Urban 'slums' expose the dark underbelly of the gateway to Northeast

In the sparsely populated Narengi in Assam’s Guwahati, a rail track cuts through three informal settlements—Lala Basti, Babu Basti and Dharmanagar. In these three colonies—one after another—there are around 150 houses where some of the city’s poorest reside without social security and infrastructure.

As goods trains use the rail track, the traffic is minimal. Thus it provides the residents enough freedom to navigate the area without much danger. Dharmanagar, the last among the three hamlets, is built on a wetland, making it further vulnerable to flooding during rains.

Bindu Singh, a 27-year-old domestic worker from Babu Basti, says she has been contemplating not to vote in the Lok Sabha polls. “I don’t feel like voting. No political party has done anything for us. I have struggled to get an Aadhaar card for two years but the officials did not give me one.

“As I don’t have an Aadhaar card, I don’t have a ration card. Only my mother has a ration card. We are a family of three (Bindu, her mother and her nephew). We get only five kgs of free rice a month. It is not enough for us, so we buy an additional 20 kgs of rice each month,” adds Singh.

The voting for the Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency will take place on May 7, during the third phase of the General Elections 2024. Assam has 14 Lok Sabha seats. Out of them, 10 constituencies had already voted on April 19 and April 26, during the first and second phases of the seven-phase elections across the country.

The remaining four constituencies of the northeastern state, including Guwahati, will vote on May 7.

The dichotomy of urban existence

Guwahati is the home of Assam’s capital Dispur. The city is known as the gateway to Northeast India. It is also considered the most “advanced place" in the otherwise backward and far-flung region.

Guwahati has 60 municipal wards. An estimated 10 million people live in the urban metropolis.

Unlike other cities of the country, the informal settlements of the urban poor in Guwahati are yet to be recognised (or notified as in the official term) as slums because there exists no slum board in the state to do so. Still, colonies like Babu Basti and Lala Basti carry the suffix of 'Basti' which translates to a slum.

Thus these city dwellers are a part of “no man’s land”—“unrecognised and neglected by the government machineries and society at large". They are mostly engaged in low-paying and hazardous occupations like manual scavenging, domestic work and construction work, to name a few.

They are the most invisible residents of the city spread out in an estimated 163 non-notified informal settlements (as per the Guwahati Municipal Corporation or GMC).

These informal settlements could be found in hills, railway land, private land and wetlands. Most of the inmates of these places, around 20,000 (according to the 2011 census), have no access to necessities like drinking water, sanitation and electricity.

They are being denied the benefits of government schemes like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the National Urban Livelihood Mission and the Swacch Bharat Mission as their settlements are not "notified". Thus urban poor and low-income groups have taken refuge in informal land and housing in the city.

The rainy season is the worst period for the urban poor as flood water inundates their houses—mostly built in low-lying areas—leaving them homeless. They also always live amid the fear of being evicted by official agencies, especially after around 1,000 families residing in Silsako Beel (a wetland) were evicted by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam in three phases from 2022 to 2023.

In the past also several poor residing in these "unauthorised lands" were evicted from their homes or were furnished eviction notices by the authorities. Many are staying in the same house for two to three generations. Some of them are landowners. Most inhabitants pay electricity bills to the government to provide them with a connection.

"It is their 'homes' (the land where their houses stand) which have no legal sanction but they are the bonafide citizens of the country. They deserve all the rights to lead a dignified life with all the amenities," said social activist Mehzebin Rahman, who works in several of Guwahati's informal settlements.

Can the lives of the poor be changed?

Guwahati-based architect and town planner Hrishiraj Sharma stressed the need to develop a housing policy for the economically weaker section. “Nobody wants to live in unlivable conditions which jeopardise their health, safety and well-being. People live in informal settlements without any necessities for various reasons. The primary reason is economic. There is a policy gap to provide better living conditions for the urban poor,” said Sharma.

He added that it is not very difficult to change the way “slum dwellers” are living. “First, a proper survey needs to be done in these settlements. The expertise of the Assam State Housing Board, the Directorate of Town and Country Planning and various departments looking after welfare schemes can be used to provide proper houses with toilets for low-income groups.”

Sharma cited the example of the Gujarat State Urban Slum Policy from which the Assam government can learn a lot to provide better facilities to the needy.

Passing the buck: The government department style?

While The Federal managed to speak with officials of the GMC and the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), officials of the health department and women and social welfare department refused to comment on "slum dwellers".

Debaraj Kalita, town planner of the GMDA, said that the GMC looks after the "slums". "They will be able to speak on the number of informal housing pockets, their population and related development."

Regarding the forthcoming "masterplan of Guwahati", Kalita added that it would be done at a macro level. "It is difficult to foresee if new 'slums' would be established in the coming years. We have to either develop the existing informal settlements or relocate the population to better places."

Neepjyoti Das, a senior official of the GMC, said various departments within the municipal corporation look after various verticals like drinking water, health and sanitation. The Federal has sent a questionnaire to MN Dahal, commissioner of the GMC; this story will be updated as and when we receive responses.

Are poor only vote banks?

Interestingly, when this reporter tried to speak to political parties like the BJP and the Congress, their members evaded the questions surrounding informal settlements. A BJP member from Guwahati, who did not wish to be named as he is not an official spokesperson, said that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre has done a lot for the poor across India.

When asked if the ruling BJP government in Assam has plans to declare the informal settlements as "slums" by notifying them, he stated it would be decided in the future.

The supporters of the two main contenders--both women-- of the Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency--Bijuli Kalita Medhi of the BJP and Mira Borthakur Goswami of the Congress--have been visiting some of the poorer localities of the city to campaign for their candidates.

At Lala Basti, BJP flags were hoisted in a few houses. The residents, however, denied that there was a "saffron wave". Sixty-year-old Ajay Singh, who has been staying in the colony since 1985, said the BJP has done nothing for the poor.

"You can see our settlement and ascertain what the Narendra Modi government has done for the poor in the last 10 years of his rule. We don't even have drinking water provision," lamented Singh, who because of age-related ailments doesn't work anymore.

"We have a few cows and we sell the milk to earn our livelihood," said Singh's wife Saraswati Devi, 50.

Jaleman Nehar, 45, a resident of Bhaskar Nagar Basti, said that she and several women in her locality are attending political meetings of various candidates. "We go to these meetings to listen to what the candidates speak about. We want to make an informed choice before voting," said Nehar, a housewife.

Her friend, Reena Begum (45) laughed and added that contrary to popular belief, we have never taken any money to attend political meetings or vote for a particular candidate.

As one enters Bhaskar Nagar Basti, a dirty drain greets the visitors. Shayeeda Begum, 35, said the drain is an eyesore and has become the cause of health hazards for the residents. "The drain smells awful and is a breeding ground for the mosquitoes. The municipal authorities never cleaned it. Each household here pays Rs 50 to the municipal corporation to collect our garbage. As the garbage van is irregular, thus heaps of it can be seen everywhere. Our roads are in bad shape. We want better civic amenities," demanded the 35-year-old.

Sixty-year-old Roop Banu said that politicians remember them only during the elections. "That is the reality and we can't escape the vagaries of life at any cost."

Demands of urban poor

One of the organisations of the informal settlements in Guwahati is the Grihokarmi Adhikar Suraksha Samiti or GASS—a collective of domestic workers. In March this year, they hosted a meeting and raised several demands to ensure social security for domestic workers and underprivileged people. They have called it their "manifesto" which they have tried to send to political parties ahead of the polls.

Some of their demands include the Labour Commission issue a notification to ensure weekly leave for domestic workers; enact the Domestic Workers Social Security Act at the state level and constitute boards under the act to ensure the following old age security (Pension), children's scholarships, medical aid, emergency insurance and aid during pregnancy.

“The authorities have completely neglected the rights of the working class people. Workers in the unorganised sector have been deprived of all forms of social security including a minimum wage for decades,” said social activist Rahman.

A large proportion of the unorganised sector is made up of domestic workers.

“These women, who play an important role in the functioning of the city, are yet to get the status of a worker. The labour of women who get up in the morning to take care of their homes, children and families and then work in other people’s houses during the day is considered ‘service’,” said Pooja Nirala, secretary of the GASS.

“The Unorganised Sector Workers’ Social Security Act 2008 provides directives to the state governments to ensure the social security of unorganised sector workers but the state government has been ignoring the issue,” she added.

Young voices from the margins

Abhinash Kumar from Lala Basti is only 13. He speaks passionately about the importance of safe drinking water. "We don't have a tap water connection. Some families have dug up borewells, but the water is unfit for human consumption because of its high iron content. We buy drinking water," said Kumar, who studies in class seven.

Salma Khatun is 18 and a neigbour of Kumar. The college-goer is a first-time voter. "I will vote for better facilities like drinking water and sanitation, this election," said Khatun. Around six families use one toilet in Khatun's colony.

Mujhibur Khan, 20, is pursuing his graduation from a city college. He has been living in Babu Basti since his birth. "I will vote against political apathy towards the poor," said Khan, a first-time voter and a professional singer.