Introduction Bangalore is the capital of Karnataka, a state in India's south-west. It has an estimated population of 6.5 million making it India's fifth most populous city. The population is growing rapidly with the expansion of information communication technology and related industries. Many skilled workers are attracted to the employment possibilities, and many poor, unskilled people move to the city in the hope of earning more than they can as subsistence farmers in rural areas.
The rapid growth results in many negative side effects: over crowding, traffic, pollution, inadequate infrastructure and loss of open space. Poor people are generally unable to find affordable housing near places of work and suffer health and financial pressures. About 30 per cent of Bangalore’s population live in or around 400 slums that have been set up in open areas, such as along railway lines or on pavements, or in informal settlements scattered across the city. It is important for them to be close to where they can find work as cleaners, labourers and rag pickers (recycling) in order to reduce the time and cost of travel.
Responsibility for the delivery of services to the slums is determined by location, land ownership and whether an area is a declared slum. Water is expensive as most of Bangalore's piped water is pumped from the Cauvery River, 100 kilometres away and 500 metres below city level. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sanitation Board (BWSSB) and private companies also extract groundwater faster than it is replenished and the water tables are sinking.
From 2000-02, an AusAID funded project worked to address the city's future water and sewerage network. A group of Australians with planning and technical expertise worked with Indian community development specialists and BWSSB engineers to develop a master plan for water sources, treatment plants, unaccounted-for water, tariff structures and human resources. A small component was a pilot program to develop water and sanitation solutions for low income groups in different parts of the city.
One of the three pilot areas was Cement Huts where ways of addressing the challenges of insecure tenure, high congestion, low ability to pay and the need for shared infrastructure were studied.
Cement Huts
Cement Huts is a declared slum on a small pocket of land in the city centre. About 626 people, including 256 children, are crowded into 106 households. The people work collecting rubbish and sorting it for sale, known as 'rag picking'.
Unpvaed roads in Cement Huts
AusAID
Before the project, Cement Huts' two roads were unpaved and open to frequent flooding. Houses, which are built at street level, flooded even during low rainfall.
Clogged drains
AusAID
A drain running through the centre of each street was covered by stone slabs and was often clogged with waste, flooding the street with faecal matter.
Residents were not eligible for piped water services because they could not prove land ownership. Water was delivered every third day to the four public taps in Cement Huts. This supply would last about seven hours during the rainy season and four hours during the dry season. Residents were forced to pay high prices, walk further to use bore wells or illegal taps, or go without water until the next delivery.
Inadequate protection of taps
AusAID
This tap was in a pit that often filled with dirty water that contaminated the water supply.
Unsewered community toilet
AusAID
The entire population relied on this community toilet with four latrines and two bathing cubicles which were not connected to the sewer.
Participatory Learning Action Residents of the Cement Huts community were invited to participate in planning the most effective and sustainable means of supplying their water, sanitation and waste clearance needs. A water and sanitation committee (WATSAN) was established. Its members were predominantly women, those most affected by the poor water and sanitation services. They considered a range of infrastructure services (water supply, drainage, roads, toilets and rubbish management), different service levels (individual, shared and community) and material options for a more detailed community survey. A budget was set at Rs1600 per person for community infrastructure with individual connections (Rs115 per month) and usage charges paid by the households.
A willingness-to-pay study found that about 80% of people were willing to pay for shared connections: between Rs20 and Rs30 per household per month for shared water connections and Rs15 per month for the toilet facility. The very low income households were not willing to pay more than 1% of their household income.
As most slum dwellers could not qualify for individual water and sanitation connections because they did not have a land title and a recent property tax receipt, it was decided that ration cards, identity cards, election cards and even electricity bills provided sufficient proof of residence because they stated where people lived. Group connections were allowed for clusters of families where tenure status was highly unstable, no documentation was available, and the ability to pay was low. A new water tariff was created for group connections.
WatSan Committee
AusAID
During the consultation phase, the WATSAN Committee expanded to be more representative of the community, with equal participation of men and women and the representation of various castes, community and economic groups. The members played a key role in sharing information about the project with other householders. They fulfilled their responsibilities voluntarily, which earned them respect.
A community workshop explored the advantages and disadvantages of the options. Sketches, maps, photographs and samples of materials were used extensively to enable participants to gain familiarity with the options and to arrive at informed decisions. A scale model of the proposed toilet complex was prepared and the community assisted in re-organising the cubicles for the most appropriate design.
Drains were cleared and roads sealed
AusAID
The box drains inside and outside the settlement were opened and cleared, removing over a metre of accumulated silt. They were embedded in the new concrete roads and are easy to maintain. The sealed roads now offer the residents a clean surface for household activities and social events.
New taps connected to the pipe network
AusAID
Nine metered taps were installed and connected to a pipe network ensuring a regular supply of water. Each tap is shared among 10–12 households.
New toilet block
AusAID
The new community toilet block has separate sections for men and women with eight latrines and three bathrooms. It is managed by the WATSAN Committee. A caretaker, who has a room on the first floor, is employed to maintain the toilet and collect the user charges.
The pilot project in Cement Huts helped set several important precedents for connecting slums sustainably to the piped network. It demonstrated that slum dwellers are willing to pay, that group connections in dense, insecure and poor areas are a viable option, and that contractors are willing to work in such places under good supervision and with adequate compensation. Community participation, a central component of the project, showed how involvement with residents and NGOs active in slum areas could rally slum dwellers to work with BWSSB engineers, rather than against them. A social development unit was set up in the BWSSB with a commitment to the provision of services in slums and the involvement of local WATSAN Committees. By the end of 2004, 45 more slums were in the process of developing their own water and sanitation plans.
Sources:
http://www.ausaid.gov.au/publications/focus/1202/focus1202_17.pdf
http://www.developmentgateway.com.au/bangalore/htm/home.htm
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