I am staying in Bombay from 1986, in between I had short stay in Hyderabad, Lucknow, Rudrapur and many other cities across the country . But even when I was away, Bombay had always been in my mind. There is no such city across the globe which can compete with it in terms of safe nightlife, street food, vibrant festivals and above all the Bombay spirit which give fair opportunity to every one who dare to dream. But this is also true that world's biggest slum clusters thrive in Bombay, even the most posh areas of the city are next to slums. the fact remains that these slums are a shame to the Government, Netas as well as to Babus. After all these slums have not grown up in a week are two, these have grown up gradually, systematically with full patronage, blessings of these three elements - while these slums are vote- banks for Netas and milching cow for babus and police.
Slums are the places where human being is compelled to live in below sub human conditions.People are devoid of most of the basic amenities.
Is there any way out to do away with slums ? If some radical thinkers are to be believed the, the answer is yes.
Slum creation is linked to rapid urbanization. There is hardly any big city across the globe who has not faced this problem. New York, Rio De Janerio, Singapore to name a few have effectively tackled the problem. Despite the repeated poll promises, nothing concrete has done in Mumbai so the problem is compounded here in Mumbai.
Let us examine the Singapore model. I had been in Singpore and noticed that there is no slum cluster as on date. The Singapore Board was able to give government-constructed houses to nine people out of ten. “The Housing and Development board provides public houses at affordable rates to couples whose income is below $10,000 Singapore dollars. They provide one BHK to 3 BHK apartments. And, one person can own only one house in HDB scheme. The person earning more than $10,000 Singapore dollars can buy a house in private projects. Besides that, the government provides housing loans at 1% interest rate. Thus the government ensures that all Singapore residents will get their own roof over their heads,
Yes, there was a time when even in Singapore, most of the housing clusters for lower income groups were filthy and mixed with slums.. But the government with determination and vision, all slums systematically over a period of time. Before demolishing slums, they shifted people into their own houses provided by the government. Now, Singapore is a slum-free country and each person owns a house.
If the Maharashtra government adopts the Singapore government's housing and development board (HDB) model, then Mumbai will be slum-free and each Mumbaikar will get an affordable house in the next ten years as per an estimate prepared by a panel of housing experts.
Pankaj Kapoor, managing director of Liases Foras feels that Maharashtra government should follow the Singapore model to give a house to each Mumbaikar. “If it can work in Singapore, then why not in Mumbai. The property rates in Mumbai are rising, and as a result the slums are increasing. And, the rise in slums is causing various health and infrastructure problems,” said Kapoor.
Singapore bats for sustainable development and housing. In the government housing complexes, adequate space has been kept for various community activities and even playgrounds for children. Besides, in new housing projects, they have used solar power so that their electricity bills get cut drastically.
But the big question is who will foot the bill? The government does not has the funds needed for such a enormous infrastructure project. But there is a solution. Now a days, Maharashtra government is allowing private builders to acquire the slum area on the premise that they will provide free flats to the slum residents and the structure constructed on the remaining land will be sold in the open market. Probably that is the reason that the houses made available to middle class people in this model are exuberantly priced. Why not the Housing Board take charge of such clusters, the prices will definitely fall for common middle class dwellers.
.jpg "A Gumnam Actress Strips Nude to Protest Auto/taxi Fare Hike")
