Slum development in Nashik: Too little, too late

NASHIK: The recent landslide at Kazigadi and distribution of houses to slumdwellers as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) have revealed the way slum improvement is handled in the city by its guardians. Though there was no casualty in the landslide, 65 families were rendered homeless, of whom 24 lost their houses. Though a retaining wall on the banks of the river would have prevented the landslide, a proposal to construct such a boundary has been pending with the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) for over a decade.After the landslide, the affected slumdwellers were shifted to the Sant Gadage Maharaj Dharamashala and a school nearby. However, most residents preferred to return to Kazigadi. These included people who have lost their houses and are staying in open spaces between houses of others.The Kazigadi slumdwellers have not been included in the Gharkul scheme of the NMC initiated as part of the JNNURM. According to NMC officials, the slum is situated on a private land and is yet to be notified as a slum officially, to make it eligible for certain improvement schemes.Another hitch is that local politicians have suggested that the slumdwellers be rehabilitated on a nearby plot. This indicates that they would not like to lose their captive vote bank to a location in some other constituency even if it means a better life for the slumdwellers. The issue is likely to be taken up soon in the general body meeting of the civic body.The NMC has been implementing the Gharkul scheme under the JNNURM since 2008 in 11 locations. The initial plan was to build 16,000 tenements for slumdwellers, which was scaled down by the NMC to 11,200. Besides, the civic body was unable to complete the project within the deadline of 2010, which has been extended till 2014. On one hand, the NMC has disregarded the plight of the slumdwellers residing at Kazigadi. On the other, its leaders, along with some state-level politicians, chose to bask in glory while distributing houses of the incomplete Gharkul scheme. The president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, Manikrao Thakre, state revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat (both from the Congress), mayor Yatin Wagh (MNS) and other civic guardians distributed only five houses at Nilgiri Baug along Aurangabad Road and delivered speeches. Since it turned out to be a political event, local NCP leaders stayed away. Deputy mayor Satish Kulkarni (who belongs to the BJP, the which is the ruling partner of the MNS in the NMC) also stayed away, lamenting that he was not invited. The manner in which the NMC has been handling the Gharkul scheme and ignoring the slumdwellers's plight points out at the nonchalance of the civic guardians as well as officials. For instance, one of the spots selected for constructing houses under the JNNURM was a 9,700 sq m plot at Anandvalli along Gangapur Road. After the civic body started construction, it was found that the plot belonged to the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), which demanded compensation for the land and the scheme was delayed in the process.Similarly, about 4,000 slumdwellers of Bhimwadi, who joined the Gharkul scheme three years ago, are languishing in subhuman conditions at the transit camp created at Ganjmaal. The scheme of constructing six buildings has been stuck for two years and construction activity has come to a standstill.According to a survey done by the civic body three years ago, there are 159 slum areas in the city, including 38 on private land. Of the slums on the private land, nine are yet to be notified as slums to make them eligible for civic amenities and welfare schemes. The handling of the slum improvement issue is too little, too late.