The Delhi Commons Website has this humorous (and very apt) badge illustrating the state of Delhi
in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games.
Anyone who has e perien!ed the !ity"s nightmarish traffi! and dug-up roads for the past few years will tell you how very well this s#et!h represents what"s happened in Delhi. $ow that the games are upon us% & !an only pray this effort was worth it. To build all this infrastru!ture% over '((%((( migrant wor#ers have made the !apital their home $o one really #nows what will be!ome of these wor#ers on!e the games are over. )ome will go ba!#% no doubt% to their villages. *ut &"m guessing many will stay ba!#% adding to Delhi"s slum population.
The e a!t si+e of Delhi"s slum population is a bit of a hit-and-miss guess. ,f the total population of about -( million ($ational Capital .egion)% there"s one s!ary estimate that says /-0 live in slums. Another estimate says that Delhi"s slum population is growing at a rate whi!h is './ times that of its non-slum population. &f this !ontinues - with large s!ale additions su!h as the Games - we are soon going to see a !ity that is mostly slums.
Delhi Settlements Classification: )our!e 1!onomi! )urvey of Delhi2 -((3--((This table shows both slum as well as non-slum settlements in Delhi. A!!ording to this table above% slums made up half of Delhi"s population 3( years ago% and & !an only imagine that it has gotten worse sin!e then. Delhi"s slums are not a homogenous mass. .esear!hers% writers and government departments re!ognise that Delhi"s slums are of different types2 Jhuggi/Jhopri settlements - these a!!ount for the bul# of the slums in Delhi4 they are illegal s5uatters on publi! or private land. The primary !hara!teristi! is that the houses are ma#eshift and "#ut!ha"% sin!e they have no land rights and !onstantly fear evi!tion. 6nli#e 7umbai% where
there are dense slum !lusters li#e Dharavi% Delhi"s 8huggi !lusters are widely dispersed% and !an be found near railways tra!#s% nullahs9streams% par#s% river ban#s% and some roads. The typi!al s5uatter settlement has about 3(( families4 larger ones have upto :((. They are often organised along !aste9!ommunity affiliations. Slum designated areas - 7any of these are "#atras" in the walled !ity ()hah8ahanabad% ,ld Delhi). The walled !ity was designed to hold ;(%((( people% but it holds several times that number. These areas have been spe!ifi!ally notified under the )lum Areas &mprovement and Clearan!e A!t. Urban and Rural illages - Delhi has several su!h +ones4 pla!es that started out as villages but have gotten absorbed into the !ity as the limits of the !ity have grown. & have !lassified these under slums be!ause !onditions here are slum-li#e% with low in!omes% poor a!!ess to water and sanitation% as well as low litera!y levels. There are 3:/ su!h villages in Delhi4 but not all are poor. The photo below is from <hir#i =illage% where this family lives in a bro#en down stru!ture that is a remnant of a village home.
Resettlement colonies - these are slum dwellers who have been resettled from their original lo!ation to new approved lo!ations su!h as Trilo#puri% <alyanpuri% <i!hripur et!. .esettlement began in 3>;3 in Delhi. 1arlier% it was easy to resettle slums% be!ause prior to 3>?(% there were only about '(%((( slum households to be resettled. As the !ity"s slum population has grown% resettlement has be!ome impossible. *ut the e isting resettlement !olonies have better a!!ess to infrastru!ture than the slums4 and with land rights se!ured% they have invested in improving their living !onditions. )o mu!h for the slums. Apart from slums% we have two more !lassifi!ations that are very interesting2 Unauthorised Colonies - These are not really slums% but they are illegal all the same. There are
nearly 3?(( !olonies where agri!ultural or forest land has been grabbed illegally4 and houses !onstru!ted and sold. Typi!ally there is a mafia at wor#% whi!h is in !ahoots with the poli!e and the authorities. These !olonies !reate an unregulated demand for water and power4 often borewells are illegally !onstru!ted and water tables in the ad8oining areas are depleted. There"s a whole se!tion of the Delhi Department of 6rban Development devoted to managing these !olonies. !uthorised Unauthorised Colonies - )everal of the unauthorised !olonies have now been @regularised@ in populist moves% leading to this funny-sounding new !ategory. And then% AfinallyA we !ome to the "lanned Colonies% whi!h form about -/0 of Delhi"s population. This -/0 then% represents the people of Delhi who live in pla!es other than slums% urban9rural villages and illegal !onstru!tions. This -/0 is made up of all the government babus% the middle and uppermiddle !lass% as well as those living in ups!ale bungalows and big !ondominium apartments. )!ary% huhB To thin# that ?/0 of the !ity is either in a slum or in some other form of badly provisioned or illegal habitationB &n all the @prettifi!ation@ and @world-!lass-ifi!ation@ leading up to the Games% this is a very sobering thought.
