Says displacement, shoddy rehab could mar big projects.
The Singur crisis has brought India's economic growth within striking distance with the stark reality of how displacement and rehabilitation issues—which if not handled properly can mar a project, if not the very goals of economic development.
A study done by IIM-A as part of its PGP-PMP course on Displacement and Rehabilitation Issues in Governance, focuses on three areas in Gujarat where the displacement issues continue to be a matter of concern. This includes Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project, Ahmedabad, Sardar Sarovar Project on Narmada River and Rehabilitation of Displaced at Dani Limda and Juhapura, Ahmedabad.
The course participants who carried out the studies included two IAS and two state civil service officials, among others, who have visited the sites. The participants guided by Navdeep Mathur, a faculty member have prepared three case papers as part of the course which will later on be published officially.
"All the three cases signify larger political processes which intersect with development issues. They illustrate a pattern where displacement has been deeply problematic due to lack of a sensitive and engaged rehabilitation policy. If it continues to get ignored by the government, the issues of displacement will grow and fester," according to Mathur.
The people seem lost in this journey of commercialised beautification somehow, notes the study on the Riverfront project. A decade later and the rehabilitation policy is still being 'worked out'. "A bigger malaise came to the fore when the students realised the piecemeal fashion in which the survey and identification have been approached," the study said. The participants included Samir Sinha, Gurjyot Singh, Pankaj Kotak and Saurabh Johri.
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A visit to the temporary rehabilitation shelter revealed the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities towards the slum dwellers. "Nearly 22 families have settled in temporary hutments where access to basic sanitation facilities is not provided. Even the shelters were ramshackle and unfit for human habitation," the study points out.
The Eastern bank of the river, which is home to 35,000 odd families, feels it shall be largely neglected. The slum dwellers fear that the rehabilitation site may be far away from their present habitations and this could adversely affect their livelihoods. The development plans are skewed – the western part shall get a majority of expensive office space as well as plush apartment complexes and this fact has to be weighed from the rather changed political sociology of Gujarat post 2002 communal violence, according to the participant who prepared the study.
SSP Project, which claims to be one the best rehabilitation and resettlement policy in the country as per observations by IIM-A students falls short of its objectives. At least on the infrastructure front, housing and other basic amenities, it is way behind rehabilitation work done by Tsunami affected areas in Pondicherry or for earthquake victims, the study points out. The team also visited a village near Baroda-Thuvavi which is ignored by the government and is home to several displaced people.
About thirty five families belonging to a village in Maharashtra were rehabilitated there about 10-12 years ago. A resident of the village told the visiting team that they had been provided with five acres of land and Rs 33,000 as housing assistance, but faced flash floods and crop damage, and had no other employment opportunities as they were relatively isolated.
According to Mathur the affected people should be made partners or shareholders in a project. "They are not involved in decision-making and on these counts the SSP project falls short," he added.
The third case paper on rehabilitation at Dani Limda and Juhapura stress on the need that relief and rehabilitation packages need to be well conceived and efficiently implemented to bring the riot victims in the mainstream and be able to lead a normal public life. Six years have passed since the tragedy and any further delay would not only wipe out one generation because of lack of basic necessities for survival but also sow the seeds of hatred and apathy for the next generation.
It needs to be mentioned that Dani Limda site, behind 'Bombay Hotel', where displacees live, is encircled by one of the largest industrial solid waste dumps in the city, and due to chemical leaching, the tubewell 'drinking' water is contaminated. "Even now the education and healthcare facilities are not upto the standards and the government needs to look into it," wrote Kotak a course participant and ex-government official.