The Municipal Corporation of Delhi's website boldly claims to be "Bringing MCD closer to the Citizens". For some of those living in slums in the sprawling Indian capital the municipal government may have gotten too close for comfort. For several years the government has been carrying out slum clearances in preparation for the city hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games, moving families out of their makeshift housing on marginal land, and clearing the settlement areas for construction work. Land is needed for sports venues, and for the infrastructure (improved sanitation and water supplies, more frequent electricity supplies and better roads in particular) that will demonstrate that Delhi is a "world class city". The MCD has stated clearly that 'world class' also means slum free.
According to a BBC report of October 2006 at least some of those evicted from their homes have been relocated to new housing built to accommodate them, but relocation means children moving schools and parents forced to find new work or commute for long distances. These families may be lucky, as others are reported to have lost out on replacement accommodation and simply moved on to other slums or wasteland elsewhere in the city.
If the MCD is failing to provide appropriate housing for evicted slum dwellers it would be replicating the shortcomings of Mumbai's municipal government, which has a woeful track record of providing for its low-income citizens, let alone the poorest among them. In the last twenty years the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has overseen the construction of many more luxury apartments than affordable housing units even as millions continue to live in crowded and poorly serviced slums in the city.
Despite legislation it enacted in the 1970s specifically to address the housing needs of the poor, the MCGM has largely ignored the massive need for affordable housing in Mumbai. The official slum rehabilitation programme has provided housing for some ex-slum and pavement dwellers following clearances, but this small scale supply barely meets demand.
In both cities municipal authorities have cleared slums and relocated their inhabitants largely only when they have needed the land underneath the settlements. The provision of properly constructed housing that families on low incomes could afford has been so inadequate in both Delhi and Mumbai that any rehabilitation programmes have been seen as a victory by slum dweller supporting non-governmental organisations.
Sheila Dikshit, Delhi's Chief Minister, may want to create a metropolis that impresses the world, but unless urban renewal in Delhi meets the needs of all its citizens it will risk creating a capital that only a minority will feel proud of.
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