Findings and problem statement

LAND & TENURE

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 multistorey 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-privatepartnership. 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.

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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.

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‘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.

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

38 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.

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.

INFORMAL SERVICES AS A SUPPLEMENT

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.

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SOCIAL DIVISION

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 socioeconomic 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.

40 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.

INFORMATION INACCURACY & INSUFFICIENCY

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.

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Deficient dialogue mechanism Social division

Wrong conception about land future Low capacity to negotiate

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 delivery of accurate information, and lowers the probability of verification and rectification of rumors from multiple sources of residents.

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.

42 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.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

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?

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BHEL

Future developer Central gov’t Ward councilor & Municipality

Housing for all & State gov’t Private

Gov’t sector

Community

Media/NGO add interest add power Bigger spots:

more important according to respondents

Smart City Bhopal

Habibganj Railway Station International regulations

media

NGO (Aarambh)

Bansal Pathways Religious leaders

men

The skilled Bengali community

Bihari community

Other community

children women

The unemployed

Low INTEREST High

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