MOOSANAGAREEN SLOPPENWIJK IN HYDERABAD, INDIA

EEN ONTWERPMATIG ONDERZOEK

Emily Pescod

Promotor: prof. dr. ir.-arch. Johan LagaeBegeleiders: Bert Gellynck, David Schmitz

Masterproef ingediend tot het behalen van de academische graad vanMaster in de ingenieurswetenschappen: architectuur

Vakgroep Architectuur en StedenbouwVoorzi er: prof. dr. Pieter Uy enhoveFaculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen en ArchitectuurAcademiejaar 2010-2011

TOELATING TOT BRUIKLEENDe auteur gee de toela ng deze masterproef voor consulta e beschikbaar te stellen en delen van de scrip e te kopiëren voor persoonlijk gebruik.Elk ander gebruik valt onder de beperkingen van het auteursrecht, in het bijzonder met betrekking tot de verplich ng de bron uitdrukkelijk te vermelden bij het aanhalen van resultaten uit deze masterproef.

Emily Pescod

6 juni 2011

THE CITY WITHIN THE SLUM

Looking down from Chaderghat Bridge into the bas of Moosanagar it seems obvious to believe most sought a er in this area along the Musi River is the ownership of a solid

house. Beholding the eff ortless mo on through the maze of humble roofed construc ons, the roaming people below reveal the slum dweller within.

Upon acquaintance, during our two month stay in Hyderabad, Moosanagar however exposed a city within the slum enriching our train of thought with a vision there’s more

to see than the mere wish for be er.

Surviving 60 years of threat of evic on, Moosanagar proves improvement, if me is on your hands.

I

II

I.I THE EXPANDING URBAN FABRICI.2 THE CITY’S THIRSTI.3 SEWAGE PRODUCTIONI.4 SHRINKING WATER BODIES

I. THE INFLUENCE OF LAKHS

2.I MUSI BANKS, A PLACE CALLED HOME

II. THE RIVER MUSI, DANGER OR SALVATION

2.I.I THE EVOLUTION OF A SLUM2.I.2 MOOSANAGAR & TEMPORARY MIGRATION

2.2.I LIVELIHOODS2.2.2 ADAPTING CROPS

2.3 A HUNGER FOR DEVELOPMENT

2.2 MUSI WASTER WATER & FOOD SECURITY

2.3.I NANDANAVANAM

2.3.3 SAVE MUSI CAMPAIGN

2.3.2 PROPOSAL Ar. Hafeez Contractor

IIIIII. MOOSANAGAR SPECIAL SLUM ZONE

3.I.I MOOSANAGAR STRUCTURAL COMPARISON

3.2.2 HOUSING BACK LOG OF AP HOUSINGSCHEMES

3.I HOUSING SCHEMES, A HISTOY OF TRIAL AND ERROR

3.I.3 MOOSANAGAR HOUSING BACK LOG

3.2 HOUSING BACKLOGS

3.3 SLUM IMPROVEMENT, ANALYSIS

3.3.I SPECIAL SLUM ZONE

+-1000 1591 1680 1799 1858 1860

Old City:

I. THE INFLUENCE OF L

1901 1908 1911 1921 1931 19411920 1947 1948 1951 1956 1960 19611927

80km²

24,5km² - 110m

il. m³

19,5km² - 84m

il. m³

1962 1971 1975 1981 1991 2001 2008 2011

- -

7100km²

50

40

30

20

10 1000

3000

5000

7000

I

I.I THE EXPANDING URBAN FABRICI.2 THE CITY’S THIRSTI.3 SEWAGE PRODUCTIONI.4 SHRINKING WATER BODIES

I. THE INFLUENCE OF LAKHS

The Damagundam forest in the Anantagiri hills 70km to the west is the source of Hyderabad’s Musi river which fl ows principally eastward over a total distance of 270 km un l it emp es into the Krishna river.

Before the Musi is joined by one of its tributaries the Esi, it accumulates behind the Osman Sagar, one of the two dams built in 1920 as a consequence of the great Musi fl ood in 1908. The Esi has the second dam Himayat Sagar, which according to human need then allows the Esi to join the Musi just west of the city. They fl ow together for 30 km through the heart of Hyderabad dividing it into the North (New City) and the South (Old City).1

1 The history and evolu on of Hyderabad together with the popula on fi gures in this chapter are cited from: NARENDRA LUTHER, ‘Hyderabad. A biography’, Oxford University Press, 2006, Hyderabad; HMDA, ‘Revised Master Plan for Core area’, 2010 ,Hyderabad; and VARGHESE TECKANATH S.G., “Housing for the urban poor. Changing Paradigm in Hyderabad.”, 2002, Hyderabad

I.I THE EXPANDING URBAN FABRIC

Once pure wilderness, the underlying granite mass under Golconda Fort formed a hill where the herders of the surrounding villages let their cows and sheep graze. Situated on the Deccan plateau 540 m above sea-level, the hill was so noted for its grazing ca le that it was named “grazing hill”, “Golla Konda” in Telugu1. It was on this hill about 1.000 years ago that Golconda Fort was built overlooking the Musi on its south side, today only remaining as a ruin 8 km west from the Hyderabad’s center. As a result of the water shortages during the Qutb Shahi dynasty2 (1534-1724 AD), the kingdom of Golconda was relocated more to the east, along the banks of the Musi river. With its potable water, the river supplied the new city with drinking water. Thus in 1591, Hyderabad originated as a planned city in a grid drawn around Charminar3 , intended for a projected 5 lakh popula on. Spread over a period of 150 years, during the reign of the Asaf Jahi rulers (1724-1948 AD) (also called Nizams4 ), Hyderabad enjoyed a cultural and economic bloom resul ng in becoming the offi cial capital of the Golconda kingdom.

1 Local language2 A Turkic dynasty ruling the kingdom of Golconda3 Islamic monument meaning “Mosque of the four towers” 4 Title of the na ve sovereigns of Hyderabad State

In 1680 the Old City of Hyderabad was comprised of 88000 people over an area of 2,5km². In the mean me at the beginning of the 17th century, the Bri sh arrived in India. It was only in 1858 that India was subjected to Bri sh colonial rule.

The Bri sh Indian Empire consisted of two divisions: Bri sh India and the Na ve States or Princely States. The la er were not directly ruled by the Bri sh, but governed indirectly through an Indian head of state. Thus during the reign of the Nizams, Hyderabad became one of the princely states but kept control over internal aff airs.

Earlier in 1799, came the crea on of the Bri sh cantonment separated from Hyderabad by the 4km² Hussain Sagar lake. This sec on of the city later developed as a separate en ty: Secunderabad

In 1860, the borders of the Hyderabad Municipality (HM) were defi ned, in the mean me totalling an area of 56,98km². In 1901,

the census of India1 counted 4,2 lakh people in the Municipality. Thus is took more than 300 years before the planned for 5 lakh popula on around Charminar was reached. It was mainly a er 1881 that Hyderabad’s popula on grew through the success of the expanding Nizam’s administra on.

1 The Indian Census is the largest single source of a variety of sta s cal informa on on diff erent characteris cs of the people of India. The responsibility of conduc ng the decennial Census rests with the Offi ce of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India under Ministry of Home Aff airs, Government of India.

In 1908 Hyderabad was subjected to a great Musi Flood due to abnormally heavy rainfall. Thousands of people were killed resul ng in only a marginal growth in popula on un l 1911. The popula on of 5,92 lakh were however spread over a steadily expanding area which now summed up to 80km². The fl ood was the catalyst for the forma on of the New City bringing a relocated seat of government with it.

While the old city, capital of the former rulers, refl ects the tradi onal manner of life with its chaos of rickshaws, street vendors and unceasing commo on between the architectural heritages. The new city forms the city’s less densely populated centre for commerce, companies and entertainment.

Another consequence of the fl ood was the building of two dams; Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar. Osman Sagar, covering an area of 24,5km² and storing up to 110million m³, and Himayat having a capacity of 84 million m³ in an area of 19,5km², would besides the control of future fl ooding also guarantee the new potable water supply to the city.

In the periods of 1911-1912 and 1916-1917 Hyderabad experienced some of the worst plagues it was ever subjected to . This was refl ected in the new Census of India results in 1921 that showed that the popula on had diminished to 4,06 lakh.

In 1931, again ci ng the Census of India, popula on increased again to 4,47lakh. However in 1941 a spectacular jump to 7,20 lakh revealed a decadal growth rate of 61,10%, the highest Hyderabad had ever known.

A er 200 years of Bri sh rule, India gained its independence on the 15th August 1947. Following this, Hyderabad joined the Indian Union1 in 1948. This hailed the end of the Nizam Empire. With it’s strategic geographical loca on in the centre of the country and ample govt land available in the Peri Urban area, Hyderbad was able to a ract many public and private industries, turning Hyderabad into a hometown of Industrial and economic growth.With residents totalling 10,26 lakh in 1951, Hyderabad gained the metropolitan status along with Delhi and Chennai.

In addi on, during the Indian linguis c reorganisa on of 1956, the state of Andhra Pradesh came into being with Hyderabad as its capital. In 1960 the Hyderabad Municipal Corpora on (HMC) was formed covering an area of 172 km² and a popula on of 11,19 lakh by 1961.

HMC is comprised of the Old City, New City (also referred to as Hyderabad) and Secunderabad. Although called the Twin Ci es, ondergingen deze beide en teiten een verschillende evolu e. As Secunderabad developed under Bri sh rule un l 1947, Hyderabad grew as the capital of the Nizams. Today s ll separated by the Hussain Sagar lake, they really form one greater whole: the Core City Area.

1 At the end of Bri sh rule, two dominions were created: the dominion of Pakistan and the dominion of India (Indian union).

A er leaving the Core City Area, the Musi con nues its path through several towns in the Urbanised City Area, which all together comprise the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corpora on (GHMC).

Today, this expansion is evident through the following:The crea on of Hyderabad as the capital of Andhra Pradesh brought a period of poli cal stability. Besides the rapid industrialisa on as from the 60’s, and the coming of the IT sector, the absence of fl oods, famine and epidemics all combined for the fast increase in popula on in the City centre. Beginning with 11,19 lakh in 1961 this fi gure rose to 16,07 lakh in1971. This made Hyderabad the 5th most populous under the Indian metropolises.

Looking at Hyderabad as part of Andhra Pradesh and India, we also see a general increase in the urban popula on. In 1971, Andhra Pradesh had a decadal growth of 33,92%, and India as a whole of 38,3%. According to the Na onal Ins tute of Urban Aff airs (NIUA) this growth was due to a 41% increase in births, 40% through in-migra on and 19% due to the reclassifi ca on of se lements. The reason for this large scale migra on of the rural popula on to the ci es was due to a quickly rising rural popula on that outpaced the availability of farming land. This in turn put great pressure on landless peasants who then sought work in the economically booming city.

As the thousands of poor immigrated to the city this only added to the natural increase of the urban residents resul ng in an exploding number of poor. Slums proliferated. In 1962 106 no fi ed slum were registered with a popula on of 1,2 lakh or 10% of the total city popula on. In 1971 this fi gure increased to 282 no fi ed slums with residents totalling 3 lakh represen ng 18% of the total city popula on.

The expansion also manifested itself far outside of the city centre. In 1975 this resulted in the forma on of the Hyderabad Development Area (HDA). The predecessor of today’s Urbanised City has an area of 1865 km².

Along with the con nual growth, Hyderabad was transformed more and more into an urbanised area. Simultaneously, the inhabitants of the city centre grew from 21,5 lakh in 1981 to 30,5 lakh in 1991 un l fi nally 36,30 lakh in 2001. In the last fi gure, a very conspicuous decrease in the decadal growth rate of the urban popula on was evident, i.e., decreasing from 41,86% to 19,3%. As the city became more and more congested, a possible explana on is the growing trend to se le in the peripheral towns. This decrease was also visible in Andhra Pradesh and India in general.

However generally speaking we s ll see a moun ng city popula on growth, also in the slums. In the mean me the city had in 1981, 470 no fi ed slums with 5,4 lakh inhabitants of 23% of the total city popula on. In 1991 the last record was made with 811 no fi ed slums according to GoAP with a popula e of 12,58 lakh and thus +/- 40% of the total city’s populace.

This s mulated the forma on in 2008 of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Area (HMDA) with an area of 7 100 km².

GHMC and the Cyberabad Development Zone, an upcoming IT centre developed by the State of Andhra Pradesh, together with the Interna onal Airport Zone 16 km to the south of Hyderabad are all comprised in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Area (HMDA) and managed by the HMD Authority.

Today, Hyderabad is considered na onal heritage and with its popula on es mate of 40 – 45 Lakhs in the Core City area alone, it is one of the fastest growing metropolis’ in India.

Looking at the evolu on of Hyderabad and the accompanying graphs, we see that city area growth, total resident numbers and the urban poor totals are all interconnected. The se lement on the southern banks of the Musi in 1591 changed the landscape around the river for good. A er Qutb Shahis laid the basis for Hyderabad, it grew past the planned grid around Charminar during the reign of the Nizams. Hyderabad Municipality was formed and a er the 1908 fl ood, the city crossed over the river to form the New City.

The subsequent Bri sh infl uence with the crea on of Secunderabad laid the basis for the Hyderbad Municipal Corpora on and Core City area today. Due to the con nual popula on increase and infl ux of outsiders for the 60’s industrialisa on, the Core City area was no longer contained with its’ borders spilling over into the urbanised city area and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Area today.

In spite of the tremendous urbanisa on, it is the tremendous growth within the city centre which is notable. The Core City area comprises only 27% of the GHMC area but 60% of the total populace of both. With only 2% of the total HMDA area it contains 50% of its’ total inhabitants.

The penalty of such a huge popula on mass cannot be overlooked on the environment. The Musi was made to pay through the shu ng off of its’ water source only being replaced by millions of litres per day of sewage and industrial waste. But not only the Musi lost its’ glory, many other water bodies and important storm water channels suff ered the infl uence of the lakhs.

TO CONCLUDE...

As is usually the case with developing countries, rapid and uncontrolled urbaniza on is accompanied with environmental degrada on. Typically, water pollu on is the main component. Waste water is seldom treated and there is o en a complete lack of an -pollu on policies.

This is also true in Hyderabad as evidenced how industrialisa on and rapid popula on growth went hand in hand to pollute the River Musi and other water bodies. In what follows, it is seen that as the increasing popula on needed more potable water, it produced more sewage and, needing more space, fi nally resulted in shrinking water bodies.

Experiencing water shortages at Fort Golconda, the reloca on of the Kingdom to the banks of the Musi river in 1591, forms the fi rst example of how the Musi was u lised to sa sfy the drinking water needs of the popula on. Hussain Sagar lake was formed in 1562 by damming construc on on one of the tributaries even before the origin of the city. This formed the fi rst source of drinking water for Hyderabad. Following Hussain Sagar, many more tanks were built by Qutb Shahis (1534-1724 AD), and later on by the Asaf Jahis (Nizams) (1724-1948 AD).

Hyderabad’s bloom was mainly situated during the late part of this second period. Once the planned for 5 Lakhs popula on was reached, the city began to expand outwards past the designed grid of the Qutb Shahis. They built among others, monuments such as the High Court, Osmania hospital situated along the Musi River, a new reservoir - the Mir Alam Tank (1908) and also the fi rst underground water pipes. In 1931 construc on started on the fi rst sewerage network. This consisted of two intercep ng sewers running parallel to the Musi which collected waste from pipes coming from all over the city.

A er the 1908 Musi Flood, the growth of the New City north of the Musi commenced. As a result of the growing popula on, urbanisa on around Hussain Sagar decreased its’ catchment

I.2 THE CITY’S THIRST area and blocked the fl ow of runoff water to the reservoir. With lack of control on waste disposal, everything was dumped in Hussain Sagar. The construc on (in 1920 and again in 1927) of two large drink water reservoirs; Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar upstream and outside the city centre, were both built as a result of the 1908 fl ood. Their coming, consequently lead to the complete neglect and degrada on of Hussain Sagar.

Today Hussain Sagar is a water body which only off ers some visual delight and space for recrea on. However it does help as a storm water buff er. The Mir Alam Tank also suff ered the same fate and can no longer be used as a drinking water supply.

A er independence in 1947 and its’ subsequent membership of the Indian Union in 1948, Hyderabad quickly became a base for industrial and economic growth. The populace now grew even faster due to the absence of fl oods, hunger and epidemics. The thriving city acted as a magnet for immigra on. With a lopsided focus on economic growth, the fact that pollu on constantly increased through developing industry both in the city and in its environs, was completely neglected.

Osman Sagar covering an area of 24,5km² and storing up to 110million m³, and Himayat having a capacity of 84 million m³ in an area of 19,5km² formed the new potable water supply of the city. The water supplied to the city today is 222 MGD1 . This means that to sa sfy Hyderabad with drinking water more than 1 million m³ water per day must be supplied . Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar, which together have a capacity of 194 million m³ would both be dry within a year without further supplies from the Musi and Esi.

To guarantee the constant supply to and from the Sagars, new potable water programs were introduced in 1965 and s ll con nue today. While Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar each respec vely provide 16 MGD and 11 MGD,

1 Million Gallons per Day – 1 UK Gallon = 4,5 litre

Singur (75), Manjira (45) and Krishna (75) were new sources. In a table out of the Hyderabad Metropolitan water supply and sewerageboard (HMWSSB) it was dis lled that these sources are only found further and further away. While Osman Sagar (1922) and Himayat Sagar (1927) are close by at 15 and 8,6 km, Manjira and the Singur Dam are 58 and 80 km distant from Hyderabad. The most recent, the Krishna water scheme da ng from 2004, has to transport its water 130 km to the city.1

The need for new drinking water sources at increasing distances is due to the con nual increase in urbanisa on. This is also apparent today around Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar with a corresponding danger to their workings. Because of this, The Supreme Court ruled on 1st December 2000 that no water pollu ng industry could be situated within a radius of 10 km of the reservoirs. Even though the Supreme Court addi onally ordered; “The State is duty bound not only to provide adequate drinking water but also to protect water sources from pollu on and encroachment.” it is unlikely that the Musi will again fl ow with anything like drinkable water. Also Ar cle 21 of the Cons tu on of India which states “access to clean drinking water is a fundamental right under ‘right to life’.”2 has not had any no ceable improvement for most of Hyderabad’s slum dwellers.

While two decades ago the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar were overfl owing into the Musi river during the monsoons, now, to ensure constant available potable water, even controlled releases seldom occur, leaving the

1 KONRAD HAGEDORN et al,‘Hyderabad as a Megacity of Tomorrow: Sustainable Urban Food and Health Security and Environmental Resource Management’, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2007, Hyderabad 2 p5 RAMACHANDRAIAH et al, ‘Hyderabad’s Water Issues and the Musi River Need for Integrated Solu ons’, 2007, Hyderabad

river dry of water for most of the me. The huge growth of popula on and associated increase in demand for potable water, have lead to the drying up of the River Musi; perhaps for all me.

In spite of the huge popula on growth, the sewage network was not expanded similarly. Da ng from 1931 it was extended again with fi ve other major sewers in 19851 . Today, this sewage system s ll only collects 62% of Hyderabad’s waste.2 In an eff ort to collect the remaining waste water, the sewage network was connected to natural storm water drains. This means that the vast majority of waste water collected by the sewage network, ul mately returns to the environment untreated. As such, the Musi is forced fed huge quan es of raw human waste. This is no secret as the 2010 Master Plan for Core City area states only 23% of the city’s waste is treated and just 3% is reused. Assuming the sewage generated is 80% of the total water supply; this means that 177,6 MGD of wastewater is dumped again in the Musi river, resul ng in its new fl ow. While the river prac cally disappeared due to the city’s thirst, it returned in the guise of polluted effl uent.

HMWSSB currently has only two STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants). STPs are a necessary development for the city for its treatment of household waste which is otherwise dumped directly in the Musi. As previously men oned, these two plants only treat 23% (roughly equal to 40 MGD) of the waste water produced by Hyderabad’s inhabitants.

The fi rst STP was built in 1938, the Amberpet Sewage Treatment Plant and was expanded later in 1985. The only other STP present in Hyderabad is the STP found at Hussain Sagar, covering 15% of the total treated 40 MGD. 3 Although a start was made in trea ng waste water in the 1930’s, the techniques were not refi ned during the following decades.

S ll more important than the treatment of household waste, is the disposal of industrial refuse. Through the growing industrialisa on in

1 HMDA, ‘Revised Master Plan for Core area’, 2010 , Hyderabad2 IWMI, ‘Household Food Security and Wastewater-dependent Livelihood Ac vi es along the Musi River in Andhra Pradesh, India’3 HMDA, ‘Revised Master Plan for Core area’, 2010 , Hyderabad

I.3 SEWAGE PRODUCTION Hyderabad in the 1960’s, the industry became the largest catalyst of the environmental pollu on.According to HMWSSB the total industrial effl uent generated is 19 MGD. Althoughthis forms only 10% of the total wastewater produced, this effl uent contains highly toxic compounds posing a great threat to the people using Musi river “water” forwhatever purpose: fi sh nurseries, fodder and vegetable growers living downstream, washer people, etc. Another danger is comprised of the fact that toxic compounds eventually end up in the food chain. 1

Azamabad, Musheerabad, Sanathnagar, Kavadiguda, New Bhoiguda, and Lalaguda, are six of the old industrial zone in the middle of the city. Later on came Jeedimetla, Balanagar, Chandulal Bardari, Medchal, Moulali, Nacharam, Cherlapalli, Uppal, Katedan, Autonagar and Gagan Pahad, the new Industrial Estates. Many of the industrial estates are situated close to reservoirs which ul mately reduced them to toxic ponds.

Evidently industrial waste needs to be treated separately. This is done in a CETP (Common Effl uent Treatment Plant). A study on environmental resource management in Hyderabad2,states presently there are only two CETP’s in the Hyderabad area. The fi rst, JETL (Jeedimetla Effl uent Treatment Limited) is situated in the catchment area of Musi. Being owned by an industrial group, this CETP has no rela onship with the government nor the Water Board. Each new company wishing to use the facili es of JETL must become a member. A second CETP, PETL ( Patancheru Envirotech Limited) is located in the catchment of the Manjira River. When this plant is fully opera ng, it will be connected via mains to the STP in Amberpet. There the effl uent will be treated further together with the household waste before being released in the Musi.

Although the presence of few STPs and CETPs it

1 Humboldt2 KONRAD HAGEDORN et al,‘Hyderabad as a Megacity of Tomorrow: Sustain-able Urban Food and Health Security and Environmental Resource Manage-ment’, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2007, Hyderabad

is evident that for the me being, they clearly are inadequate for the capacity being generated.

Many ‘a empts’ have been made over the years to stop the pollu on generated by the Industrial Estates. There are approximately 200 Central and State laws to protect the environment in India whereby laws such as: ‘poisonous, noxious or pollu ng ma er shall not be discharged, directly or indirectly, into water bodies, sewers or on land.’ As per sec on 24 of the Water (Preven on and Control of Pollu on) Act, 1974, and ‘no person carrying on any industry, opera on or process shall discharge or emit or permit to be discharged or emi ed any environmental pollutant in excess of such standards as may be prescribed’ under sec ons 7 of the Environment (Protec on) Act, 1986. All are completely ignored.

Although it is the responsibility of the state to increase capacity through the construc on of new ST and CET Plants which will also keep pace with the popula on and industrial growth of the city, the two main problems preven ng this from happening have remained unchanged for decades. These are the lack of suffi cient fi nancing, and of adequate land in a suitable place.

255

Subject to tropical semi-arid weather, Hyderabad receives an average of 80cm of rainfall per year, most of which is during monsoon season. Hyderabad’s wet season starts from late June and ends early October under the infl uence of the South-West monsoon.

On September 28, 1908, Hyderabad received approximately 43cm of rainfall in one day. Following the huge downpour, tanks in the catchment area of the river Musi fi lled to the top and the ground was inundated. Overfl owing storm water drains helplessly disposed their water in to the Musi resul ng in a huge fl ood. Thousands of people were killed and many more thousands were le homeless behind.

Imprinted in Hyderabad’s memory this fl ood showed the power of nature. As a result the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar were built. As previously stated these were built to supply the city with drinking water but the other reason was to serve as control barrier to prevent future fl ooding.

In spite of the absence of natural river water, a fl ood again occurred between 22nd and 24th of August 2000 due to a local low pressure, there was aberra on in the normal weather pa ern. The Twin ci es of Hyderabad and Secunderabad measured 24cm of rainfall, again in one day. Many of the low-lying areas, occupied by Hyderabad residents and long known as fl ood-prone, were inundated. Even though the deluge was not extreme in de catchment area of the river Musi and its tributaries, the rain was the cause of much damage. According to an es mate of the GoAP, 80 000 people were vic ms of the so-called ‘fl ash fl ood’. The unexpected and abrupt rise of water totally destroyed 7500 houses and damaged 3000 more.1

In the enquiry into how this could happen, one must go back, again, to the development of the city as from ca. 1960. The popula on

1 VARGHESE TECKANATH S.G., “Housing for the urban poor. Changing Para-digm in Hyderabad.”, 2002, Hyderabad

I.4 SHRINKING WATER BODIES growth brought both the need for drinking water and places to live. Besides the alloca on of ground for industrial zones, there were also large areas allo ed for “residen al” use. Through expanding urbanisa on substan al areas were built and covered in concrete.

A paper presented at the Interna onal Water Conference of 2007 in Berlin1 declared that many historical water bodes built by Qutub Shahi rulers (1534-1724 AD) and the Asaf Jahi rulers (1724-1948 AD) in and around Hyderabad, shrank in area and some even disappeared with the construc on of residen al zones. Although it is diffi cult for us to track back on these disappearing lakes, some examples where given and some are easily recognised by the keeping of their name for the residen al zone in place.As was the case with the reduc on in the catchment area of the Hussain Sagar due to urbanisa on, the Masab Tank forms one of the most prominent examples of unsustainable urban growth. Built during the 6th Qutb Shahi, this zone at the foot of the upmarket locality Banajara Hills today forms a busy residen al-commercial area named accordingly.

Besides the tanks themselves, came also the fi lling in of their tributaries and important storm water drains. Examples of these are the residen al suburbs of Vijaya Nagar Colony en Shan Nagar which were located on a tributary of the Masab Tank. Nallakunta and Barkatpura were developed on a tributary of Hussain Sagar. Also close to Saroornagar, near the Hyderabad-Vijayawada Na onal Highway we see no tributary any longer.

It is through the disappearance of similar reservoirs and the destruc on of their links that the 2000 fl ood was possible. In addi on, the physical construc on of the residen al zones in these places blocked the water’s natural surface-runoff . This forced water away from its natural downstream path and as such set these and other urban areas under water. Masab Tank, Vijayanagar Colony and Nallakunta were some of the worst aff ected areas due

1 RAMACHANDRAIAH et al, ‘Hyderabad’s Water Issues and the Musi River Need for Integrated Solu ons’, 2007, Hyderabad

to the August fl ood in 2000 in Hyderabad.

Apart from residen al use, government today is blamed to be encroaching on several water bodies through ac ons such as the construc on of roads and fl yovers diminishing the size and number of natural channels. Other examples of so called government encroachments in the past are Lumbini Park and Mahatma Gandhi bus stand. Lumbini Park located on the banks of Hussain Sagar was developed by the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (present HMDA) in 1994. Reclaiming a part of Hussain Sagar, it forms a place of recrea on and amusement. Mahatma Gandhi bus stand, reachable by bridges, was created in the Musi river. It is owned by Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corpora on (APSRTC) and forms one of the largest bus sta ons in Asia.

It is clear that rapid urbanisa on and lack of “though ul” planning is responsible for the diminishing of useful water bodies and important storm water drains. Although reclaimed lands temporarily release the pressure from inhabitants and state, they later form serious problems when nature strikes again.

255

M

II

2.I MUSI BANKS, A PLACE CALLED HOME

II. THE RIVER MUSI, DANGER OR SALVATION

2.I.I THE EVOLUTION OF A SLUM2.I.2 MOOSANAGAR & TEMPORARY MIGRATION

2.2.I LIVELIHOODS2.2.2 ADAPTING CROPS

2.3 A HUNGER FOR DEVELOPMENT

2.2 MUSI WASTER WATER & FOOD SECURITY

2.3.3 SAVE MUSI CAMPAIGN

2.3.I NANDANAVANAM2.3.2 PROPOSAL Ar. Hafeez Contractor

‘In India, a river is a common property resource of the people and thus it is the responsibility of the State to protect water resources.’1

The Musi River forms the most striking example today in Hyderabad of the state’s impossibility, or unwillingness, to exert its’ responsibility to protect the water resources and hence the protec on of its’ people. Over-popula on and mismanagement have reduced a healthy river to a neglected strip of land, with in the middle pure waste water fl owing.

What happens when the water of a river, a common property resource, ceases to exist? What happens with the hectares of land which become “free” where once the river fl owed in a busy city such as Hyderabad? What happens with the waste water? And, what happens with the freed up space when nature demands it back?

When inves ga ng the river’s banks, we see three separate groups arising among the Hyderabad residents. Their reac on has manifest itself in two forms in these new condi ons: 1. Musi banks, a found object and 2. Musi banks, a fl ood zone

1 RAMACHANDRAIAH et al, ‘Hyderabad’s Water Issues and the Musi River Need for Integrated Solu ons’, 2007, Hyderabad

“We arrived at MN around 10 o’clock. While looking for Ashfaq, the bas leader, we encountered two youngsters Waliz and Rahaman instead, who showed us around Rasoolpura and Moosanagar. Moosanagar appears to be the most organic with li le alleys and diff erent ages and heights of buildings. Rasoolpura is more open and seems to be more orthogonal and structured. The boys introduced us to many friends and family. In Moosanagar, near the bridge with Kamal Nagar, mud huts had been constructed that clearly were of lesser quality than the other brick houses in this slum. A growing group of youngsters and kids took us further to see the Musi River (Moosa River as they called it themselves). The river is divided from the bastees by a green zone that fl oods when the river rises. We walked along a concrete canal parallel to the river that clearly was used as public toilet also. On the other bank of the river we could see a slum consis ng of huts made of plas c sheets and other waste materials. We assume this must be one of the many unno fi ed slums in the area. Following the river, we had a constant (unless interrupted by trees) view on Kamal Nagar and its government built apartments lying next to us beyond the green belt. Finally we ended up in the next slum, called Khalikabar. Industry and jobs seemed to dis nguish this slum from the others. We could iden fy a car garage, a generator company, a buff alo farm for milk, a recycling spot for plas c bo les, a ‘dry cleaners’ washing area founded near the river and a vast open space used to lay sheets for drying, a mber workshop for doorframes, banana markets and a another mber workshop (for furniture?). Only have passing through briefl y, we conclude there must have been more. Along our way back a couple of people warned us for the dangers of slums and of our company and voiced their opinion we shouldn’t be there. While in Kamal Nagar, a few boys le for Muslim mass. We met a new fellow named Amir who warned us for the boys we were with. A er several changes of guide we couldn’t help no cing the law of the strongest. Some kids would be guiding us un l some older kids get acquainted with us and chase them away. This pa ern keeps repea ng itself, un l fi nally an adult would gain interest and tell the others to leave. Interes ng is the fact only the youngsters know English and therefore, so far, are the best guides. The adults on the other hand are the only ones to allow us in their houses, which has been our most precious goal. A er asking us why we were here, Amir decided to guide us to the PIN-school. Guidance to places they recognise from our explana on has happened before without the actual need for being there. As always we followed our new guide anyway to see what would happen this me. PIN-school asked proof of permission to enter, so again we were guided (although we knew our way), this me to the PIN-offi ce in order to seek that permission. Ending up there we decided that we would have our lunch there from now on. As the only white people (so it seems) in Hyderabad we gain so much a en on every day it’s nice to have some peace and quiet to think of what we’ve seen in the past hours. We ate our lunch at around 12:30h and le for the roof to inhale the chao c view named Hyderabad. At 13:30h we went to Moosanagar once more in order to do some drawing. We decided this could be a new strategy to keep away the a en on obtained by roaming around on one hand and learn every detail of one small part of the slum on the other. Off course it did not take long for the word to spread and soon lots of a en on came, this me especially from women and children. Soon we were defi ned as ‘ar sts’ and Mohammed Moinudin, a real ar st (painter) wanted to meet us. He invited us to his place and fi nally we entered the fi rst slum house independently. We sat there for about one hour impressed by this small place fi lled with lovely pain ngs and humidity infected books. A er many pictures taken of us, the family and friends, we le fulfi lled, thinking we’ll need to gain everyone’s trust step by step.”

daily report, Hyderabad, 17/09/2010 Loïc & Emily

2.I MUSI BANKS, A PLACE CALLED HOME

Looking at the banks of the Musi River, one sees that it is do ed with residen al se lements. Many of these se lements came into existence where roads, which were constructed on uninhabited land parallel to the river, later branched away in another direc on. The roads’ physical subdivision of local space, uninten onally created separate areas adjoining the river which were thankfully taken over and adopted by the infl ux of poor for their housing sites.

Up un l the end of the 1940’s the extensive land all along the Musi River was just fi elds, temples, cemeteries and sites where Dhobis1 prac ced their job. From 1930 – 1945, the City Improvement Board (CIB) began to build various housing schemes along the Musi area with the eye on local economic growth. In addi on, there was a strong tendency for industrialisa on with large projects in the whole of the country a er India gained independence from the Bri sh in 1947. Much privately and state owned land was designated to industrial and residen al use.

Following this growth, the fi rst Muslim refugees immigra ng to the city in search of work began to se le along the Musi. As more and more poor followed their example in se ling themselves along the river, a long string of slums was the result.2

As the Musi condi ons started to change and the river transformed into a narrow channel of waster water, more space became available resul ng in the expansion of the slums individually, towards the river. Musi banks, the found object by many poor became a place called home.

1 Tradi onal washer men 2 ANANT MARINGANTI, ‘Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyder-abad’, 2007, Hyderabad

According to a 2007 study of the Humboldt University in Berlin1 , in total 75 offi cial and unoffi cial slums are situated, between Bapughat in the west to Nagole Bridge in the east along a 16 km stretch of the Musi.

One of these 75 slums is Moosanagar, located on the Southern bank of the river Musi adjacent to Chaderghat bridge.

During our stay in Hyderabad from the end of September 2010 un l the beginning of November 2010 this was the main Bas we did research upon.With its fi rst se lers arriving in the mid ‘50s, Moosanagar today evolved into one of the most prominent Bastees along the Musi river, housing more than 350 families.Through various interviews with the Moosanagar inhabitants and with the grateful help of Br. Varghese Teckanath, who lived in Moosanagar for several years, we managed to track back the history and evolu on of Moosanagar and how this part of the Musi banks, slowly turned in to a vibrant li le town.

1 M. VEDA KUMAR &The Musi River Study Team, HUMBOLDT UNIVERSITY BERLIN, ‘Analysis and Ac on for Sustainable Development of Hyderabad’, 2007, Hyderabad

2.I.I THE EVOLUTION OF A SLUMPART IThe fi rst people to se le in Moosanagar came in the middle of the 1950’s. They were only fi ve in number; Maisaih, Harasimah (s ll alive), G. Lingaiah and Khundel (name of the 5th could not be recalled). Coming from villages from Na-lgonda District 1, they where looking for liveli-hood. Ini ally they did not bring their families but as they se led down and had a regular in-come they started to bring their families along. Nevertheless, s ll keeping in touch with their rela ves in the village they kept going back during monsoon season to cul vate their small land holdings. Arriving, they se led on a piece of land which they had bought for a small sum

1 A District in Andhra Pradesh situated East and South-East from Hyderabad.

1950: First se lersSardar Bhai

Scale: 1/4000

from a private owner who owned some of the land along the river. Later on, part of this land was bought by Sardar Bhai who used it to grow fl owers. The area was very sparsely populat-ed. Much of the area was open or cul vated.In course of me the open lands became more and more occupied with houses. A er the fi rst fi ve houses, a few other houses came such as that of Sardar Bhai. Ashwaq Bhai, the present day bas leader of Moosanagar, and his sister Munna Bhai and others also se led around where they live now. In the late 1980’s, land was leased to Hanumantha Rao (the priest of the temple previously situated in the east of the land) and others for their houses.

255

Hayatollah MosqueAbed Ali KhanSadiq Ali Khan

1559-1980: se lers

Scale: 1/4000

PART 2A second part of the land was owned by the local Hayatollah Mosque situated adjacent to the police sta on on the Main Chaderghat Bridge today. This stretched from de Muslim Cemetery further on the whole area of Kamal Nagar. Later this piece of land was given to Abed Ali Khan in return for his services to the mosque. Khan later gave it to his son Sadiq Ali Khan, who gave small plots of land to those who wanted it against a small monthly rent from 1959-1980.With the opportuni es of work, as the middle class popula on increased, Chaderghat and Moosanagar provided both work and shelter. Therefore, more Hindus, coming from Nalgonda district, through contacts of their rela ves already se led in the area, came to live in Moosanagar. But also many Muslims, coming from diff erent parts of the city,

began to se le. As more people where coming, many people of Moosanagar were forced to shi as families mul plied and hence had to fi nd new homes for the new families.

O en, occupying land, building a hut, payment of rent, etc. are informal arrangements. While some of the inhabitants paid regularly, other paid once in three or six months depending on the work they had and money they could spare. The very poor did not pay at all.

Although in Moosanagar, up un l the 1980’s, the land division depended mainly on mutual nego a ons. Generally, the type of land in Hyderabad typically being available has its origins back in the me of the Nizams. There were Jagirs (Estates) Serf e Khas (Nizam’s private lands), Diwani (revenue

255

lands), lands given in life-long possession to various groups of the aristocracies and land as shown above for temples and mosques. When Hyderabad joined the Indian Union in 1948, the state became the legal owner of all Serf e Khas. As such the state today is able to grant pa as1 for this type of land.2 Any other type of land needed for the same purpose, should fi rst be bought.

Only a er the recogni on of the whole slum (slum no fi ca on3 ), can one begin to consider the individual property rights over a par cular parcel of land. Slum no fi ca on and recogni on depends en rely on the abili es of the people who take this ma er to heart.This process can be dealt with by par es such as an NGO who want to help the residents, to a local poli cian who off ers help in return for votes. In order to offi cially receive property rights, the state grants this en tlement through the issue of the so-called “D-form pa a”. This gives the poor the right to occupy a given piece of land, but without any selling rights. This pa a can also be withdrawn at any me when the public interest demands it.

From 1980 to 1982, prac cally all residents living in Moosanagar by then (up to 169 families) received ownership tles over their land in the form of a D-form pa a thanks to Mr. Azeez Pasha, a leader of the Communist Party of India in the area (currently a member of the Upper House of the Parliament of India).

Suppor ng a communist candidate in Parliamentary elec ons has its origins in the fact (and is easily understood) that Nalgonda district had been a stronghold of the communist movement in Andhra Pradesh. The peasants of this district had ac vely par cipated in the Telangana Armed struggle of the communists against the oppressive land lords, which had been suppressed

Following the no fi ca on of the Moosanagar, the issue of open sewages present in the.

1 tenurial cer fi cate 2 ANANT MARINGANTI, ‘Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyder-abad’, 2007, Hyderabad3 offi cially acknowledging the existence of the slum

slum, was addressed in two phases. The fi rst was in 1985. Under the fi rst phase of the Overseas Development Programme of the Bri sh Government (ODA), slums that were no fi ed were given basic facili es such as community halls, street lights, water connec ons, cement roads etc..The part of Moosanagar, built up ll now, got all these facili es.

Krishna1982: se lers

Scale: 1/4000

PART 3Up and un l 1982, the land along the river remained unoccupied for two reasons. One, it was privately owned and was being cul vated. Second, there used to be fl oods more o en and hence people chose to live on land that was higher. Besides, there was land s ll available to put up their huts as the popula on of the area and also the city was not so high.

The land adjacent to the river and Chaderghat Bridge, originally the property of the mosque, was allocated to Krishna a local business man, who rented it for sand mining.1 In 1982, he bought full ownership of the land and subsequently divided it into small land parcels, all of which he resold. 1 ANANT MARINGANTI, ‘Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyder-abad’, 2007, Hyderabad

Muktar Ali KhanMurtaza Ali Khan

late ‘80ies- early ‘90ies: se lers

Scale: 1/4000

PART 4Another part of Moosanagar was owned by Muktar Ali Khan, a Nawab (tradi onal aristocrate) and was used for farming. This land is situated between the water and the land previously owned by the temple. It goes on past the next slum: Vinayaka Veedhi. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, his son Murtaza Ali Khan divided it up, into smaller sec ons and sold them to diff erent people. The houses seen this land today were part of this deal.

Although not in the possession of a pa a, the people who bought these lands from Murtaza Ali Khan, bought them on what is called “Notary”. This is an agreement entered into by the owner of the land and the buyer, on a revenue stamp paper which was notarised by a lawyer. Based on this people built their houses although they

were not registered and hence did not enter government records nor had any legal sanc ty.

Musi river had compara vely clean water and it was used by people living along the river for a long me. For domes c purposes, there were some Tube wells and open wells in Moosanagar. The Municipal coopera on also supplied potable water to the area in tankers. A er the piped water came around 1985, people generally received their supply from common taps. The new Moosanagar residents that did not have such facility o en bought water from the few who had private water connec ons – eg. Laxman Rao, the son of one of the fi rst fi ve se lers had a private water connec on

Krishna1992: reloca on

1992: construc on of New Chaderghat bridge

Scale: 1/4000

PART 5In 1992 construc on began on the New Chaderghat Bridge (causeway) resul ng in the reloca on of the aff ected people by GHMC to a piece of land from Krishna.

In addi on as part of the nego a ng process between the residents of Moosanagar and the state, roads and electricity were promised in the newer part of Moosanagar in exchange for the building of the causeway.A great deal of work was done between 1994-95 with the help of Mr. Ranga Reddy who was elected to the Legisla ve Assembly in 1994 with support of the residents of Moosanagar.

Subsequently, the release of the Nandanavanam Project in1998 is a less successful example of the demoli on of several

houses on the property of Krishna. However through protests the works were halted leaving the property “unfi nished” behind.

State propertyPasha Pehelwan

Scale: 1/4000

PART 6Finally, one of the most striking features of Moosanagar today is the area under the Chaderghat Bridge. According to A. Maringan , this area is offi cially state property, but was gradually taken over by Pasha Pehelwan1 . As an unoffi cial power broker, he presents himself as one of the original inhabitants of the area, and decides who can live where and how much they must pay. It is said that some of the people living under Chaderghat Bridge are the ones whose houses where demolished on the adjacent area.

1 “A Pehelwan is a tradi onal instructor in body building and wrestling. In the Old City, both Hindu and Muslim Pehelwans were respected and feared fi gures of authority un l the late 1960s. Since the early 1970s, Pehelwans have become increasingly integrated into the grey economy of what is commonly referred to as ‘land grabbing’. Land grabbing involves producing documenta- on for land ownership, occupying, selling or leasing land physically and

policing it when necessary. The Business of land grabbing requires the support of lawyers, poli cians, government offi cials and police” p 57 ANANT MARIN-GANTI, ‘Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyderabad’

“Today we arrived at the slums around 11.30 to fi nd the Musi River fl ooded. The river was fi lled to its maximum capacity due to the opening of the Gandhipet Dam1 upstream. There were more people in the bastees than usual, maybe because of the weekend. There was also a lot more agita on. Police offi cers were on site to ensure everyone’s safety and in Moosanagar a truck was bringing up earth and branches to build a dam along the waterfront. In Rasoolpura a crane was doing the same. We met some new youngsters from Kamal Nagar to show us around. In Rasoolpura construc on workers were fi nishing a house, it seemed as if the structure was made of concrete reinforced with steel gra ng, not poured but applied. The big shed in Rasoolpura next to the bridge is part of the Hindu temple according to our guides. At around 12.30 we had lunch at the PIN offi ce. A er this we went to see how high the water had risen in Khalikabar. A large part of the wash basins and some of the houses had fl ooded. By that me we le because the atmosphere had turned nega ve. Our guide, became too pushy

and several people had warned us about the bad people we were with, so we decided to go. It became very clear how planned the boundaries of these neighbourhoods are. On a regular day the green zone appears to be very spacious but now you could see how houses have been built as close to the fl ood line as possible. “

daily report , Hyderabad, 18/09/2010 Loïc & Emily

1 An alterna ve name for Osman Sagar Dam

2.I.2 MOOSANAGAR & TEMPORARY MIGRATION

MIGRATIONScale: 1/4000

To discover how far the changed condi ons of the Musi river contributed to the development of Moosanagar, it was useful to watch what happens during one of the controlled fl oodings as happened on 18 september 2010.

Not forge ng the large fl ood dangers, it is mainly these “controlled” fl oodings of the Musi which more commonly aff ects a slum such as Moosanagar. The storage volume of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar suffi ce in normal circumstances. However when heavy rain exceeds the dams’ capacity for further infl ows, there is no alterna ve than to open the fl ood gates.

To us, during our visit to Moosanagar on 18th September 2010, there was calcula on

behind fl ooding. As can be seen in the following pictures, the water level rose un l just under the New Chaderghat Bridge, so that it s ll func oned for the heavy traffi c. When the need is greater, it is easy to imagine that the whole bridge disappears. Nevertheless, it would be predominantly the Musi bastees which bear the brunt and eff ects of fl ooding every me one of the dams goes open.

Although when we were present in Hyderabad, the water, a er a heavy downpour near Osman Sagar, only rose un l the fi rst row of houses near the river in Moosanagar, one asks what the situa on is during the monsoon with more frequent rainfall.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Moosanagar thus, is how it copes with the situa on as a fl ood

zone. Despite its expansion into a small town, we can’t forget that it is s ll situated on the banks of the Musi River; not an evident loca on.

The migra on that starts in Moosanagar each me there is par al fl ooding in the area, is

to move to the PIN school. This school, built shortly a er 1994 caters for the educa on of the youngest as well as an emergency relief centre when necessary. When we study the 18th September migra on plan, we see that the fl ood line almost laps the line of houses closest to the river. We realise that the inhabitants of Moosanagar know exactly how far they can build, and they go to the limit. It is conspicuous, that although right next to the water’s edge, some of the houses show zero migra on. Looking at their terraced structure we see they have been built on top of a wall that must have existed prior to their coming. Knowing the fact that Hyderabad was one’s a walled city1 and that Chaderghat Bridge layed on the edge of this city , the 50m stretch observed, could be a le over as the wall was washed away during the 1908 fl oods. If this wall eventually was built by the inhabitants or not, it clearly acts as a dike.

Other houses near the edge unfortunately completely were surrounded by water en thus became inhabitable for a while. The inhabitants had to move further up un l the water disappeared.

The houses on the same line, but under the bridge, remained dry. A possible indica on that the ground is uneven and that the Musi does not move in so far although the bridge obviously acts as a dike as well.

1 the construc on on the wall was started by the Qutb Shahis and completed by Asaf Jah I, the fi rst Nizam of Hyderabad

“Having seen no rain since our arrival, I am thinking that it is a pity that we are not experiencing the situa on as it is during the monsoon. Today, now, the water is falling in bucke uls from the heavens. Not two seconds pass, and I am soaked to the skin. Big, fat drops of water.A day passes.The land beside Moosanagar and a part of the slum itself is drowned under a brown, swirling liquid mass. I am asking a small group of people close to the edge about the fl ood. The na ves are laughing. “You call this fl ood!””

The normal procedure when a dam’s fl ood gates are going to be opened is to warn all the local offi cial bodies along the Musi. A policeman goes through the streets warning the people that the water is coming. This gives the inhabitants the me to prepare. If necessary they leave. If mechanical earthmovers from the GHMC are sent in to build temporary dams each me the water rises, is not clear to us. What is apparent, is that the residents are used to this, accepted as part of their life and life with the Musi.

Finally, we can conclude that the changed condi ons of the river Musi contributed to the development of Moosanagar. Through the absence of water, new inhabitants gradually moved closer to the edge where the water would reach when high. The banks as a found object by the poor, seeking for a place to live, created a new residen al zone within the city.

The inhabitants of Moosanagar and all the other Musi bastees therefore have given new meaning to the banks of the river. These banks have become their homes and lives. How they cope with the second condi on, namely the banks as fl ood zone, is a calculated risk by building to the very edge. When due to heavy rainfall this limit is crossed and retaken by nature, they simply accept their lot. Those that must, move belongings to higher ground, all wait, and when possible they return home and clean up.

Today all of these are considered as Backward Classes (BC).

KACHISWhen looking at the Kachis we see a diff erence in cul va on in the city from those in rural areas. This is mainly due to three reasons; the amount of land available, the quality of the water and the proximity to urban markets.

The Kachis in the urban area are mainly located in the Old City near Kachiguda. In a study conducted by the Interna onal Water Management Ins tute (IWMI), up to 250 families over an area of 100 ha in the urban area, use the Musi waste water for agriculture. Most of them are found over a distance of 5 km along the river stretching from Purana Pul Bridge to Amberpet Bridge. Forming a green belt in the overcrowded city, most of them obtained the land because of their ancestors. Some of them received land of the Mogul ruler, Aurangjeb (A.D. 1679-1707) a Qutb shahi(?) a er fi gh ng with the army during war in Hyderabad. Other are said to have received the land during the reign of the Nizams.In Kachiguda, most of the Kachis are s ll members of their age old society. Even today, it s ll handles disputes over landownership along the Musi.1

Urban area

Due to the availability of only long narrow stretches of land on the banks of the Musi river in the urban area, the type of crops grown in the city are infl uenced by this. The most typical crops in the urban areas are Para Grass, green leafy vegetables and banana and coconut palms.

Para grass, with its’ 65% share of the total output, takes the lion’s share in the city’s agricultural produc on. This crop is grown for fodder and requires li le labour. Besides the high demand for para grass, this crop grows very well due to the composi on of the Musi waste water. The water’s high salt content is easily coped with by the grass.

1 STEPHANIE BEUGHLER; GAYATHRI DEVI, ‘Household Food Security and Wastewater-dependent Livelihood Ac vi es Along the Musi River in Andhra Pradesh, India’, IWMI

2.2.I LIVELIHOODS

2.2 MUSI WASTER WATER & FOOD SECURITYOver the centuries, the Musi, through a network of dams and irriga on canals has been forced to forfeit its water to local village reservoirs, to the benefi t of fi sh breeding and sa sfac on of household and agricultural requirements. When the natural fl ow of the Musi was stopped ca. 1920 by the construc on of two dams upstream of Hyderabad, controlled releases of water happened periodically so that the downstream uses were not disadvantaged.

As Hyderabad expanded with correspondingly increased needs for drinking water, the controlled releases became fewer. The failing water quan ty nevertheless had an unexpected consequence. Waste water fl ows into the river, increased through the increased water usage. Nowadays upstream of Hyderabad the riverbed is dry, while in the city and downstream the river current is due to the mainly untreated household and industrial waste water infl ows. Thanks to the city’s explosive growth in the 80’s, the Musi no longer fl ows periodically through infrequent water releases from the dams or the absence of monsoon season earlier. Instead, the river now turned into a perennial river and fl ows incessantly – with fl uid waste.

With the crea on of this new condi on, many families located along the river made use of the growing available space and constant fl owing of waste water to generate income through diff erent means. Looking along the whole stretch of the Musi, we see that as the environment changed, so did the infl uence on its use in urban and rural areas.

The type of usage is dependant on the loca on of the users in rela on to the city, but also o en on their caste. There are three groups (backed up by caste) using the land along and the Musi river as source for their income; Kachis (cul vators), Gollas (ca le breeders) and Dhobis (tradi onal washer men).1

1 ANANT MARINGANTI, “Neoliberal inscrip ons and contesta ons in Hyder-abad”, 2007, Hyderabad

The plan ng of palm trees and a non-fruit bearing variety of banana trees forms the second most common produc on. Contrary to what we would think, the income from these banana planta ons comes not from their fruits but from their leaves which are purchased for Hindu ceremonies. Together with a 30% share, they with para grass occupy almost all the available urban agricultural land along the river.

The remaining 5% area along the Musi in the city is used for the cul va on of green leafy vegetables including a (very small) share for other fruit trees and even fl owers which are used for decora on.

The choice of the green leafy sort of vegetables is necessary because they grow best considering the composi on of the Musi water. These crops are planted for private use, and this saves up to 20% on household expenditure. Some mes they are sold to local markets if close by, and also exchanged for other vegetables. However the growing of vegetables is very work intensive and most cannot aff ord the me.

Rural area

Looking at the produc on in rural areas, we see that para grass has almost disappeared being replaced by rice paddies. This can be done because of the availability of more land needed for the produc on of rice. In addi on, the greater distance from the city means that the water quality is be er due to the self purifying ac on of water over me, the presence of several weirs and the crea on of Waste Stabilisa on Ponds (WSP)1 downstream of the city.

1 “anaerobic diges on taking place in the reservoirs created by the weirs (WSP) might have played an important role in water quality improvement.” p74 JEROEN H. J. ENSINK et al, ‘Sewage disposal in the Musi river, India: water quality remedia on through irriga on infrastructure’, Springer Science + Busi-ness Media B.V. 2009, Hyderabad

Waste water irriga on systems

How the Kachis land is actually irrigated by the Musi, diff ers from city to rural areas. Due to sewer pipes releasing their effl uent from diff erent places into the river, changing condi ons occurred along the Musi in the urban landscape. Through a shortage of sewer mains, the waste ma er some mes fl ows into the streets, con nuing further as if by accident into the lower lying fi elds along the Musi. Arriving, the waste is collected and channelled through various parcels of land. In other places, the water is pumped directly from the river.

In rural areas we usually fi nd more of a well thought out system. The water is diverted via weirs or “anikuts” from a main channel on both sides of the river. Water from the weirs is further routed to various smaller channels. In this way, there are various methods to irrigate the fi elds, i.e.; direct irriga on via a smaller or larger channel, direct irriga on of the fi elds close to the river through pumping, irriga on of higher lying fi elds via pumping through underground mains, and irriga on of fi elds through channels which bring water from the local tank. This last, being connected to one of the main channels.

Looking at the Musi banks as used by the Kachis, we observe land benefi ts and par al treatment of sewage as results. Depending on urban or rural loca on, the changing waste water composi on and varia ons in available land brought about changes in the crops cul vated. Due to a perennial fl ow, produc on changed to year round growing but much of the produce changed to a mono culture because of the polluted water. Finally, new infl ows into the Musi of ‘water’ due to an insuffi cient sewage network in the city, brought a new way of irriga on.

Waste water irriga on in urban and rural area

GOLLAS

As men oned earlier, a large quan ty of land is cul vated by the Kachis for para grass. Many Gollas rent this land from Kachis to serve as fodder for their ca le, while the Musi itself is used for bathing of the animals. In some cases Gollas own the land themselves. The most common animals reared by Gollas are buff aloes. They provide a higher fat milk which yields a higher income than e.g. cow milk. According to a study of the IWMI, es mates where made through the observa on of a family of six persons owning one buff alo. It was noted that the men of Golla families cut the grass themselves saving up to 67% on expenditure of fodder, while women and children raise and milk the herds. Selling most of the milk in the city provides them with their income while up to 25% is kept for their own consump on.

DHOBIS

The last caste found along the Musi river are Dhobis, the tradi onal washer men. Their washbasins are located near the river. Waste water is used while bea ng the soil out of their clothes and the river banks are used to lay (bed) sheets to dry. Chaderghat1 in Hyderabad was at one me a place in Hyderabad where washer men used to work. Although the Musi river now contains polluted water, Dhobi Ghats are s ll found along its banks.

In spite of what has happened, we can justly say that thanks to the Musi waste water, and the resul ng change of environment, many families now have what is called, “food security”. Not only the owners of the fi elds profi t, but also the temporary and permanent labourers, the sellers of the goods, the rickshaw drivers transpor ng the goods, the ca le breeders, the Dhobis and all the other jobs made possible through the Musi waste water. If the waste water did not exist, this would lead to extra unemployment and immigra on.

1 ‘Chader’ meaning ‘bed sheet’ and ‘ghat’ ‘stairs or passage leading down to the river’

2.2.2 ADAPTING CROPS

Finally, when we look at the func oning of the livelihoods connected to the Musi banks as a fl ood zone, we see that in the city area, rela ve few problems are experienced. When an area is expect to fl ood, the ca le are brought to higher ground in safety un l they can return. The Dhobis have no problem with their large washbasins in the river as they are made of concrete and can withstand the fl ooding. The Kachis have another tac c. They need to choose crops that are fl ood resistant if they don’t want to have their crop wiped out together with their income. Para grass is coveted not only because of its’ resistance to diff erent water quality condi ons. It adjusts easily to long dry periods as well as wet, including fl ooding, just as long as the water level does not rise more than one meter above the land.

Palm trees are also suitable with their lack of branches on the trunk with leaves only near their top. Their trunks off er li le resistance to the fl owing water, increasing the chances of survival. Fruit trees on the other hand are less suitable in fl ood zones, but most of the trees along the Musi generate their income from the use of their leaves. Obviously, the growing of vegetables close to the fl ood zone is asking for trouble. However since most are grown for private use, any loss has less eff ect on income and as such is a calculated risk.

“The bus trip was the longest we had taken in Hyderabad. The site overwhelming us with its enormity. Lots of rubble, a swirling plas c bag, silence. This was it then, Nandanavanam Colony. A large blue board at the entrance convincing us that we are in the right place.“Nandanavanam Colony (VAMBAY)- Slums proposed for rehabilita on: Teegalaguda, 96 families; Chris an Youth Associa ons, 48 families; B.C. Welfare Associa on, 37 families; East Prasant Nagar, 68 families; Chaderghat Bridge, 50 families; A.P. Secretariat Colony, 165 families; Ka elamandi, 63 families, Total: 527 families”.I am asking myself if the blue kutchas in front of the housing block are included in the numbers? Choosing an alleyway between two blocks, here we stand. Slum paradise.”

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Besides the people looking for a place to live in the growing open space on the Musi, and those searching for a steady job, it is not surprising that the government also takes an interest in the poten al of this expanse. 800 acres of Musi land right in the city centre, is a not to be neglected poten al towards the development of Hyderabad and economic growth.

MUSI related programs proposed by the Government only started appearing a er 1994, coincidently a er the gran ng of pa as and slum no fi ca on had stopped . Since then, three projects appeared on the horizon with the goal of so-called preserva on and improvement of the Musi. The fi rst was Nandanvanam proposed by consultants, namely EPC (Environmental Planning Collabora ve, Ahmedabad) in 1998. The second was the Musi Proposal by Ar. Hafeez Contractor, Mumbai, in 2005 and the third is the Save Musi Campaign by the Government of Andhra Pradesh in 2006.1

1 KONRAD HAGEDORN et al,‘Hyderabad as a Megacity of Tomorrow: Sustain-able Urban Food and Health Security and Environmental Resource Manage-ment’, Humboldt University of Berlin, 2007, Hyderabad

2.3 A HUNGER FOR DEVELOPMENT

2.3.I NANDANAVANAMproposed by EPC (1998)

Under the mo o “Beau fi ca on” a controversial riverfront development project called Nandanavanam (meaning ‘paradise’) started in 1998. Hyderabad’s Urban Development was focussed on public-private partnerships. The crea on of space for elite consump on and clustered IT developments, took fi rst place. Hyderabad’s offi cials, with their surplus of “unused” space, a racted private partners with off ers of land in return for shares in the partnerships.

The Nandanavanam river front development project encompassed the area from Puranapul to Chaderghat Bridge over a distance of 4 km. The project included the redesign and widening of 14 roads and 16 hopelessly congested intersec ons. In addi on, new STP’s and storm water drains would be built together with a new vision for the freed up space along the Musi. Although the land along the Musi was claimed by diff erent groups the government argues that technically spoken the banks of the river Musi are property of the government and therefore public space, able to be claimed by the government. To emphasis the public space concept a heritage and nature walkway was suggested along the river.

The project would be self fi nancing through a public private partnership. Therefore obviously the private partners would be en tled to some of the so called ‘public space’.Looking at the sta s cs on the 800 acres of Musi land to be developed it clear that of the 800 acres, only 100 where noted as government land. 100 acres where Assigned Lands, 50 where Inaam Lands, another 50 was land in illegal possession but the biggest group which occupied thisland where Pa a lands within the river bed. Represen ng 500 acres of the total stretch it was obvious this group would suff er most from the project.

It was es mated that 1300 families along the banks of the river Musi would be displaced through the recall of state property and all D-form pa as. The place designated to

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received all these reloca on vic ms would be Nandanavanam Colony – 13 km outside the city.

All private property along the river would also have to be given up. On top of this, there were genuine fears that not only the river bank inhabitants would be aff ected but also many livelihoods along the banks in the urban area and villages downstream who are dependant on Musi’s waste water.

Another cri cal part of the plan was to squeeze the Musi into concrete channels, supposedly large enough for the sporadic controlled release from the dams. This would free up space taken by the Musi bedding and its’ banks, for roads, green belts, IT, recrea onal and commercial zones. Although this programme had the inten on of conserving the river by ge ng rid of it’s “pollu ng slums” (which is only household sewage like any other family in Hyderabad), it was clear, this new encroachment would eff ect the river to a much greater extent.

Although the project originally started in coopera on with NGO’s, it quickly became apparent, that if the NGO’s wanted to defend the rights of the Musi bastees, the collabora on would have to stop. The fi rst opposi on came in the form of an an evic on campaign in one of the Musi bastees under the name “Nandanavanam bastee Parirakshana Sami ” (NBPS). Between 1998 and 2000, this later grew into “Musi Bachao Andolan” (MBA), a pla orm grouping together environmental ac vists, farmers, slum residents as well as human rights supporters. Finally a new NGO coali on was formed under the fl ag of CHATRI – Campaign for Housing and Tenurial Rights. Its’ charter is to defend residen al rights through out the city.

To the delight of many, the project fl oundered because of the retreat of funding agencies, the protests and insuffi cient offi cial state “property”. The never-ending land ownership disputes nowtook vengeance on the state. The unexpected Musi fl ash-fl ood in 2000 infl icted the fi nal blow. A human and material catastrophe accompanied with chaos and misery. The dreams of the building promoters were smashed.

This fl ood on the other hand, was also too much for some of the Musi bastees residents, who then decided to move to Nandanavanam Colony a er all. Although offi cially the Nandanavanam project was cancelled, construc on on the high rise accommoda ons there, silently, s ll con nues.

When looking to what Nandanavanam has brought, today we see in the Heritage Zone, a nicely constructed walkway along a completely neglected strip of polluted river water. Also, the concrete canal is visible in some parts but a great deal got washed away in the 2000 fl oods. While the walkway points to the mistaken priori es adopted by the government such as “beau fi ca on” instead of solving the problem of the Musi waste water, the remains of the concrete canal show the idea of canalizing the river was never thought out properly from the start. With respect to Musi banks as a fl ood zone, the government has clearly closed its’ eyes to this fact.

Although the programme was abolished, we s ll see today con nuing building construc on at the Nandanvanam Colony site. While many families already had been relocated in the mes of the fi rst demoli ons along the river, it is s ll used as a reloca on solu on for new evic ons.

NANDANAVANAM COLONY, a government housing scheme

Wondering about the exact situa on at the site, the following study brought much clarifi ca on. Most of the households present in Nandanavanam Colony were relocated from the Core City area, i.e., Musarambag near the Musi river, Uppal, Champapet, Ajumpur, Chanderghat, Ramtanpuram, and Pedda Ko apalli. The average household number is 4 – 5 members. The majority Hindu (80%) and 50% is scheduled caste.

It was 2004 before people started moving into Nandanavanam Colony. It is important to note though, that the demoli ons due to the Nandanavanam project had started in 1998.With the opening of the site in 2004 the colony s ll did not have basic facili es of electricity, water connec on and drainage. In addi on the colony was a long way away from the city. There was no public transport which caused a huge problem to all slum dwellers who obviously didn’t own a car. It need not be said, that this situa on was completely unacceptable.

Offi cials promised to put up permanent facili es once all the houses were occupied. However the lack of basic services and its’ distance to the city, only served to lengthen the me to convince people this was a good place. Eventually the programme of Nandanavanam Colony was shi ed into the VAMBAY housing scheme. A new name, although s ll really the same project.

Finally, in Nandanvanam Colony today (2010 as per the report), individual supply of water now covers 90% of the surveyed households. Before VAMBAY almost 66% of the households did not individual water connec ons. According to the VAMBAY scheme 100% is to have access to private toilets. Previously for almost 65% this was not the case. Sewerage line connec on and storm water drainage now is found throughout the se lement, although the process has been very slow.

Presently there is s ll no waste management provided. Although a thorny ques on in Hyderabad, informal sectors such as rag picking

as income source, are already a small part of the solu on. The collected refuse is sold and recycled and then used for new products. There have also been a empts to place refuse containers but generally a recycling mentality is inexistent with Hyderabad’s residents. Rubbish is always thrown on the ground or dumped in another place.

Technically spoken the structural condi on of the house would have improved for most families. All the houses have 2 rooms with separate kitchen. Nearly 66% of the surveyed households formerly lived in one-room units. Nevertheless 2006 sta s cs showed that, two years a er the colony was so-called fi nished, (it is s ll being enlarged today), out of 96 houses only 30 were lived in.

Even though the long delay in comple ng basic ameni es was important, the increase in overall household expenses would have played the greatest role. In Nandanavanm the study reveals that households have an increased total expense of 33%. Transporta on is seen to have increased bt 47%. Due to its’ distance from the city, 55% of the surveyed households have reported that they have to travel anywhere between 5 to 10 km for their jobs. It was also noted the expenditure on food, educa on, medical needs and electricity had increased because of its’ loca on.

Excluding the households who refused to move to their VAMBAY housing because of its remoteness and in an area not served well by public transport, many others are s ll wai ng

to move in because their house was demolished and they have no other choice. These people are living in kutchas on the Nandanavanam site wai ng to get approval to move in, although the units are supposed to be complete.

During our visit to Nandanavanam Colony it was apparent that many housing blocks were completely empty. Much of the area around these blocks was taken by homeless and their kutchas. Although the State probably doesn’t give permission to live in the blocks un l all ameni es are completed, it is ridiculous that they stand directly in view of hundreds of families in kutchas. Surely they would prefer to live in a concrete house without ameni es than outside in a tent without the same ameni es? However we no ce that over the years the buildings have

Mumbai(2005)

This project was comprised of 2 areas. Just as with Nandanavanam there was the Heritage Precinct from High Court to Salarjung Museum (1,5 km long) but this me also a Garden Zone from Amberpet to Nagol Ring road bridge (2 km long)

The la er contained again IT parks, housing and commercial spaces. To fi nance the project the river bedding would be reshaped so that space would become available for commercial development. Obvious that this scheme varied li le with Nandanavanam, it also failed because of the many private parcels of land needed to be expropriated and the consequences on so many along the Musi.

255

started to fi ll, and with a bus passing every half hour the liveability of the site is increasing. Nevertheless, it is mainly new immigrants who come here to live. With the goal of star ng up a new life they are apparently capable of buying a unit from the State or from a previous owner.

For the people who were forced to come here through evic on, the situa on is diff erent. A job is the most crucial aspect of the slum dwellers life. Jobs are never exchanged or le unless no alterna ve is possible. The result for the relocated families is that to keep their jobs in the city, they must spend very high amounts on transporta on. This cost is o en not sustainable and so they return to the city. Back to the place where they lived, but now without a house.

2.3.2 PROPOSAL by Ar. Hafeez Contractor

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2.3.3 SAVE MUSI CAMPAIGNGovernment of Andhra Pradesh (2006)

The Save Musi Project, introduced by GoAP in 2006 tried (strategically) to place more emphasis on the ecological improvement of the river. The name choice, “Save Musi” was the fi rst step. This me the venture contained three overlapping areas. With again the presence of the Heritage Precinct but with an addi onal Ecological and Metropolitan Precinct. The areas reached from Tippukhan Bridge to Puranapul (7 km), and Chaderghat (4 km), to Nagole Ring road Bridge (8 km)

To sa sfy the Ecological aim, the plan included new sewerage lines to block the fl ow of waste water into the Musi. In addi on four new STP’s were foreseen with Na onal River Conserva on Plan (NRCP) funding. These would treat 130 Million Gallons Day (592 Million Litre Day) along the river in: A apur, Amberpet, Nallacheruvu & Nagole.

Although the ideas were creditable, the state saw no alterna ve again than to off er private enterprise land along the river in return for fi nancing the works. It goes without saying that Musi bastees would have to be cleared in order for the Metropolitan area they expected, to be able to exist. With the fast diminishing possibili es of fi nding available land close to the historical centre of the city, this land was much prized by the poten al private partners.

The most a rac ve aspect seen in this project for both the sectors wan ng to set up business along the Musi as well as the State with its’ priority on development, was the crea on of new roads, just as it was with Nanadanavanam.

On each side of the Musi river an East – West corridor would be implemented, connec ng the two na onal highways in the centre of Hyderabad providing relief to the nerve-racking congested Inner Ring Road.

Enclosing the Core City area, this 56 km long Inner Ring Road (IRR) hopes to facilitate quick travel to and from several areas in the city. Ensuring signal-free traffi c movement, increasing road width, junc on improvements and cross drainage works outside the Charminar buff er zone, would allow smaller vehicles to circumvent the historic monument area.

Encompassing almost all developed area, the Outer Ring Road (ORR) forms a peripheral, urban belt zone. Forming a 159 km con nuous loop, the ORR connects Patancheru (NW)- Shamshabad (S)- Hayathnagar (E)- Medchal Patancheru (NE) providing connec vity to various State Highway and Na onal Highways, to by-pass the city of Hyderabad. Finally, to

connect the Core City area with the outer development areas, radia ng roads ensure linkage between Inner and Outer Ring Roads .

Unfortunately the high capacity radial network in the hinterland overburdens the low capacity carriageway in the Core City area being unable to accept the infl ux of fl ows. Due to absence of convenient by-pass roads, explosive growth of surrounding suburbs and the rise of economic ac vity in the Core area, traffi c is being funnelled through exis ng corridors crea ng major traffi c bo le necks (e.g. East-West fl ows). The East-West Corridors, planned by GoaP would help in solving this problem.

The whole SMC was projected to fi nish in 18 months.

2010 MASTER PLAN

The building of the so-called “80 foot wide roads” (24 m.) planned in the SMC is confi rmed in the present Master Plan for Core City area.

Now, six years a er the start of SMC, there is s ll li le evidence of progress. Asking the locals why things aren’t moving, it seems that money again is the problem. During our stay in Hyderabad, we no ced construc on of a small sec on of the East-West road, on the south bank of the river at Malakpet. Looking at Google Earth imagery, it is striking to see the confronta on between the bas of Wahed Nagar in the West, the state’s highway in the middle and Abdel Nagar in the East. Again, observing the direct confronta on of the two opponents one feels it is only a ques on of me before both bastees will be demolished. This is the con nual threat that hangs above all the bas residents heads.

Looking at the situa on along the river, one sees that a great deal of the East-West corridor is already present in the guise of earlier built roads. Although many will have to be widened, the sec ons “whereroads, which were constructed on uninhabited land parallel to the river, later branched away in another direc on” form

the problem. Since the emergence of the slums has blocked the East-West corridor, the State now wants to reclaim this land.

As in the mes of the rising industrialisa on of the city, the popula on growth and associated increase in residen al zones together with the change in livelihood ac vi es, brought about changes in condi ons along the Musi. The la er also infl uenced the former.

Whereas the livelihood ac vi es of slum dwellers have rela vely li le eff ect on the city, except for their posi ve economic contribu on, this cannot be said about the offi cial residen al zones along the Musi. Nor can it be said for residen al areas such as around Masab Tank and many others which are (or did in the past) dangerously encroaching on important water bodies. Presuming lessons from the past would be heeded, it is then understandable that a ban on building on the banks of the Musi would be implemented. However, it is ques onable whether all the present residents of these same banks should be moved. The Musi dwellers did just as the inhabitants around Masab Tank for example have done, fi nd a place to live, and the la er are not forced to move.

So it seems that in the future, low-lying fl ood prone areas should be off limits to residen al uses. This can only happen when there are suitable alterna ves for the people who want to go there. Alterna ves that are not there now. One must not forget that the inhabitants of the Musi banks did not go there willingly, they had no choice.

Assuming that changes need to be made to eliminate the fl ooding risk to the popula on, the offi cial residen al zones and slums along the Musi must be treated in the same light. Now city offi cials speak with two tongues. One says, channels must be built to take fl oodwater away from the offi cial residen al zones to the storm drains “because it is too late to move these residences”. The other says, that slums near the river must be removed “before it is too late” to save them from fl ooding.

TO CONCLUDE... Although the Musi slums do not endangercity, it is more a ques on of what happens when the Musi banks are completely urbanised, because the Musi is one of the last and largest storm water drain for the city, although greatly reduced in its present condi on.

The all powerful pressure of developers and offi cials keen to use land occupied by others less fortunate for “more noble goals” seems unstoppable. The city’s hunger for bulldozing slums and replacing these encroachments with new roads, IT and commercial estates cannot be called “improvement” in human terms, especially in the light of li le or no compensa on or valid alterna ves.

When such “removal” plans are made, much greater emphasis needs to be placed on real alterna ves for the loss of livelihoods which are usually directly linked to the inhabitants locality. Grand housing schemes which relocate slum dwellers many kilometres away from their previous home usually eliminates their previous source of income.Projects such as Nandanavanam and its Colony are considered by many to be blatant scandals. Others which have been be er prepared show great defi ciencies in their implementa on.

Even if Hyderabad means well for its’ popula on, it needs to place much greater emphasis on the control and proper execu on of well balanced plans which are vital to the improvement of living condi ons of hundred of thousands of its’ residents.

III. M

II

III. MOOSANAGAR SPECIAL SLUM ZONE

3.I.I MOOSANAGAR STRUCTURAL COMPARISON

3.2.2 HOUSING BACK LOG OF AP HOUSINGSCHEMES

3.I HOUSING SCHEMES, A HISTOY OF TRIAL AND ERROR

3.I.3 MOOSANAGAR HOUSING BACK LOG

3.2 HOUSING BACKLOGS

3.3 SLUM IMPROVEMENT, ANALYSIS

3.3.I SPECIAL SLUM ZONE

Looking at satellite images, one recognises the appearance of a slum immediately through the dense structure and absence of design. A jumbled heap of diverse materials, it marks itself as a separate area fl anked by straight roads and residen al areas forming their own iden ty.

When in Hyderabad, the most conspicuous aspect of the slums are the miserable housing construc ons and their eye-catching loca ons in the middle of all the chaos. Many are striking by their posi on along bodies of water so making their poor inhabitants easily visible. As such the slums in Hyderabad became its physical proof of urban poverty.

To get an idea of how various groups in Hyderabad deal with the urban poor, a worth while star ng point is the policy varia ons from “slum clearance” to “slum improvement” to everything in between. Besides their “dense structure” and “absence of design” it is becoming more common to see grids appearing (visible from aerial pictures) formed by housing blocks seemingly dumped in their middle for the benefi t of the slum dwellers. Some, evidently think this is the solu on for the mass housing shortages. But does this idea work? Is the housing shortage problem thus wiped from the table, or is it just a handful of ramshackle houses that are wiped from sight?

In the following, “slum clearance” is weighed against “slum improvement” following the evolu on towards the latest housing schemes.

3.1 HOUSING SCHEMES, A HISTOY OF TRIAL AND ERROR

When we look at the sta s cs in the 2010 Master Plan for Core City area (men oned in Chapter 1), no one will disagree that a huge housing problem exists. Besides food and clothing, housing is a primordial need. As explained in the previous chapter, the exploding popula on with its’ inexorable pressure for housing means every single piece of vacant land is under stress.

The fi rst a empts at housing projects came from the Hyderabad’s City Improvement Board (CIB) a er the fl oods of 1908. This organisa on became responsible for planning and city improvement. Between 1912 – 1956 the CIB ins gated 19 slum clearance projects. Eight new residen al colonies were built, with 5,000 housing units for middle and low class income groups. Similarly, the Town Improvement Trust (TIT) was set up in Secunderabad. TIT provided 12,000 residences between 1931 – 1950.1

It was only around 1950 a er independence, (and with a decadal growth rate of 42,5% in the Core City area of Hyderabad) that the State Governments in India began to realise that they needed to take the responsibility for housing their popula on more seriously. The fi rst Five Year Plan was ins gated whereby emphasis was placed on aff ordable and acceptable accommoda on for the poor. Their houses were fi rst demolished, to replace them with brand new models.

A er the State of Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956, the slums were subjected to the Andhra Pradesh Slum Area Act. S ll in force today, it allows the State to declare any low-lying, disease-prone or congested area to be declared a slum. If the slum is offi cially accepted as such, it becomes a “no fi ed” slum.

The legal process of no fi ca on starts with the publica on of the no fi ca on in an

1 UMESH VARMA,‘Urban Poor and Housing – Reformed out of the system. Experience of Hyderabad’, 2008, Hyderabad

offi cial newspaper. Subsequently objec ons are considered. In the case of refusal, the inhabitants have the ‘right’ (meaning obliga on) to reloca on. Reloca on is never freely accepted because o en there is insuffi cient alterna ve accommoda on or it has an inferior loca on. In the case where the present site is accepted, all the inhabitants gain se lement rights in the form of the D-form pa a previously discussed. This was one of the most important steps in improving one’s situa on.

Where the land belongs to the State the process is simple. In the case where the land is privately owned, the State must fi rst buy it. This whole procedure including the purchase of land forms a prickly issue so that many say the State prefers the slum to disappear.

In 1960, the CIB and TIT fused into A.P. Housing Board. From then on, it was responsible together with the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (present day HMDA) for housing the urban poor in Hyderabad.

Several varia ons of Five Year Plans followed in search of the best solu ons. With the increase in no fi ed slums and their popula ons, it became clear the con nued use of industrialised building systems was not possible. According to the 2010 Master Plan for Core City area, the number of no fi ed slums more than doubled from 106 to 282 from 1962 in only 10 years. Even a er changing over to the use of na ve building materials, the fi nal conclusion was that the cost per public housing unit was s ll too high for the people they were intended for. This prompted the State to look for subsidy alterna ves. This however limited the housing programs in rela on to the poors’ real necessi es and needs. Complica ng ma ers further, poor implementa on meant that subsidy money was some mes diverted to groups economically be er off .

In 1970, a new fundamental idea was introduced into the housing programs. This me emphasis was placed on “slum improvement”

instead of the large scale reloca on prac ced with the former years of “slum clearance”. However even though par cipa on and local engagement was strongly s mulated, the need for external fi nancing remained.

The fi rst new scheme with the “slum improvement” stamp was the ‘Bastee Improvement Scheme’ in Kolkata . This was also the start of the Environmental Improvement of Slum Scheme. The most important goal was the provision for minimal ameni es which were important for the inhabitants and their environmental condi ons. In spite of promising prospects, the result was not sa sfactory. This was caused when the installed facili es were insuffi cient or of poor quality. Other factors were a complete lack of coopera on by the local people and the lack of necessary maintenance later on. Again it was seen that the subsidies and works were seen more as short term fi nancial expenditures with insuffi cient importance on real long term improvements.

The Housing and Urban Development Corpora on (HUDCO) , established in 1970, was supposed to bring change to this situa on. This techno-fi nancing State organisa on wasresponsible for the task of contrac ng and fi nancing housing and city development projects. Its’ prime focus was to include the weaker and low income groups. The HUDCO introduced the ins tu onalised housing fi nance schemes in India.

The fi nancing system as it exists in India today, is comprised of the formal as well as informal sector. The formal sector is supplied with budgets allocated by the Central State, fi nancial ins tu ons such as Na onal Housing Bank of India (NHB), Housing Development Finance Corpora on (HDFC), etc. The informal sector fi nances through sale or mortgages of property, borrowing from friends and rela ves etc.

Nevertheless, following an example given by Varghese Teckanath in his Housing for the urban poor , it is easy to understand that the

poor will keep seeking help from the informal sector in spite of the existence of the formal fi nance system. With the HDFC demands for a detailed tle of land sale, building permission from the local authority and at least 25% personal contribu on to the unit cost, the poor are eff ec vely cut off . Even though it is impossible for slum dwellers to get approval of the local authority to build on the land occupied by them illegally, in Hyderabad up to 80% of the housing construc ons are illegal. This again serves to highlight the housing problem.

In 1979, another shi in responsibility came about with the establishment of the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corpora on Limited (APSHCL) which would take over the diffi cult task of the A.P. Housing Board en HUDA. In spite of the con nuing fi nancial diffi cul es and implementa on problems, it cannot be denied that over the years many and various program were introduced with the goal of benefi ng the lot of the slum dwellers.

The Environmental Improvement of Slum Scheme, in Hyderabad Municipal Corpora on (today Core City area) morphed into the Urban Community Development Programme (UCDP). The underlying idea was that “Any neighbourhood, now ma er how poor, can do something to improve itself by its own eff orts. Any approach for outside help should be resorted to only a er it has exhausted its own resources fully” The idea was that pa as would be issued to the inhabitants so that a ground plan could be developed by the community and eventually units could be built where necessary. However pa as were only delivered to people residing on government land. UCDP issued loans to the inhabitants for low cost materials for their construc on. According to Housing for the Urban Poor, between 1981-1987 up to 60% of all the planned houses in the colonies where constructed this way. In spite of good results on the small scale, the poor kept encroaching and li le change was noted in the bigger picture. The never ending infl ux of poor immigrants constantly overwhelmed any progress made.

However, watching the model example of UCDP, others followed suit such as Hyderabad Slum Improvement Project, Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP) over whole India in

1992 and Environmental Improvement of Urban Slums all with the goal of slum no fi ca on.

Hyderabad Slum Improvement Project was a project origina ng in the UK. Its’ Overseas Development Agency (ODA) was responsible for a con nual increase in the no fi ca on of slums in Hyderabad. When we look at the 2010 Master Plan for Core City area we see that between 1872 -1981 the number of no fi ed slums rose from 282 to 470. To fi nance this process, funds were used from UCDP.An addi onal reason for the increase in no fi ca on was probably the Urban Land Ceiling Regula on Act (ULCRA) in 1976. This placed a limit on the area of land an individual residing in the urban area could own. In the case of Hyderabad was this 1,000 sq.yds (+/- 840m²). This introduced the prospect that great areas of land which were originally owned by noble families or other classes, could be expropriated by the State.

Without considering the reasons for the encroachment, it is completely understandable that people se ling in an area through the take over of land without permission and later even gaining the property rights, was and is for many, a completely unacceptable situa on. Nevertheless, in Hyderabad this is commonplace in no small part due to the clear lack of respect of someone else’s property and the State’s unwillingness to uphold the law. The surrounding neighbourhoods (usually implying a higher caste) fi nd this situa on completely unjust. But, it is in the light of this caste diff erence that we need to look further than just the fact of who actually owns the land. When understanding this system (as an outsider, probably never completely understood) it becomes clear the land subdivision from the start was not fair.

Obviously the classes with the land were not going to let this State land expropria on happen without fi gh ng back. Accordingly, Urban Poor and Housing noted that techniques were used to register the land in names of proxy persons, joint proper es were sub-divided into numerous units, mul ple registra ons in the name of same person, which, could not be checked due to an outdated system of land registra on and so on.

In the end funding was stopped by UCDP by means of the no fi ca on of slums. The last slum no fi ca on dates from 1994. The power to no fy was transferred to the Revenue Department, but the absence speaks for itself. In the mean me, from the early 90’s according to A. Maringan , a group of prominent English speaking middle class played an important role in the lives of urban poor through the ins tu onal form of an NGO. Voluntary work was already known in Hyderabad before 1990, but these NGOs developed target-oriented projects based on surveys, organized thri groups and engaged policy advocacy to shape government projects and programs.

In 1996, the Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP) began to run parallel with UBSP. Valmiki Ambedkar Awaas Yojana (VAMBAY), a public housing programme for the Economically Weaker Sec ons (EWS) and Low Income Groups (LIG) in 2001 became incorporated under these two.

In 2005, the Na onal Government came on stage with the fi rst urban development program named Jawaharlal Nehru Na onal Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Although this was s ll a sub-goal of UBSP, the Na onal Urban Housing and Habitat Policy (NUHHP) saw the light of day. The goal of this policy was the provision of aff ordable housing for everyone, and to the increase the supply, private sector developers were brought in. Inside this Public Private Partnership, there was strong accent placed on the responsibility of the Private sector to house the urban poor. The State carried the accountability for the

development of new city areas and Special Economic Zones (SEZ) where the houses would be made. Since this new city development program however, slum evic on is again prominent.

In addi on, in 2008 the Urban Land Ceiling Regula on Act was annulled whereby the original land owners demanded back their land. The fact that two thirds of the slums are located on private land makes the magnitude of the slum dwellers problem clear. Everything that they had managed to achieve in improvements risks to be lost. Lost for the inhabitants of the Musi banks, lost for Moosanagar…

3.I.I MOOSANAGAR STRUCTURAL COMPARISON

“When I fi rst walked through Moosanagar I was overcome by disappointment. An inappropriate word to describe that I expected to be confronted by something much worse. Collapsed buildings, crying under-nourished children, pleading beggars, absolute chaos and misery; I saw nothing of.Descending from Chaderghat Bridge, we strolled into the slum past deligh ully painted, small houses. Li le girls giggling a gree ng (I guessed because we were white) to our guide Jeevan1 . A motorized rickshaw passed, determinedly puffi ng its way to climb the narrow path we just le . Everywhere small groups of people cha ng, a woman washing. I remember asking myself when we would see the poor people and how on earth that rickshaw got there? A li le earlier, up on the bridge, Jeevan cheerfully hailed a man on his scooter. The rider was impeccably dressed in a fl owing white robe and white hat. A hint of makeup under his eyes. They conversed in Telugu and the man greeted us. A friend, we thought. Jeevan said he was the bas leader of Moosanagar.”

1 co-founder of CHATRI

ZONE IThe First Zone with its centrally posi oned Hindu temple, the presence of a Mosque and cemetery, the PIN school, shops and community centres has everything of a small town. Along the paved roads, electricity poles pass on their lines, a water tank here and there.

Colourfully painted houses close in on the roads, the so-called “pucca” houses. A pucca construc on is one of the three housing classes used amongst others by India’s Na onal Sample Survey Organisa on (NSSO)1 and the Census of India. According to the Another 20% is considered as “semi-pucca”, the second housing type class. The remaining

1 The Na onal Sample Survey (NSS), ini ated in the year 1950, is a na on-wide, large-scale, con nuous survey opera on conducted in the form of successive rounds. The NSS was reorganized and all aspects of its work were brought under a single Government organiza on, namely the Na onal Sample Survey Organiza on (NSSO)

Zone I: Pucca zoneScale: 1/1500

NSSO, pucca construc ons make up 77% of all housing types in the urban area in India. 3% is “kutcha”, the third housing type.

Pucca dwellings in Moosanagar form the overwhelming majority of housing in the slum. The pucca structure comprises the walls and roof made from so-called pucca material. Cement, fi red bricks, stone, concrete, iron, zinc or other metal shee ng, wood and asbestos-cement roofi ng are just some examples. The fl oor of a pucca house, will, according to the quality the family can aff ord, be fi nished (or not) with stone pavers or concrete. The walls, usually built with bricks, are strengthened on the outside with steel or wire ne ng incorporated in a layer of cement. O en the inside is also cemented. The whole is fi nished with a layer of paint and decora on.

It is the roof which is primarily the weak point. An impermeable roof is a luxury. Generally metal or asbestos-cement shee ng are cemented onto the top of the walls. Placed on top of these, posters, cloth, plas c shee ng and the like are held down by loose stones, slate, res or wood to keep the underlying shee ng in place. The be er puccas have a concrete roof that doubles as a terrace, but usually only used by children playing. O en in the corners of the buildings, reinforcing bars s ck up in the air wai ng for a second storey to be added. This phenomenon is typical for the whole of Hyderabad.

One systema cally recognises the puccas in Moosanagar through their commonly square form, o en internally divided into several small spaces. Flanked by planned roads, these buildings, ranging from one to several rooms with an inside courtyard and toilet, comprise the be er houses in Moosanagar.

Zone II: Semi-Pucca, Pucca ZoneScale: 1/1500

ZONE IIA Second Zone in Moosanagar is delineated by the presence of open space where the roads cease to exist. In the open space, on the right side of Chaderghat Bridge, we see a few semi-puccas on the water’s edge. One kutcha and a couple of free standing puccas spread over this space catch the eye. This fragmented spot in Moosanagar dis nguishes itself through an apparent lack of “planning”. Whereas the houses in the pucca zone form a structured terrace along the street, these abodes are seemingly just plopped down. Each solitary, and fully exposed in every direc on.

A kutcha diff ers from the other housing classes by its structure. In spite of the fact this shelter in principal, has walls and a roof, these are made from non-pucca material. One can easily spot

them in the landscape with their typical wooden frame structure covered with (blue) plas c, fabric, mud, grass and leaves, all lashed together. Although at the moment in Moosanagar only one of these tent dwellings exists, there are many other sites comprised of only of these ghtly packed primi ve huts. Abdel Nagar and

the slum on the other side of the river, opposite Khalikabar form a typical se ng along the Musi. The solitary kutcha in Moosanagar sets itself off from the other construc ons due to its typical appearance. However, its dilapidated state becomes no longer noteworthy when the eye wanders to the adjoining semi-puccas.

A structure which doesn’t fi t the descrip on of kutcha, nor pucca is classed as semi-pucca. Generally speaking, they have more rigid walls (mostly mud bricks) than just tent-like

fabric, but s ll the all-present plas c shee ng or similar as roof. The semi-puccas, fl anked by the kutcha in the second zone, form a terraced row just like the pucca zone. This illustrates the saying that semi-puccas are the stepping stone from kutcha to pucca.

Zone III: Semi-Pucca Bridge zoneScale: 1/1500

ZONE IIIThe semi-puccas at the water’s edge form a long chain into the semi-puccas under the bridge - Zone Three. This area, straddled by the Chaderghat Bridge vaults over the western part of Moosanagar. This zone forms the border between Moosanagar and Kamal Nagar, the adjoining slum. Even though the Musi bastees including Moosanagar, form one long stretch along the river, bridges, roads and open spaces are convenient ways to delineate one’s bas . Something the slum residents obviously think is important. Using the bridge and its suppor ng structure as wall and/or roof, “encroachment” , reaches its’ peak. This zone is witness to the inhabitants’ enormous resourcefulness in achieving maximum living space with as li le as possible addi onal material.

When we systema cally look at the layout underneath the bridge, it becomes apparent that human logic dictates that one wall be formed by a bridge pylon to limit the cost of building material. Thus two rows of houses and a public pathway in between come into being under each vault, physically joining Moosanagar and Kamal Nagar.

The horizontal circula on between the two slums is also apparent in the ver cal plane in the both sectors. When Chaderghat Bridge was enlarged in 1970 , an extra road sec on vaulted over Moosanagar on the East of the exis ng row of pylons. This new situa on was thankfully used by hundreds of people for addi onal accommoda on under the full length of the new segment. One now sees paths

along the full span of the Chaderghat Bridge serving the houses underneath. Although the bridge’s deck subs tutes the roof for many of the underlying residences, we no ce several beginning to build their own roofs, real me evidence of the transi on from semi-pucca to pucca before our eyes. Complaints of dripping water, mosquitoes and noise from neighbours mo vate these owners to home improvement.

“Si ng under Chaderghat Bridge in the home of one of the families, I am wai ng for the tea the beau ful lady opposite me has sent for through the services of a child. Normally (although I am asking myself how normal this is when I am not there), tea is bought in one of the hotels on the other side of Chaderghat Road. Holding another child on her side, her eyes shine proudly because she is receiving me. Momentarily distracted, my eyes are following the black, blistered wall beside me upwards as it vaults over us and becomes arch 2, (as I defi ne it) of Chaderghat Bridge. On my instruc ons, my translator for the day Praveen , is trying to start a conversa on with the lady. She is speaking about her husband and the fact that she would like to learn English one day. Overwhelmed by her beauty, my mind is wondering. When this beau ful lady is walking on the street with her colourful dress and jangling bangles who would ever think she lives in a slum? In the mean me I know her speech, bare feet, clothing fabric and the fact that she probably never takes a motorised rickshaw, quickly betray her. The minutes passing, my respect for these humble construc ons is being replaced by feelings of uneasiness. Humidity, acrid cooking fi re smoke, countless mosquito bites; all besieging me. Figh ng the impulse to leave, I am pitying myself that I’m not wearing closed shoes and that I forgot the Odomos .”

3.2 HOUSING BACKLOGS

Hyderabad and AP State Governments have a lengthy history of urban improvement programmes over the years: Slum Clearance Scheme, Slum Improvement Programme, Environmental Improvement of Slum Scheme, the Urban Community Development Programme, Hyderabad Slum Improvement Project , Urban Basic services for the poor, Na onal Slum Development Programme, VAMBAY, etc.

Today, for what concerns the Musi Bastees, the policy of slum clearance with reloca on as inevitable consequence has the upper hand.

This is evidenced by Nandanavanam Project (VAMBAY) and the proposals from Save Musi Campaign and further with the 2010 MasterPlan for Core City area. But how much dothese housing reloca ons projects achieve?How many houses have been built over the years and what is the housing backlog today?What is rate of building necessary to eliminate homeless and slum dwellers by 2021 as the latest census of India reveals?

Sta s cs from the 2010 Master Plan for Core City area, show the following :

According to the 2001 Census of India, Hyderabad counted 6,16 lakh occupied residen al houses. The number of households however was es mated at 6,52 lakh. Thus a housing gap of 0,36 lakh or 36 000 homeless

3.I.2 HOUSING BACK LOG OF AP HOUSINGSCHEMES

households. Looking more carefully at the fi gures, it becomes clear the homeless households were already present in Hyderabadin large numbers in 1971. Previously at 69000 the number has dropped however to 36000 in 2001.

To es mate how many of these 36000 have found a roof above their heads in the mean me, we need to defi ne which families Hyderabad defi nes as “homeless”. According to the 2010 Master Plan for Core City area all Kutcha construc ons are seen as inadequate housing for the poor. As such, all Kutcha inhabitants need to be included in the Housing Backlog.

De structural housing condi on of 2001 in Hyderabad was approximately as the NSSO described over whole India. It was observed that 71,01% pucca is with RCC (reinforced cement concrete) roof and fl ooring, 16,60% is pucca with kutcha fl oor, 2,36% is Semi Pucca and fi nally 10,02% was found to be kutcha.

Thus, it was determined that 89,98% of the houses in Hyderabad were structurally acceptable but that the remaining 10,02% or 61670 residences needed to be added to the housing backlog. In addi on, the 2010 Master Plan for Core City area cites that the number of houses that will be demolished as a result of road- and other development is es mated to be 5% of the total housing stock; that is 30800 homes.

Totalling up, the shortage of units needed: 36000 homeless plus 61670 bad construc ons plus 30800 demoli ons due to development which all adds up to 128470 units. Based on the calcula ons made in the 2010 Master Plan, an addi onal need through natural popula on increase will be generated by 2021 of another 307800 units. So the total number of units that need to be built by 2021 is 436270 homes, or a yearly average of 21813. It is the unenviable task of the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corpora on Limited to meet this goal.

From fi gures out of the 2010 Master Plan we see that between 2001 and 2006 a total of 8364 housing units were built. Converted to yearly averages, this amounts to 1672 houses. Compared with the projected yearly need

of 21813 this is a drop in the ocean with the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corpora on Limited only delivering 7,7% of the need.

When we want to see how this approach has aff ected Moosanagar today, then we need Kutcha fi gures from the past. The discussion on evolu on in chapter 2 remains however vague for the type of construc ons and when they were present. As such, the descrip on on Moosanagar from M.A Khadir wri en in 1994, is useful.

“The slum is situated adjacent to Chaderghat Bridge in Malakpet. The slum appears to be in existence for about 20 years. There are about 150 families in the slum. Main occupa on of the people is pe y business and daily wage earning. There are 3 pucca houses, though most of them are semi-kutcha and kutcha. It is a low lying area and the slum slopes towards the river Musi. Due to absence of proper drainage system, waste water fl ows into the Musi par cularly during monsoon season leading to confl ict between the residents of the slum. During monsoon water even enters the houses.There are no proper roads and the people use the lanes between the houses as roads. By-lanes are not paved and the pedestrians cannot walk in the slum during rainy season. Garbage is being dumped in the by-lanes and open places. Due to improper garbage disposal system, unhygienic condi ons exist in the slum. There are no sewerage drains and community latrines. There is scarcity of water supply as there are few public taps. Dwellers, some of them, also collect water from neighbouring areas. Most of the dwellers have laid own pipe lines to allow the waste water to fl ow on to the streets where again it stagnates crea ng unhygienic condi on.”

M.A Khadir 1994

“I remember when I went there in 1990, there were only two RCC houses and one RCC community hall. The houses were that of Yadiah (who worked in the Municipal coopera on and lives opposite to the Community Hall), and Ram Chander (neighbour of Ashfaq Bhai and also worked in MCH). All the others were huts or houses that were asbestos roofed.”

Varghese Teckanath

255

Depar ng with the informa on that M.A. Khadir cites, in 1994, 150 families lived in Moosanagar and that three lived in a pucca, with the rest in semi pucca and kutcha. Presuming these last two types were equally represented, this results in 3 puccas, 73 semi puccas and 74 kutchas.

Although some may debate the informa on given by M.A Khadir is en rely correct – the evolu on of Moosangar in the previous chapter stated that by 1982 there were already 169 families. Credibility is added to Khadir’s fi gures by the evidence of Br. Varghese Teckanath;

Depending on the state of these asbestos roofed houses they could be counted for as pucca or semi-pucca. The State would fi nd it necessary to replace the 74 kutchas, and if we con nue this train of thought, it makes no diff erence if the others were semi pucca or already pucca.

In the mean me we know that here also, 4,25 % of the total housing stock should be added to the backlog to cover the demoli ons. This equates to +/- 6 extra houses. We know the housing growth un l 2011 was 222 houses, reached by the subtrac on of the 150 previous from the 372 present now. Thus the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corpora on Limited according to its own rules would need to foresee 302 houses up to 2011 or; 17,76 houses per year.

With the previous fi gures used for the calcula on of the Housing Back Log over the whole of Hyderabad, is was evident that it fulfi lled only 7,67% of the need. Reasoning further, from the projected 302 needed since 1994 only 23 would have received a new home now. But what is more important, is that when we depart from the pure Rehousing Scheme model whereby a er 1994 no further self improvement is realised, 273 slum households

from Moosanagar today would s ll be homeless or at the most in possession of a kutcha.

Examining all the previous sta s cs of Housing schemes in Hyderabad and their results for a slum as Moosanagar; looking at the number of housing schemes per year built by the Andhra Pradesh State Housing Corpora on Limited; it is clear that an unrealis c strategy is being followed when the results are compared with the need. With many decades and ini a ves past, the State is clearly incapable of fulfi lling the task.

But what is the solu on? A be er management, again a new policy? Or is the problem just too big to resolve? Can the PPP’s, as the State now promotes, save the poor? Should slum clearance just be con nued and hope that the private sector will succeed in diminishing the housing backlog? Are there other alterna ves?

Just maybe, the solu on is no further than Moosanagar where now 99% of the households have pucca and semi-pucca with more as basic ameni es including electricity. Seeing this, there is no alterna ve than to believe that the urban poor, with help for infrastructure, are completely capable of improving themselves – over me.

When we place the previous two Case Studies, discussed earlier, side by side, it becomes evident that demoli on history and the evolu on in the me span of land ownership, played a role in the

structural appearance of Moosanagar today.

In the following, the three structural zones of Moosanagar are discussed again but analysed with respect to its evolu on. In addi on, the Floor Plan is studied comparing the points of improvement with respect to the subjects discussed in the previous chapter, and our own experience. Coun ng the housing back log of Moosanagar today the structural appearance of the houses built in Moosanagar as well as the community as a whole, is weighed against what would have been the situa on if the current housing scheme ‘method’ would have been implemented instead of the natural self improvement.

3.3 SLUM IMPROVEMENT, ANALYSIS

ZONE A1

Structure

When we look at the sec on of land in the south west that was formerly the property of the Mosque, and the land formerly owned by Sardar Bhai in the south east of Moosanagar, we see that this evolved, as the oldest part of Moosanagar, from the 1950’s un l now, into a densely occupied zone of puccas. The 60 intervening years have given the owners the chance to improve their lodgings from kutcha over semi-pucca to fully fl edged pucca.

Besides the personal surveys we performed in this zone, out of which we deduced that almost all the people lived here “for genera ons” , the tes monies in the thesis of M.A. Khadir, wri en

in 1994, and of Br. Varghese today (2011), is striking evidence, that this terraced zone of rigid painted houses in Moosanagar underwent considerable improvement over the years.

The declara ons that Moosanagar back in the ‘90ies consisted mainly of Kutchas and semi puccas confi rms structural improvement though has taken me. However, other factors also play a role in improvement.

When looking at the housing zone formerly owned by the Nawab, originated with the sale of small plots of land in the late1980’s, we see now it consists en rely of puccas. This in contrast to the zone around the mosque (which although of equivalent housing quality), started 30 years earlier. One probable reason for this “jump start” in the improvement

1559-1980: se lersScale: 1/1500

1950: se lerslate ‘80ies- early ‘90ies: se lers

rate of the housing zone in the North-East, is that at the same me it came into existence, the state began with the gran ng of D-form pa as. The slum no fi ca on of Moosanagar gave the residents (a semblance of) security so that the owners would be willing to speed up investment and make improvements to their houses. Also the fact that they where able to buy the land on Notary must have been an infl uence on their security feeling.

Clearly, in a no fi ed slum like Moosanagar, the possession of a pa a by most of the inhabitants is a precious asset. It is kept in a safe place and seldom shown. Consequently one can never be sure that the family concerned really possesses a pa a. Among others, the residents of Moosanagar are habitually visited by offi cials claiming that in spite of the no fi ca on, the slum will have to be cleared. Nandanavanam, Save Musi Project and the 2010 Master Plan all make their posi oning unsure. For the determina on of the number of offi cially authorised families who would be aff ected by an enforced reloca on, the presenta on of the pa a is necessary. Some residents will claim having a pa a even if untrue, to strengthen their posi on to stay. Others, on the other hand will refuse coopera on by showing their pa a saying it is kept in another safe place. For us, it is prac cally impossible to work out who is speaking the truth.

Floor Plan

When we start to look more specifi cally at the ground plan of Zone 1 as a whole, we see that 3 previously large domains are now subdivided into individual plots for 100’s of families. A ques on worth asking is how much the Urban Land Ceiling Act introduced around the same me, infl uenced these par ons. In the affi rma ve, this act then had a posi ve infl uence for the inhabitants of Moosanagar as was its’ intended purpose.

COMMUNITY SCALE

As we cast our eyes over the area of the fi rst se lers, we come across the house of Ashfaq Bhai. From what we deduced through the evolu on of Moosanagar, he was one of the fi rst to se le in the slum.Examining his personal posi on as Moosanagar grew, we observed that Ashfaq became the local Bas leader. Helping in the family business and through his friendship with Pasha Pehelwan, Ashfaq over the years became a person to fear and respect. When Moosanagar became no fi ed in 1982, Ashfaq secured pa as for his family members but also helped others who where loyal to him.

Apart from Ashfaq, there were other individuals and organisa ons driving the improvements in this zone. Examples coming to mind are Mr. Azeez Pasha, the leader of the Communist Party who provided the ini al Slum No fi ca on and the following help from the Overseas Development Authority of the UK (ODA) and of Mr. Ranga Reddy in the building of basic ameni es such as roads, electricity, sewage and potable water.

Separate from the general improvement in the slum’s infrastructure over me, we see that more specifi cally changes begin to occur which are more in keeping with a small town than would be associated with a slum. This is the case for the cemetery and new Mosque. The graveyard which was present before 1950 is the fi nal res ng place of the slum’s Muslims. The Mosque adjacent to it was built in the 80’s and caters as a gathering place for the Moosanagar Muslims for their daily prayers.

It is unclear if the Mosque was built by the residents or someone outside the slum was the mo vator, but our experience taught us that no ma er how poor the community is, they always seem to be able to build a Temple, Mosque, or temporary shrines for fes vals. Other Material objects such as mobile phones and TV’s, bangles for personal decora on, and sweets for children are also common. Of course some have more than others.

“The slum is basically seen as an area of darkness, despair and poverty” is typical for the middle class images and percep ons described by John Desrochers in “India’s growing slums” . But the Moosanagar slum inhabitants show us a way of life much like many others outside the slums. They go to work, they go to prayers, they feed their children, they go to sleep; but their level of income and expenditure, house and posi on in society is on another scale.

Accordingly the li le shops we saw in Moosanagar are setup on the scale of a slum. They are spread out over all three zones. They are operated by people in an adjacent house and act as a magnet for children and for social life. Sold are washing products and other sundries but par cularly sweets.

The fi nal thing no ceable within the community of Moosanagar and posi oned in Zone 1 is the slum’s school. We see in the North East it is one of the most conspicuous construc ons in Moosanagar. This building, the PIN school, was built a er the ground was bought by Br. Varghese Teckanath in 1994. This school is an example of what can happen when English middle class begins to take the lives of the urban poor to heart in the 90’s. Arriving simultaneously in Moosanagar to work with the urban poor, he started the People’s Ini a ve Network (PIN). The network’s objec ve was to take care of the slum inhabitants but specifi cally their educa on needs. Outside of the slum where the caste system is s ll so prevalent it was known that slum children were o en discriminated against. The decision was made to buy ground and build a school. PIN school is not only unique as a school in a slum, but a er much eff ort and insistence the ground was also the only one

offi cially registered by the Revenue Department.

Ini ally PIN had good contacts with the GoAP so things got done. Offi cial acceptance resul ng in the recogni on of the children’s diplomas a racted children not only from Moosanagar but also from the surrounding slums . Later, with the ins ga on of the Nandanavanam Project, the PIN school became the basis for resistance. NGO’s ini ally suppor ng the Nandanavanam project, pulled out once they saw the consequences of their ac ons. The strong PIN opposi on soured the rela on with GoAP. To divert problems away from the PIN school, the resistance movements were transferred to NBPS and later CHATRI. Today the role of PIN school is educa ng the youngest but it also caters for local gatherings or ritual occasions as well as a shelter when houses are fl ooded.

HOUSEHOLD SCALE

Finally, zooming in on the individual fl oor plans in the pucca zone, we no ce that the expansion visible throughout the community is also refl ected in the household’s fl oor plans.

Comparing most Pucca houses to those under the bridge, it is clearly seen that some of the houses have mul ple rooms, a centre courtyard and a toilet. Our surveys also revealed that they usually had a private tap for water which was evident throughout the evolu on in Moosanagar.

Having several rooms in a pucca was a sign of family enlargement. Rooms were added or divided in two, when for example a son was married. It was then appropriate for him to have his own room to live with his wife and children. Generally the girls leave the family house to live with their husbands.

One pucca can be shared by not only families, but also by several ren ng from the same owner. The owner will o en live outside Moosanagar. So we see that ground was bought by outsiders with the aim of ren ng to people who wished to live there. The small squares are o en a mee ng place since the doors of their houses open into it. There, people wash or cook or where also

frequently seen to be making leaf garlands .

While most households naturally manage to make improvements, the case of Munna Bhai, is an excep onal example of upgrading through me. As the sister of Ashfaq Bhai she too was

one of the fi rst se lers. Owning one of the few three storied buildings in Moosanagar, she manages a garage on the ground fl oor of the building from where auto-rickshaws are rented out to individuals. In addi on she owns several houses in the slum which she also rents out to residents. While the factor me in an essen al ingredient contribu ng to the household development of many people, we couldn’t help feeling a li le suspicious of the manner Munna had managed to expand her property; perhaps quiet unjustly. In contrast with Ashfaq Bhai’s poverty, it is exactly this that earned him credibility as a respected Bas leader .

ZONE A2

Structure

When we analyse the “sca ered” area in zone 2, it seems evident that some of the houses were demolished around 1998 leaving Moosanagar with deserted open space. The place that became free allowed new residents to come as witnessed by the structural diff erence in the various houses. Where the puccas remaining probably dated from before the demoli ons, the semi-pucca and kutcha probably came later. Looking at our surveys and interviews conducted in this zone, we could conclude that most of the houses here are indeed recent. But not only semi-pucca houses. Few of the pucca houses in place evidenced structural improvement at a fast pace since 1998. So

proves the structure of the row of houses situated completely on the eastern border of former owner Krishna. Here it is s ll the pa a security that enhanced a fast improvement. This is an example of how good compensa on for demolishing one’s house due to road works, can get. These houses are decent pucca houses. In 1992, with the building of New Chaderghat Bridge, the Government demolished all the houses on its path leaving Moosanagar and Viyenaka Veedhi to end up in 2 separate slums. As compensa on, the Government provided the vic ms with new land (from Krishna), a D-form pa a and Rs. 20000 to rebuild their house.

Scale: 1/1500

1982: se lers

Floor Plan

COMMUNITY SCALE

Whereas in Zone I, a Mosque is present, here we fi nd a Hindu temple as evidence of an expanding community. Their simultaneously presence is typical, as in the whole of Hyderabad, of the diff erent religions living closely together.

S ll more remarkable is a Community centre and a so-called Anganwadi (day-care). The Anganwadi formed the bas on of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) which started in 1975 and off ered day-care for the poor and support to pregnant women. Anganwadi staff members are selected from the community and taught the necessary skills to help run the scheme. Although a good idea, we no ced that help wasn’t necessarily off ered daily. Once when the pensions were distributed to the inhabitants of the Moosanagar and surrounding bastees, the day-care was opened and completely overrun by people.

The Community Centre is adjacent to the Day-care. This had its’ origin in the expansion of the Chaderghat Bridge in 1970. This building was constructed as warehouse for the materials . In nego a ons with the slum dwellers, it was agreed that in return for a piece of land, the building would be made strong enough so it could be used later for something else. Thus the Community Hall came into being, controlled mainly by the slum leader. This hall also was usually closed during our stay.

HOUSEHOLD SCALE

The diff erence in structure between the pucca and Semi-Pucca construc ons in this zone cleary is refl ected in the Floor Plan as well. Whereas the fi rst again show mul ple rooms and a courtyard, the Semi-Pucca has only one room. Looking at the Semi-Pucca closest to the water adjacent to Chaderghat bridge, we nevertheless see how a single room later expanded with courtyard and toilets since there’s nobody around.

Although of Semi-Pucca structure, it’s fl oorplan refl ects one of a pucca. Upgrading in procesFor what concerns drinkable water, our survey shows that people of Semi Puccas mostly have access to shared taps while in Zone 1 most people used private taps. This is also true for the toilets. Most puccas in Zone 2 however again have all ameni es, though some others have none

ZONE A3

Structure

The semi-puccas built in the last few years in Moosanagar, are one with some of the semi-puccas under the bridge. This implies that these houses are also recent. Scru nising our surveys, confi rms this. In spite of the fact that some people in recent dwellings claim that they have been in Moosanagar “for genera ons” it could also be interpreted that their previous house was demolished and they have rebuilt, perhaps on another spot. Other possible reasons are the death of a family member, marriage or business misfortune which forced people to move. However most say they live there between 5 – 10 years which is consistent with the state of their construc ons.

Floor plan

COMMUNITY SCALE

What mainly groups these houses together in the community is the presence of the Chaderghat Bridge. With their dominant presence, the bridge arches defi ne the condi ons for the surrounding houses and their direct surroundings. As men oned earlier, due to these construc ons both horizontal and ver cal circula on is brought about. The former connects the slums of Kamal Nagar and Moosanagar, with the la er serving the slums individually. Another uni ng factor joining these houses is that they are all controlled by a Pehelwan.

Scale: 1/1500

HOUSEHOLD SCALE

As noted previously, their fl oor plans refl ected a young age. No extensions have been added. Their recent construc on is highlighted by the absence of many roofs, the overlying bridge providing par al subs tu on. It is also noteworthy that few, if any, had a toilet. When the owners answered our survey concerning this amenity with “open”, this implied that they used the banks of the river for this need. O en in the covered area near the bridge, toilets belonging to one person were shared, with rental being paid by the others. This was also the case for drinking taps.

3.I.3 MOOSANAGAR HOUSING BACK LOG

Using our examina on of the local situa on in Moosanagar, we are capable of tracing the real housing backlog today. Through the database on the reverse side of this thesis, it is possible to count how many families live in each zone and the type of their construc on.

This is how we proceeded. When in our previous calcula on we departed with the approach that housing would come from an outside source, this me we use the factor slum improvement due to the owners as well as coming from small outside groups. In passing, we must men on that because of me limita ons, we were not able to fully inspect the area of zone 1. Although it was clear through our numerous passages through this area that it contained only puccas, we were not certain of the number of households it included. To circumvent this uncertainty, we begin with the other zones and subtract their total number from the 372 family fi gure quoted in a survey by CHATRI.

This gave the following situa on:

‘Zone 2’ counted 56 families living in a pucca home, 5 in semi-pucca and 1 in kutcha. Although in ‘Zone 3’ some of the houses could already be defi ned as pucca because of their asbestos roof, we chose to use the term semi pucca for all of them due to their miserable state. One house is however in good condi on. Also one woman in this zone lives under the bridge but clearly has no house. The total for Zone 3 comes thus to: 1 pucca, 39 semi puccas en 1 homeless person.

‘Zone 1’ in total has 269 families. Almost all these families noted as pucca although we chose to qualify 2 as semi pucca. The total for zone 1 is: 267 puccas and 2 semi puccas.

This brings the total to:324 puccas, 46 semi puccas, 1 kutcha and 1 homeless person.

The housing backlog in Moosanagar today is thus 2.

Comparing this result with what the State had achieved, it is striking that through slum improvement, the slum dwellers show they are in state to improve their housing structures.

TO CONCLUDE

It is clear structural improvement of slum dwellings is not only possible, but happens automa cally when the necessary me factor is present. When we compare the number of puccas in the 3 zones together taking the factor me into considera on, one cannot ignore its’ infl uence.Also, while looking at the fl oor plans of the zones it is easily seen that Zone 3 contains more enlarged plans complete with a water connec on, toilet and courtyard. The zone under the bridge is o en represented houses consis ng of nothing more than a high walled 10m² square with the bridge deck as the “roof”.

The loca on itself was also an obvious infl uencing factor in the development of the house. Under Chaderghat Bridge we found roofl ess houses, which we never saw elsewhere. A case of fi nding a solu on when the need is greatest.

It can be seen that the evolu on in the diff erent slum policies have had their direct eff ects on Moosanagar. The land subdivisions a er the Urban Land Ceiling Regula on Act (ULCRA). The building of basic ameni es in the fi rst phase of the Hyderabad Slum Improvement Project together with the Overseas Development Agency (ODA) from the UK. The coming of a Anganwadi through the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). Other infl uences such as no fi ca on and other “semi secure” factors such as notary, water availability, roads or paths, electricity, etc, make home improvements happen faster. More security and the slum as a whole profi ts.

Not only the policies had an eff ect, but the direct help from mo vated people also

255

helped. Mr. Azeez Pasha pushed through slum no fi ca on in 1982 and later Mr. Ranga Reddy provided the impulse for basic ameni es in the 2nd phase. Brother Varghese and PIN had important infl uence in the building of a school for the slum. The la er were prominent in the struggle against the Nandanavanam Project which they won – at least for the moment.

It can also not be overlooked that demoli ons too had direct repercussions.Clearly when in zone 2 everything is suddenly demolished and everything has to start from scratch (viewing the state of the semi-pucca houses) the general rate of improvement of the slum as a whole is decreased. By contrast, demoli on caused by New Chaderghat Bridge brought about a series of solidly built puccas. This shows posi ve implementa ons of road projects can have a good impact. So it becomes evident that it is not what one does, but how it is done. In the last example, the State got its’ new Chaderghat Bridge and the people relocated got a new house.

It is important to realise the posi ve consequences for the slum dweller when reason prevails. In Hyderabad, it’s clearly a ques on of give and take. Nego a ons are clearly Moosanagar’s strongest weapon. Amen es in exchange for votes, votes for no fi ca on, a new bridge for new housing and a new community centre traded for a temporary building site storage.

It’s certainly clear that the community as a whole tries to make improvements, but also every individual. Community improvements are visible in the form of a Temple, Mosque, roads, drinking water and shops. Individual improvement expresses itself not only with the transi on from kutcha to semi-pucca to

pucca, but also in addi onal land ownership. “Rich” or poor, the urge to improve one’s lot is universal, and this is no diff erent in the slums.

As is also universally the case, the road to improvement is diff erent for everyone. In case of the slums, families have spent many years and o en genera ons doing so. People without family or marriage partner are o en disadvantaged in this respect. The homeless woman under the bridge was a case in point. Without extern help, it is improbable that she will advance. Even inadequate help is much be er than nothing.

“I have seen nothing in the world of the poor to compare with the misery of slums”

Varghese Teckanath

In spite of the “good score” on housing backlog, we cannot forget that this is s ll a slum. The image of self improvement must not be over roman cised. Although the great majority now live in a pucca, most complain of leaking roofs and water seepage. It cannot be anything than very hard to endure during the wet season. Especially the houses on the water’s edge and under the bridge, it is an understatement to say they have less than ideal living circumstances. The point is however, what would be the situa on without the slum improvement. Simply put; much worse.

When we ask the people in Moosanagar what they want the State to do, then they ask for a new house. However, only if the new one will come in the same place as the old.

3.3.I SPECIAL SLUM ZONE

Looking at the 2010 Master Plan, there are two noteworthy aspects concerning Moosanagar. The fi rst; it is specifi ed as “residen al area”. The second; it is separated from the river by a new 80 foot (24m) wide road. As far as the road is concerned, there is no doubt it will be built once suffi cient funding is found. Since the slum is offi cially recognised as residen al area, the State is obliged to give each pa a household that has to be moved a new home. However it is already clear that the implementa on of this reloca on, even for only the pa a houses, is prac cally impossible.

Chapter 1 showed us that as the popula on of Hyderabad grew and correspondingly the size of their city, so too did the growing number of immigrated urban poor increase the size and quan ty of slums. Because of the huge addi onal need of potable water the Musi was denied its’ water and would have dried up, were it not for the massive infl ows of sewage and industrial fl uid waste taking its’ place. A new condi on along the Musi banks.

Chapter 2 showed how these new river condi ons were coped with and u lised by various groups. Moosanagar is part of one such group, namely the new Musi residents. The evolu on of this slum taught us that the shrinking of the Musi water body formed the opportunity for them to increase the area of their residen al zone. Nonetheless, it was not only the slum dwellers who saw the benefi t of this extra space.

Through the popula on increase and accompanying extra sewage produc on, the Musi provided a second group with the means to a ain “food security”. The freed up space and constant waste water fl ow made it possible for sustained agriculture along its’ banks as well as other ac vi es which provided income and jobs.

The third interested party with an interest in the Musi space was the State. With an eye for development and the expansion of the road network, plans were made to u lise it for IT

industries and other commercial projects. The new roads would connect these developments and ease the already s fl ing traffi c conges on. Such projects however are aimed at the formal sectors of the economy whereby all lower castes again lose out. Not only are the shopping malls prohibi vely expensive for these groups, but also the entry to the planned Nandanvans would not be free (just like other parks in Hyderabad). This implies the complete banishment of the poor since the whole development involves the complete elimina on of the slums.

Reading through Chapter 3, we can compare how the State’s a empt to meet the poors’ housing needs through such Musi River Front projects pales in comparison to the o en modest housing improvements the slum dwellers have manage to achieve for themselves. It becomes clear that through the changed condi ons of the city, the underprivileged were forced to look for a shelter close to their work and they found it through the transformed Musi condi ons.

History teaches us that such uncontrolled encroachments, sew the seeds of strife for the future. The remedy is not however to remove these intrusions without off ering a valid alterna ve, but to tackle the problem at its’ source, namely the growth of urban poor in the Core City area.

Although this issue is outside the scope of this thesis, a burning ques on that needs to be dealt with is, how to incorporate city development with a well structured slum that has managed to improve itself into a small self respec ng township. In addi on it can be shown that such se lements are the fi rst steps in decreasing the number of urban poor. In the informal sector, having housing close by jobs is of primary importance.

If in the case of Moosanagar, like the New Chaderghat Bridge project, good can be made from necessity, then the building of the new road corridor suggested in the 2010 Master Plan could bring an advantage to Moosanagar. On one hand, the road could act

As one long chain, high and low caste would be connected. Even though poor will always buy from poor, and rich from rich, none are banned with the economy of both sectors s mulated.

With the presence of the dike, a pedestrian path along the informal sector would form a barrier to the further encroachment of the river Musi. However, the State’s encroachment would eventually have to be compensated with other space as wel. A new fl oodzone, perhaps situated just outside the city centre therefore would be necesary.

Diverted from the Save Musi project these ideas are similar with the important diff erence that the Metropolitan Zone here comprises of all castes.

Trea ng the slums as a place to respect and preserve, the acknowledging of Special Slum Zones in the 2010 Master Plan, would give the urban poor the chance to become respected residents

as a dike and protect the enclave from futurefl ooding. On the other, through the close passage of many people each day, possibili es for the informal sector could arise providing new income and jobs. When before the slum dwellers fought for a place close to their work, one could hope that work would come to them.

The road dike perhaps also could become a marketplace(/walkway) not only for Moosanagar but also further along the length of the road. In this way, besides the other formal zones des ned for commercialisa on, space would be created for the informal sector.

The cul vators of Musi land could benefi t of these new closeby markets.As such the cul va on of the vacant land in de the fl ood zone behind Moosanagar could also be worth looking into. Perhaps some Moosanagar residents could help on the land while others sell the goods.

Interac on between Musi land, the dike markets, the road and the slum residents would in this way alternate with the more expensive areas situated along the road.