have louder voice in information exchange.
The unemployed. The unemployed, especially the unemployed women, are one of the most disadvantaged groups in these communities. Restricted by financial capability and domestic status, the group might have the least power even if they are most affected if there comes any change.
Our knowledge about the private sector, when we talk about information exchange, has changed over time with our deeper investigation and correction of wrong conception. This sector holds information
about land use and future plans, if any. Our identification of main stakeholders changed from Bansal Group to BHEL as we dug into the status of the land. Based on our study, there rarely is communication between the private sector and the community. Information exchange usually takes place via government sectors, e.g. the BHEL person explained in the interview that notification of eviction will be given one month in advance through the municipality.
BHEL. Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) was established in 1964 in New Delhi by the Government of India, and its business focus mainly on engineering and manufacturing. BHEL is not only India's largest power generation equipment manufacturer, but also possesses large tracts of land all over India, including in Bhopal. In our case, BHEL owns the land that Vishwakarma Nagar was built on, and the surrounding colonies. BHEL took the land from the government of India in the 1970s and hasn’t exploited it. For us, BHEL is considered to have the maximum information about the land, and have the power to deal with this piece of land, which gives them more power in information handling.
Smart City Bhopal. Bhopal Smart City Development Co., Ltd. (BSCDCL) is a company jointly owned by the Government of
MP and is equally managed by Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Co., Ltd. (MPUDCL) and Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC). BSCDCL hasn’t extended their business to Vishwakarma Nagar. But since BSCDCL are in charge of planning and implementing the “Smart city project” in the entire Bhopal city, they own abundant information about slums including Vishwakarma Nagar. What’s more, with the proceeding of smart city project in Bhopal, it is possible that in the future BSCDCL will have Vishwakarma Nagar included in their development plans, which gives them potential to possess more information and power about the future development of the area.
Habibganj Railway Station. Indian Railway Stations Development Co., Ltd. (IRSDC) is a joint venture company of Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), and is the owner of Habibganj Railway Station. The station was privatized in June 2017 and became India's first private railway station. Habibganj railway station is now undergoing reconstruction, accompanied by the construction of the shopping complex. IRSDC leased vast tracts of land from BHEL in Habibganj area due to their commercial cooperation. However, the land of Vishwakarma Nagar, although next to the Habibganj Railway Station, remains unleased
for now. Also, considering that the redeveloped Habibganj Railway Station might generate significant profits, their further intention to redevelop surrounding areas could also be anticipated. It should be noticed that the redevelopment of Habibganj Railway Station was subcontracted to Bansal Group.
Bansal Pathways Habibganj Private Ltd. Bansal Group is a pioneer group in central India, particularly in the field of technical education. Bansal Pathways Habibganj Private Ltd. is a company of Bansal Group incorporated in 2016. Currently, Bhopal based Bansal Pathways Habibganj Private Ltd. has taken the responsibility from IRSDC of the redevelopment of Habibganj Railway Station. Bansal Group, as the developer of Habibganj Railway Station, demonstrates strong motivation to transform the area as we interviewed the project manager. However, the land that Bansal Group is working on excludes Vishwakarma Nagar. The project manager also indicated that in the coming years projects are expected to be implemented within current boundary. The manager also pointed out there will be other potential companies bidding for the development of surrounding areas.
Future developer. A real estate developer interested in the redevelopment of Vishwakarma Nagar, if comes into sight, may
start to take over more power of land use and information handling and publishment.
As the sector that is elected by people to serve the needs of the people, the government is expected to undertake more responsibilities in improving information sufficiency and accuracy. As the bridge between the community and the official sources of information, ward councilors are also put high expectation to communicate with residents more frequently, e.g. to hold more information sessions.
Central government. The central government of India doesn’t play a direct role in the information exchange facilitation among the formal planning and residents in Vishwakarma Nagar, but schemes and acts, e.g. Right to Information (RTI) Act were issued by the central government to ensure citizen rights.
Housing for all. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Housing for All (Urban) is a scheme initiated by the government of India to be implemented from 2015 to 2022 to facilitate missions including in situ rehabilitation of slums. The scheme is implemented at state level. Through our visits to Housing for All office at Bhopal, the officers provided us with information about their slum relocation plan and the situation of Vishwakarma Nagar. We
were also informed that Housing for All is not able to deal with Vishwakarma Nagar at present due to the land ownership. But Housing for All office has the big picture in hand and has the priority to acquire the first hand information timely, and has the potential to influence the future development of the area.
Slum Free City Plan. The plan is under Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) for the slum dwellers and the urban poor initiated by the government of India. The ‘City Slum Free City Plan of Action’ takes into consideration the present status of slums, priorities of slum dwellers, the resources and capabilities of the city in improving the quality of life of the urban poor and the capacity of the urban poor to be partners in this development process (Slum Free City, 2013). The Slum Free City Plan for Bhopal Metropolitan Area was prepared by Bhopal Municipal Corporation, and specified the situations of 366 slums in Bhopal, including Vishwakarma Nagar.
Municipality and Ward councilor. Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhopal executes duties including providing efficient delivery of basic services for citizens such as drinking water, sanitation, roads, street lights, fire mitigation including disaster management etc.
Working in the municipality, a councilor has the duty to act as a bridge between the community and the council. The councilor is also anticipated not only to speak for local residents, but also to keep people updated about the issues and information that might impact on their life.
In our case, the ward councilor has the strongest power to influence the information acquisition from official sources in Vishwakarma Nagar, as the ward councilor is the only government officer that bridges the information between the residents and the government sectors. The ward councilor is expected to show strong interests in improving the information sufficiency and accuracy in this area, but it is also mentioned by residents in co design workshop that they look forward to more opportunities to meet and interact with their ward councilor.
Media is identified by residents to be important stakeholder in information provision. New media such as Facebook has potential in strengthening communication between different fields of stakeholders via its borderless platform. Besides, Indian NGOs have shown strong ability in mobilizing the urban poor to come together and articulate their concerns. Potential NGO stakeholder such as Aarambh that could facilitate
community empowerment was reached through our networking. They have in depth cooperation with the government sector and are able to bring about changes when they come into action.
Media. Traditional media such as TV has been acknowledged by the residents in Vishwakarma Nagar to be one of the two most prevailing source of information related to their own benefits. Internet based media such as Facebook and WhatsApp show potentials to provide more timely information and to serve as a tool to express demands, along with the prevalence of smart phone among residents especially the young.
International organizations. International organizations such as UN Habitat and its guidelines for slum upgrading or living condition improvement discuss about possibilities of a better life in the slum with better service provision and capacity building.
Local NGOs. As we reached SPARC, Samarthan, and then Aarambh, who shared the same mission of community empowerment, we identified Aarambh as the main stakeholder in this field owing to their base in Bhopal and focus on urban context. Aarambh has rich experience in children protection, women empowerment and community development, and is able to build
the community capacity to deal with the disadvantaged positions of information insufficiency and inaccuracy for the residents. Aarambh indicated the possibility of future intervention in Vishwakarma Nagar.
Overall, stakeholders from the communities show stronger interests but lower power in the two way information exchange system. As the situation differs in different community groups, the more disadvantaged are paid attention to. For the private sector, BHEL, as the land owner, has the strongest power but the least interest in contributing. Smart City Bhopal has slightly lower power but shows high potential to influence in the future. As to the government sector, ward councilors play key roles in information exchange, and are anticipated by residents to be more active in communication activities. Media is the way that residents consider the most effective to get information, while NGOs have motivation and ability to intervene in the process as well.
Based on our data analysis, two of the main issues are identified as our focus in our proposal. First, deficient information exchange intensifies the sense of uncertainty and insecurity; Secondly, socially fragmented communities hinder collective action and negotiation to fight for rights. In addition, unsafe toilets in the night due to sanitation limitations will also be discussed.
While livelihoods framework facilitates our analysis of situation in terms of capitals, asset vulnerability framework will help us to rationalize the development of proposals from the perspective of vulnerability. Defined as insecurity and sensitivity in the well being of individuals, households and communities in encountering the changing circumstance, vulnerability also indicates their responsiveness and resilience to risks during such negative changes (Moser, 1998). The vulnerability in this Vishwakarma Nagar presents in two dimensions in terms of assets portfolio management.
For one thing, housing as an asset is able to provide additional income through household enterprises and rent. Being evicted or
relocated to remote suburban area both lead to the deprivation of such assets, increasing the level of vulnerability. Also, losing housing as a disposable asset means that people in adversity are more inclined to mobilize other assets to cope with the predicament such as to let children work, sacrificing long term human capital and meanwhile hampering household relationship.
As recognized as a slum by the authority (Slum Free Plan, 2013), Vishwakarma Nagar inevitably demonstrates a prominent issue in tenure security. Without formal legal title, residents suffer extreme high degree of vulnerability and low tenure security as being exposed to high risks of eviction, given that the Habibganj Railway Station redevelopment project is going on nearby being intimidating. People in this area have reasons to be suspicious about their future here, resulting in more sense of insecurity and more fear of uncertainty, which has negatively influenced people’s ordinary life, as anxiety, frustration and sorrow emerge so frequently.
For another, in response to changes, social capital including inter household informal supportive network and public service provision by the NGOs are also important
assets that people can resort to. However, the urban poor may be particularly vulnerable to social fragmentation. Great societal and economic variance related to wide range of income, opportunities and access to infrastructure, services and political influence in urban areas could undermine the mutual trust and cooperation between communities and among households within communities. (Moser, 1998) As is the case, in Vishwakarma Nagar, social capital such as community cohesion has not been achieved properly, which crippled the community’s capability to exert the asset while confronting eviction.
Implicit boundaries between different communities, mainly the Bengali and the Bihari, jeopardise the capability of these communities to unit, to pursue shared goals, and to adopt congruent strategies so as to express their appeals and to negotiate. During our study in this area, verbal and behavioural information that we collected uncovered the divergence, e.g. children don’t go to “the other side” in transect walks.
At the same time, informal sources of information such as presumptions drawn by individuals from newspaper reports dominate the area. Based on our data collection from both the residents and the official sources, there is an information gap between the two main parts of actors. While BHEL the
landowner indicates no interest in dealing with the slum currently, and the Housing for All Scheme doesn’t prioritize Vishwakarma Nagar as an urgent case, spreading rumours about imminent eviction have casted shadow over the neighbourhood, aggravating uneasy emotions.
In the co design workshop, respondents indicated the accessibility of ward councillor as one of the issues about information delivery that could be improved. Participants also mention that their main sources of information are friends and media. We assume that inadequate access to official and accurate information about their area further propelled the transmission of incorrect information, e.g. the eviction is coming next month. Considering the inadequate means for communication between residents and the formal planning, residents thus need a more efficient way to supplement the current way to acquire accurate information about their place, including the future plan, the land ownership and use, as well as the service provision.
To crack potential risks of failure in asset portfolio management, proposals that deal with different types of vulnerability including labour and social capital are developed, to provide skill training sessions and children dancing class, to set up smart pole and intelligent street light, to create a community Facebook group.
Accordingly, goals of the proposals are:
(1) To build community competence to empower residents;
(2) To facilitate information exchange within the communities as well as between the communities and the formal planning;
(3) To promote safe public space in the night.
In Vishwakarma Nagar, residents’ self awareness of informality happening in their area including their informal occupation of land and informal acquisition of public services seem to have weakened their courage to demand for necessary information or services. Meanwhile, information insufficiency and inaccuracy, particularly with regard to their future on this land, has led to undesirable feelings, which call for additional tool to supplement information missing.
As mentioned by local resident “everyone has a smart phone” and our observation that the use of social media app on their phone is prevalent, the creation of Facebook group of Vishwakarma Nagar could serve as a catalyst that facilitate interaction among residents and other stakeholders who have or can access information related to this area by providing a platform where the posted information could be verified by the official.
For information exchange, the co workshop highlighted media and friends as the main ways to get information, and also expressed
the wish of more involvement of ward councillors in information provision.
Under Right to Information (RTI), which is act of the Parliament of India to provide for setting out the practical regime of the right to information for citizens, any citizen of India may request information from a public authority. It is also suggested that, government led schemes targeted at informal settlements, for instance, All Slum Rehabilitation (SRA) Scheme cooperative housing societies, should be brought under the ambit of right to information (RTI) and a Public Information Officer appointed for each society to upload information on the website (rti.gov.in, 2018).
Municipal wards councillors in India that are elected by people from each ward take charge of urban administration. For instance, if there are problems in a ward, people should be able to get in touch with him to get the issue addressed or even are entitled to hold peaceful protests to draw his/her attention. Ward councillors are also anticipated to have regular public meetings with people of his/her area, and to interact directly with any interest group even if that group is not represented on the ward committee.
A case study (Taylor, et al., 2012) shows that public use of social media during changes of environment, e.g. during natural disasters, is able to empower people to recover from shocks and risks. During the late January to the early February 2011, the anticipated devastation to be brought by tropical cyclone Yasi triggered the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Australia. The ‘Cyclone Yasi Update’ Facebook page was then created in the midst, run by a team that comprised 12 members with diverse backgrounds, skills, and local knowledge. The Cyclone Yasi Update team not only published timely information, but also provided psychological and emotional support to the affected people.
Coordinated as a disaster management ‘hub, Cyclone Yasi Update not only brought together official information from various sources timely, but also facilitated two way communication with people in the affected areas. Inaccurate information thus could be corrected, people were orientated to the most helpful and relevant sources of official advice, rumors were debunked, and information could be verified through direct contact. A single initial trusted point of contact thus was established for people who needed to prioritize their activities to protect themselves,
rather than being misled by wrong information.
Social media are internet based applications that enable people to communicate and share resources, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, chat rooms (Lindsay, 2011).
The revolution brought by the prevalence of online social media has transformed the conventional communication and interpersonal network nowadays in every field of our daily life. Meanwhile, smart phone, as the innovative communication tools that became dominant in the recent decade, has largely contributed to higher accessibility of the social media with the advancement of internet technology. Publishment of timely and accurate public information from both the official and informal sources which used to be a challenge in the past has been well achieved thanks to online social media’s strong performance in promoting connectivity. With Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, or Snapchat, people are able to deliver essential information not only to whom they care about but also to their communities, facilitating mutual support while facing negative changes.
Every community and member in the area will benefit from elimination of divergence and union of different communities. Marginalized
households will particularly benefit from the results of collective actions. Beneficiaries also include the ward councillor and the municipality, as online platform lowers the cost of information exchange.
The main goal of a Facebook group for Vishwakarma Nagar is to increase social capital and reduce vulnerability so as to improve the preparedness of people to respond to the future redevelopment plan in this area through building an online community without spatial barriers.
The objectives of the proposal include: (1) to create a platform where the information accuracy and sufficiency could be improved with the presence of ward councillor or other private or governmental stakeholders of this area; (2) to facilitate the establishment of an online community that strengthens the bond among people from physically segregated communities through informal or formal information sharing and discussion.
We proposed three steps to involve residents in forming an integrated online community of Vishwakarma Nagar.
During our fieldwork, we have started actions to facilitate community capacity building. We talked to the residents after the co design workshop about our development of preliminary ideas that we want to share what we have done and to create a platform where people here can share with each other. After the co design workshop, 1 Facebook page was created, and 1 Facebook group was launched. We talked to the residents after the co design workshop about our development of preliminary ideas. Some residents have joined the Facebook group of Vishwakarma Nagar that we set up. Posters about the Facebook group could be pasted on the walls in the area to inform everyone.
The information sharing starts with our photos related to our fieldwork in the area, to meet residents’ needs of knowing what we are doing and what we have done. With the joining of more members, discussion is anticipated carry on and popular topics will emerge.
As group members, residents are able to share stories of their interests, which can also boost connection among them. Hence, people who share the same interests and enthusiasm can get along with each other despite their age,
income, or origin of communities. At the meantime, residents who have reliable sources of information are also encouraged to share in the groups, while the information could be verified by others who might have different sources.
Once ward councillor becomes a member of the Facebook group, he/she can not only join the daily conversation in this group, becoming an “inhabitant” of the online community, but also can provide and collect timely and necessary information relevant to this area.
Quizzes and surveys could also be conducted in the group about some necessary information that residents should know. In our workshop, we have a successful practice of carrying out quizzes to find out the extent of people’s conception and to provide more accurate information for residents.
It will be natural after a long time of online interaction that two or more friends want to meet each other, allowing them to put a face with a name, which will be a catalyst to integrate the community in reality and to promote community competence.
The biggest advantages of this proposal are that it requires almost zero funding, and that it could be executed immediately and keeps
promoting communication among different communities following our activity of photo sharing.
The attempt could also fail if it doesn’t post any information that interest people. Nevertheless, some indeed demonstrated enthusiasm when we asked them to join the group to check photos we took about our fieldwork in the site. We assume teenagers as more active Facebook users could be the first group members, posting about their daily life and making friends, to begin the network establishment.
The anticipated outcome is: (1) residents will have opportunities to make acquaintance and interact with each other regardless of their origin of communities, forming an integrated online community with shared interests and aims; (2) residents will have easier access to information associated with their future on this land and to make their voices heard by the official; (3) people will be able to unite as a stronger whole to negotiate with the authority and landowner to fight for their rights and to decide their own future.
The online Facebook community could create the condition for people to interact and for
the communities to integrate in reality, which is a process of building community competence. It could also be a platform to initiate a petition for requesting for smart pole in this area. Additionally, it will not only assist people with collaboration and seek for help to from NGO and the government, but also be an information platform for the children dancing class and women skill training sessions.
The group will initially be managed by a team formed by certain teenagers from different communities that showed interests in running a community social media account. Although it’s run by certain people, everyone in the Facebook group will be able to post information and to raise questions. In a longer term, more adults, the religious leader, and the ward councillor could all be included in this group, which creates opportunities for sustainable information exchange.
Furthermore, in the future, interested NGO such as Aarambh shows potential to be involved in the activity organization in the area. It is anticipated the NGO is able to supervise and facilitate the running of social media accounts in the area to help people make full use of it.
During our needs assessment and co design workshop, participants in Vishwakarma Nagar strongly pointed out sanitation as one of the most concerned issues in their area. The absence of private toilets, the low accessibility of public toilets, the lack of sewage system and the widely distributional open drainage all suggested that sanitation situation calls for improvement. Girls also claimed that the public toilets become unsafe in the night due to gathering of drunken males. Although due to our time and resources limitation we choose to focus on promoting community
cohesion to empower residents for coping with future negative changes, we still seek to develop a proposal that could also contribute to relieving the urgent pressure of sanitation to certain extent, given the significance of the issue,. In such case, we propose to replace the conventional street light pole near the movable toilets with a smart pole. The installation of a smart pole could not only contribute to safety around the toilet area in the night, but also provide a free internet and public space for residents’ communication and assembly. Considering project procedures of Smart City Bhopal Office, the installation of smart pole will be a mid term goal.
The smart city mission is initiated and funded by the Government of India who intends to transform 100 selected cities into sustainable cities where citizens can have good quality life. Implementation of the mission is taken charge of by the Union Ministry of Urban Development in coordination with state governments of selected project cities. As of January 2018, 99 cities have been selected to be upgraded as part of the Smart Cities Mission, among which Bhopal is selected in first round of selected 20 Smart Cities.
Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation Limited (BSCDCL) is a company incorporated under Indian Companies Act 2013, with a sole objective of Planning and implementing the “Smart city project” in Bhopal. The company is jointly owned by the Government of MP and is equally managed by Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Company Limited (MPUDCL) and Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC). The ongoing projects implemented by BSCDCL range from transportation solutions to new energy, including Bhopal Smart Road, Bio Gas Plan and Smart Pole & Intelligent Street Light Project, etc.
Bhopal has launched first of its kind public private partnership (PPP) based smart poles and intelligent street lights project in India under the Smart Cities Mission. There are two parallel part of this project, including 400 smart pole installations across the city, and 20000 LED streetlights to replace the conventional lamps.
For Vishwakarma Nagar, several strengths demonstrated by the smart pole should be noticed. (1) A smart pole provides free Wi Fi services for specific time periods to registered users; (2) Camera surveillance promotes the safety, security and parking management in the area; (3) LED Street lights with Li ion battery that provides the back up during electricity outage help to improve the quality of lighting; (4) The digital advertising panel will keep the city residents updated with city information.
The goal of installing a smart pole in Vishwakama Nagar is to promote public safety in the night, to act as a makeshift for the toilet issue, and to facilitate community cohesion in cooperation with the proposal of Facebook group.
Objectives of this proposal are: (1) to provide intelligent and constant lightning in the dark; (2) to provide CCTV surveillance around the public toilet and open space to deter potential misdemeanours; (3) to provide free Internet access to facilitate communication and naturally bring about gathering for interaction.
An external agency ERDA was appointed to carry out surveys gather the information for the Smart Pole Project about the lighting requirement and existing set up. As mentioned by BSCDCL, it was a challenge to choose the location of smart pole as it’s indispensable to take into consideration how to maximally bring benefits of the smart pole to residents. The high foot fall areas, important junctions and call drop areas thus became the candidate locations.
As to Vishwakarma Nagar, our group has also talked to people in the Smart City Office about the installation of smart pole in our area. However, due to time and plan limitation, it couldn't be decided for now whether a smart pole could be installed in Vishwakarma Nagar or not. However, with the expansion and proceeding of Smart City Plan and the Smart Pole Projects, Vishwakarma Nagar has the potential to have a smart pole. Moreover,
people in the area could also initiate a collective petition asking for a smart pole.
In coordination with the proposal of online community on Facebook, a petition is possible to be launched and signed by the majority of the residents in Vishwakarma Nagar, and the range of petitioners could potentially be extended to the surrounding communities of the suggested location of installation, e.g. the BHEL residential area, and the Railway Club Residential area.
Two possible approaches of petition could be considered:
(1) Sign a petition by writing a letter. The petition letter could be drafted by the local resident who has relevant knowledge and posted on the Facebook group of the community for review. The mobilization could be achieved through Facebook group as well. A vote could be initiated on Facebook group to seek statistics support. By writing a letter to the Municipal Corporation or Smart City Office to request for consideration of installing a smart pole, attention will be drawn.
It is likely that the officials of Municipal Corporation or the BSCDCL will come into action and evaluate the possibility.
(2) Start a petition online. There are organizations and websites supporting petition, such as Change.org, and the procedure is
simple. Four steps need to be finished to initiate the petition, which are: (1) To write a petition title; (2) To list the person, organisation, or group that can make a decision about the petition, such as the BSCDCL; (3) To explain the problem and how installation of a smart pole could bring about significantly positive impact on the community and the society; (4) To add a photo or video showing signatures. (Change.org, 2018) [a diagram of the procedure to select a location and to install the smart pole]
The anticipated outcomes are: (1) Females will feel safe to go to the only available public toilets in the night with lighting and camera surveillance; (2) Wi Fi services attract people to gather at the open space, creating opportunities for interaction; (3) being covered within the area of smart city project gives more exposure about Vishwakarma Nagar to the official, which will also increase the awareness of the local authority to provide necessary services and information.
The existence of a smart pole in the open space close to the movable public toilet and the post office could be eye catching and serve as a new landmark for Vishwakarma Nagar. Given the location has enough open
space and high accessibility for all residents, the space has high potential to become a gathering site for carrying out the community activities such as children dancing class and the women training sessions.
The smart pole is asserted to be zero operation and maintenance cost for 15 years by BSCDCL. With the proceeding of smart city projects, the standard and level of maintenance and operation are anticipated to keep improving, which will ensure the sound functioning of the smart pole. Furthermore, it is highly possible that smart poles will cover the entire Bhopal city replacing the conventional street light pole with the anticipated development of technology, economy and urban administration in Bhopal and India, creating more possibilities and opportunities for life quality improvement.
Children are so active and positive factors in Vishwakarma Nagar, as throughout our fieldwork they always kept us accompany. In the earlier stage of our study, we as participants joined in their daily activities, among which, dancing and playing games with girls gave us knowledge about their daily schedule for school, their skills in dancing, and their passion to share. In our needs assessment, a respondent who is a professional dancer also shows interests in sharing his dancing skills in the community. In the co design workshop, children from different communities gathered together around us, make acquaintance with each other, and enjoyed dancing. Dancing, as a popular activity in this area, shows great potentials to contribute. Based on our previous actions in organizing dancing activities and our identification of resources, we propose a children dancing class as a short term goal.
Objectives of children dancing class will be: (1) to facilitate physical and mental health of children; (2) to equip children with dancing skills; (3) to serve as a pilot event to trigger chain reaction of procedurally increasing community interaction.
To serve as a short term proposal, the children dancing class will directly benefit all the children that are involved in the class, through which they not only develop skills and hobbies, but also make acquaintance with new friends. Being a catalyst as assumed, the dancing class is able to extend the communication to the family members of children.
Mobilization of community participants and resources
Participants. Children in Vishwakarma Nagar show strong interests in dancing, especially girls. Children in the area expressed their feeling of “being bored” because of the lack of entertainment. A well planned dancing class could provide them with an option to spend the leisure time having fun, making friends, and at the meanwhile developing talents. Trainers. Three girls who are skilled at Bollywood dancing and a boy who is taking courses to become a professional popping and locking dancer all are willing to engage in dancing events.
Space. The open space between the stores and the post office at the back street is usually available. During our co design workshop, it has been tested to be an ideal place for group activities in the daytime ofgood weather.
Schedule of class. As children usually go to school at 11:00 and come back home at 16:00, it is feasible to run the classes at the morning before children go to their school and in the afternoon when they return. The time can be adjusted according to the time availability of dancing trainers. The Facebook group or an additional WhatsApp group can serve to provide class attendants updated course information timely. During the weekends, either regular dancing class or dancing festivals that involve as many as residents could be held.
Content of class. Bollywood dance as well as popping and locking dance could be the major two options. Online sources of instructions such as dancing videos can be used as teaching materials.
Anticipated outcomes are: (1) children learn dancing skills or even develop interests in choosing dancing as their careers; (2) children from different communities establish interpersonal network through the dancing class; (3) influenced by these dancing children, their other family members may also participate in dancing activities and have more opportunities to interact with each other.
Children dancing class could create topics for discussion on Facebook group. Also, classes, if happen in the open space where the smart pole is proposed, could render it more reasonable to install a smart pole as the space is more frequently used and there will be needs for safety after sunset. Besides, children dancing class can contribute to the formation of women skill development program if
children who dance together become friends and facilitate the acquaintance of their parents. Stronger bond among women could accelerate the process of shifting from outside support to self operation.
The children dancing class will be zero cost, which increases its chances to survive without external financial support. And its flexible and informal schedule and content also gives it more possibilities of creating new solutions for the future. The dancing together of different children might lead to the discovery of new skills or hobbies among them, which undoubtedly could have the potential to result in new hobby groups, promoting the diversity of activities and interaction.
Women unemployment and marginalization have been identified at the beginning of our fieldwork with our observation and daily conversations with female residents. Whether it's during our participation observation in the Ganesh Festival, or in our chats with ladies on the street, unemployment as a concern is frequently mentioned. However, given that women being housewives have deeply rooted in the civilization for such a long history, and people are so used to it while still complaining, the sanitation and tenure reality seems to have further overshadowed its urgency. Nevertheless, from our observation and participatory mapping during the co design workshop, women, albeit unemployed, show great potential to be empowered with acquisition of skills such as sewing that is high demanded in the markets in India. In accordance with the needs of exploiting potentials and our intents to contribute to community cohesion, we propose the women skill development programme as a long term goal.
The goal of the women skills training program and children dancing class is to empower the women and children through equipping them with skills, and simultaneously to promote
interaction among different communities in Vishwarkama Nagar.
Objectives of women skill development program will be: (1) to equip women with more proficient and demand based skills in textile industry; (2) To increase the community’s resilience by building human capital to cope with risks and shocks; (3) to promote community cohesion through increased communication among female trainees from different communities.
Samarth, Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector
The textile and apparel industry is the biggest employer after agriculture. In order to meet the skill gap in the industry, the scheme titled “Scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS)” known as “Samarth” was approved, with the objective to skill the youth for gainful and sustainable employment in the textile sector.
Beside hard skills, soft skills including communication abilities, language skills,
personal habits, cognitive or emotional empathy, time management, teamwork, and leadership traits are also parts of the training content.
A web and Mobile App based platform is also run by the Ministry of Textiles for interested candidates to express their interests in receive training.
Reputed training NGOs or other organizations will be eligible to implement the scheme. Training centres with essential infrastructure and facilities should be provided on their own cost.
As an organization established in 1994 focusing mainly on children rights and health, Aarambh Bhopal now has wider range of intervention fields covering urban sanitation and water, children rights as well as women empowerment. We reached Aarambh Bhopal after a series of contact with different NGOs and people including SPARC and Samarthan. The project director that we talked to after our co workshop shared his experience in community empowerment and encouraged us to design proposals that could contribute to women and children capacity building. It was indicated that it’s possible to seek for funding from Aarambh if the designed program is to be implemented one day. Aarambh show strong commitment to community development and empowerment, but is unable
to intervention into Vishwakarma Nagar currently due to resource limitations, as there are projects going on in other slums. However, interventions could happen in the future.
Main target beneficiaries of the women skill development program will be the women in Vishwakarma Nagar, especially those are currently unemployed or come from the marginalized households. The community as a whole will also be benefited by the progressive interaction and integration between different groups.
NGOs such as Aarambh directly give small scale interventions about women empowerment in Vishwakarma Nagar, they are anticipated to mobilize the women who possess sewing or other skills to share their knowledge and skills with others in skill development sessions organized by NGO. Women who give trainings can also get paid with the funding coming from NGOs. At the same time, NGO could also assist with the promotion and marketing of the products made by the women attending the training sessions.
NGOs that are qualified to become the implementation agencies apply for the funding under SCBTS and cover the area of Vishwakarma Nagar, residents thus could apply for the training courses through the assistance of NGOs that work on their communities or via the web or mobile App. The scheme will have requirement for admission and graduation, but also will provide higher opportunities of employment. Besides, other important soft skills such as life management will be additional bonus for trainees.
Outcomes of the women skill development programme will be: (1) women acquire practical skills in textile and get employed or self employed; (2) the human capital of a household can increase, which contributes to the asset portfolio of a household; (3) women from different communities are able to share with and learn from each other during training, which promotes interaction and integration of different communities.
Empowerment and interaction of women will contribute greatly to the capacity building of the settlement, which might create more opportunities for the residents to carry out collective actions to fight for their own rights
such as to sign a petition for a smart pole. The cohesion between women from different groups will also serve to facilitate the implementation of children dancing classes as children from families will be brought together and get familiar with each other when women gather.
With the operation of women skill development scheme, the level of empowerment among women in Vishwakarm Nagar is expected to increase, which could contribute to the potential excavation in leadership. Experienced female trainers or trainees could volunteer to lead the program. In a longer term, NGOs that were responsible for events organization could gradually shift the duty to the voluntary or elected leaders in the program, ensuring sustainable self operation of this programme in the future.
During the entire length of our fieldwork, we got several opportunities to apply and internalize the UEP values that focus on putting the citizen at the centre of planning methods. Taking inspiration from the value of strategic and contingent planning we formulated our proposals, both for short and long term. In this method of planning, we followed a circular process in which intermediate interventions are followed by monitoring, learning, reflection and evaluation, before deciding for another round of interventions. (Sliwa, Aranya, Refstie, 2018). Every week as we discovered new layers of informality, we also got a chance to challenge our conventional conception of urban planning.
To study an informal area like Vishwakarma Nagar, that has survived 30 years and more, helped us introspect and critically analyse how slums work as a self sufficient, independent bodies of settlement. Continuous reflection and self introspection was one of the most essential tools to learn from our mistakes and to plan ahead keeping in mind the diversity and the various societal layers we were studying. This not only helped us broaden our perspectives as professionals, but also,
contributed to our understanding of social intricacies and their role.
Our fieldwork started with our exploratory journey into the history of Vishwakarma Nagar, leading us to the understanding of how informality serves not as an obstacle in development, but as an integral part of it (Sliwa, et al., 2017). It gave us a more profound comprehension of how a piece of land on which people started to squat, naturally grew into an organic society with strong vitality. This self sufficient settlement, without any planning intervention from the government, has shown great resilience in the process of integrating itself into the social and economic fabric of the city.
With one Indian group member, it was comparatively easier for us to approach the community and to work on building trust with them. With each passing week, we were exposed to newer layers of informality through which our understanding of, both, the society and the country increased. After numerous chai invitations at the residents’ home, we finally started gathering data. We failed at numerous points, but after careful examination and a lot of back and forth, we
found our research focus that we decided to take fourth.
The analysis done after our data collection led to our proposal development, which was in accordance with livelihood framework to identify capitals and livelihood strategies with the goal to reduce vulnerability and to increase resilience. Our efforts to contribute to the community’s welfare saw partial day light as we could only
Due to the density of the settlement and an overwhelming attention that we received during our visits, it became difficult to approach the marginalised that lived in the interiors. The availability of our respondents, thus, was limited to those who came to us themselves at the beginning, and extended to those who we identified in specific areas as we explored deeper in the interior of the settlement.
One of our need assessments, with a lady, was interrupted and terminated by her husband, and we failed to convince him and resume our process. He questioned how it would be meaningful to participate in such assessment if we are not able to solve the problem based on their feedbacks. This came as a shock as it was different from all our other experiences where people understood our presence and role as
students. The husband stayed suspicious about our intent and us, the strangers. Time limit restricted our capability to spend longer time explaining and relieving his suspicion. Therefore, had we been given more time, we could pay more efforts on trust building, to get familiar with all the sub areas, to spend longer time in engaging with the daily life of local residents, and to reach households that were less inclined to be accessed due to spatial restriction and more suspicion.
Additionally, due to the limitation of our schedule, we were also unable to visit the settlement at night, which rendered impossible for us to access potential respondents that were only available at specific time periods, e.g. some residents were out working as day labour and were back only at night.
Furthermore, due to availability of participants, our co design workshop adopted the convenience sampling to involve any possible respondents from the settlement in our activities to get their feedbacks. As people came to our activities in groups, they usually come from the same communities and know each other, which hampered the achievement of our goal to involve residents from different communities to initiate the first step of community interaction and cohesion.
Finally, although we have set up a Facebook group and carried out pilot dancing activities among children, we were not able to further implement these activities or start more actions such as bringing women together for skill sharing. Also owing to time limit, we were unable to bring more detailed proposals back to the community to discuss with the residents for improvement.
During the length of our fieldwork, we relentlessly tried analysing the various dimensions of eviction and tenure security and during that process we learnt how informality supplements formality. One of the UEP values of formal informal continuum was one of the foremost learning experiences for our group. In an informal settlement like Vishwakarma Nagar, where the government has minuscule intervention or interest, the residents have found ways of survival. This coexistence of formal and informal is magnified by the fact that the chronic weakness of formal institutions in India spoils their capacities to implement the ambitious, long term plans which they are required to pursue (ibid.) These informal methods that tap on the formal planning of the city, are illegal and dangerous at a lot of points. However, for the people of Vishwakarma Nagar, it’s the only way of survival they know of.
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