The human cost of development

From the forests of Chhattisgarh to the suburbs of Mumbai, scores of families are being displaced from their homes by the state and major corporations.
Despite India’s GDP of 8.30 percent in 2011, the nation has failed to bridge the ever-increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots. In India, development and displacement go hand in hand.
Dealing with corrupt politicians, police and a dishonest developer, residents of Ganesh Krupa Society in Khar’s Golibar slums in Mumbai have decided to challenge the system and fight to keep their homes which are being demolished in the name of development.
In Mumbai, on one hand malls and high-rises continue to mushroom on private and public land. In stark contrast, the displacements at the Golibar slum serve as an example of how the underprivileged class have joined hands and sought help from civil society to claim their rights.
The residents of the Golibar slum have been protesting the illegal acquisition of their land and the demolition of their homes in complete violation on their basic human rights by the government of Maharashtra. In the garb of ‘redevelopment’, the government and builders have conspired to acquire hundreds of acres of public land in Mumbai.
On June 28, the residents marched in hundreds from the Khar suburbs to the city. “We will march for two days with Medha tai. We want justice,” said a senior citizen whose home was reduced to debris in the last spate of demolitions by the civic body. Activist Medha Patkar has lent her support to all those who have been displaced in Mumbai.
Leading the rally, which had support from people from Mumbai and its adjoining towns where demolitions take place, Patkar ensured the people that justice would prevail as long as they did not give in to the powers that be.
Shivalik Ventures, the builder in Golibar has criminal cases pending in the High Court, which the police is supposed to be investigating as per a High Court order. Instead it chose to demolish people’s homes and on May 19 and 20, 2011, for the sixth time in six months, they attacked the slum, injuring many residents. About 70 homes were demolished and 12 residents were taken into judicial custody.
This is not just the story of Golibar, but of slums across Mumbai. To protest this injustice, residents have gone on a hunger strike. Social activist Medha Patkar has joined them and on the May 23, the hunger strike entered its fourth day.
According to the Human Development Report compiled by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the city’s civic body, and the United Nations Development Programme, one in every two residents of Mumbai lives in a slum.
In his forties, Devasandhan Nair, a resident of the society, has been one of those leading the agitation against the developers.
Nair, who is aware of India’s rapidly expanding economy, is also aware of the human cost of growth. Neighbours whose homes have been demolished completely or partially surround Nair.
“We are not against development in any way. Our agitation is only against a rogue developer. We are tax-paying citizens and land-owners, so why should we be treated in an unfair manner?” asks Nair.
In 2003, the residents of Golibar decided to form a society with representative from each pocket after being informed about the redevelopment of their area by Madhu Constructions. The area was declared a slum in 1996 and after an assessment was made, the residents began paying property tax.
In 2010, the residents were shocked to receive an eviction notice by Shivalik Ventures, a new builder they hadn’t heard of.

The 323 members discovered irregularities in the methods used to redevelop the locality. Nair recalls, “Till 2008, not a single brick was laid for redevelopment.”
Money was promised and contracts were drawn, but all seemed quiet at the ground level. Suddenly, in 2010 the demolitions began. In January 2010, out of nowhere, 250 members of our society received eviction notices from the Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA), a state body.
“They were going to demolish our homes without providing any alternate accommodation. The law says if that if 30 per cent of people are objecting to development, then it can’t take place. The builder targeted the people who were objecting and notices were sent to demolish their homes,” explains Nair, who makes a living as a storyboard artist for the film and advertising industry.
Since 2010, the civic authorities have demolished homes and displaced several families. The last spate of demolitions took place from February 2 – 4, 2011, where 48 homes were pulled down. Some of the families have not left the site and are guarding their belongings.
To garner support for the people’s struggle, Nair decided to make a page for the movement on Facebook.
The confused residents, who were taken aback by the sudden developments, used the Right To Information to access the government documents only to discover that their signatures had been forged and people who had claimed to represent them in the residents’ organisation had connived with the builder and submitted their “consent”, says Nair.
Heaps of bricks lay on the ground, which was once a home. Beds and cupboards that were not confiscated by the civic authorities stand there as silent witnesses in the midst of the rubble. Books, toys and some household items peek from under the mountain of bricks. Still, adamant residents sleep outside, unable to leave what’s left of their belongings.
On a crisp Sunday morning in Guru Krupa Society, women wash clothes outside their doors before the water supply stops. Gushing soap water greets us in the narrow pathways that connect the entrance of each home. “We only get water for three hours. We have to finish all our work by then,” complains a woman.
Meanwhile, in another part of the city the affluent flood the High Street Mall, which was built on the premises of the defunct Phoenix Mills. Shoppers flock designer shops and restaurants.
Tracing the root of the Golibar problem, Nair recalls, “The consent form, that stated that we were ready to give up our homes, was submitted to the authorities was manipulated by our very own representative. Signatures of dead people were forged. Even my signature was on it even though I was not in Mumbai at the time.”
The developer had connived with a former resident to manufacture the necessary consent through a forged document of a general body meeting in February 2009 that had never taken place.
The police, in 2010, upon trying to lodge a forgery complaint against the developer, stalled us by dismissing it as a civil matter as opposed to a criminal case, states Nair.
In April 2011, after the court directed the police to lodge a criminal complaint against the developer, residents of Golibar slums have heaved a sigh of relief. As per the law if the developer is found to be forging signatures or documents his license will be revoked.
The developer blatantly states in a submitted document that out of 10,000 houses demolished, he has rehabilitated only 550 people in the time span of five years. “Why do they want to give us rent money and make us leave our homes without proper paperwork? We are landowners not encroachers,” asks Nair.
But families that have already been displaced are facing unhygienic conditions in the transit camps which are in the vicinity.
Syed Mushtaq Ahmed, 44, heads one such family.
The transit camp was been temporarily set up four years to provide housing to those displaced during the redevelopment drive from all over the suburb. Ahmed works as a tailor and supports his family at Golibar’s seven-storied camp. “We have been waiting for four years to be relocated,” he rues.
Poor sanitation facilities, unsafe structure, leakage problems, corroded ceilings, worm infested water, non-functional lifts are some of the problems faced by the residents of the transit camps.
Ahmed complains about the dingy conditions but has no choice but to live there with his school-going daughter Atika and his wife Parveen. The contract for the 10×15-feet home expires in another year. Ahmed is terribly worried about their future, “I don’t know where we will go after this. We will have to live on the streets.”
Dark corridors of the transit camp betray a sorry tale. Families of six have been cramped up in tiny rooms. In their desperation, lofts have been erected by them to store their belongings. Ahmed feels the developer has wronged the original residents, “Dummy tenants were temporarily asked to share accommodation with the original tenants who were dislodged from their homes. The dummy tenants then signed documents claiming that the place was theirs, further complicating the dispute.”
The developer offered rentals to each family – Rs 7,500 per month, for 11 months. “We have to go very far as the rents are high in this suburb. By then, 180 families insisted on getting relocated in one transit camp than being scattered all over. We can fight if we are together,” says Nair.
But there are families who have refused to resign to their fate to the builder and leave their homes. 26-year-old Sunaina Manjrekar hails from one such household. She works in the state government’s finance department as a clerk in the suburbs. The upper portion of their home was demolished recently. Her parents had to save their furniture and other household appliances by moving them temporarily to a relative’s place.
“We don’t know when the demolition will strike again so we have still not got our fridge back from there. Our family been living here for 70 years,” she laments. Sunaina was away at work when the demolition took place. She said that her father was jailed as he tried to prevent the demolition squad.

Sunaina, who is socially and politically aware, is a part of the underprivileged class who are struggling to come up the hard way.
Educated and hence conscious about her rights, Sunaina believes that taking the legal recourse is bound to get them justice. “I think we have to be optimistic and believe that one day or the other it will happen but we don’t know how much time it will take to achieve our goal.”
It’s been so many years since people have been fighting corruption but nothing happened. But these days, people and the media are raising their voice, she feels.
To make matters worse, the building meant to rehabilitate them lies in disputed property, with the Ministry of Defence claiming rights on the land and having filed a case in High Court.
On the other hand, Sunaina thinks that the government will get away with anything if the people don’t object. “Even the social workers should come forward. Ministers haven’t visited us; we know they are corrupt — from the higher level to the lower level. No one is willing to take up our cause.”
Against all odds, Sunaina clings tightly to her faith in the system, “We have to keep our faith no matter what. We can’t just collect cheques for 11 months of rent and leave the homes we have lived in for 70 years. The rich are getting rich and the poor are getting poorer — the gap is widening every day. I’m not sure about the future of the country. Now, corruption is a part of the system. Officials don’t even ask for bribes anymore, it’s understood and has to be given.”
At this point all the residents of the area want are a registration agreement so that they cannot be displaced again and a suitable place to stay during the transitional period.
The fight continues even as many residents have lost their jobs while staying at home to protect themselves against demolitions. Children have fallen ill with malaria and missed their exams because the demolition squad destroyed the drainage system. Open drains also invite mosquitoes as broken walls fail to protect families who still live in what is left of their home.
The only fact remains to be gauged is the human cost of development, and if development will silence the masses while catering to the classes.
Dilnaz Boga is an Indian journalist and the recipient of Agence France-Presse Kate Webb Prize for her work in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Source: Dawn News