|H02P4a| Human Settlements in Development: Paper

Professor: Viviana d'Auria

Project: Slum Networking of Indore

Submitted By
Ashim Kumar Manna, r0360631
Master in Human Settlements
2014-2015

Ashim Kumar Manna Human Settlements in Development – 2014

SLUM NETWROKING OF INDORE .

South East Asian Region India Indore

BASIC PROJECT DATA:

Initiator: Indore Development Authority (Client)
Architect/ Designer: Himanshu Parikh
Other partners/ actors involved: Overseas
Development Administration (ODA) later DFID.
Name: Slum Networking of Indore City
Place: Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Date: 1989 - 1997
Number of residents/ users catered for: 450,000 Slum
dwellers directly, Equal number of non-Slum dweller
slums in directly. 800,000 SqM of Area.
Figure 1 – Street view within slum. Source - http://www.akdn.org

Short description
Indore slum networking project, was one of the first project in India with holistic approach to community
based sanitation and environmental improvement program for slums. The initial approach of the project was
to provide, upgraded drains and pathways, communal toilets and improve the socio-economic condition of the
slum dwellers by basic provision of education and health services. The initial project was conceived similar to
the numerous slum up gradation projects to provide basic infrastructure along with some community facilities.
The inclusion of Engineer Himanshu Parikh in the early stages of the project, enabled the city administration
to use the concept of slum networking. It created a relation between the slums and natural drainage channels
of the city, and the improvement was initiated by focusing on the slums as the key resource.
The scheme was based upon on objectives of utilizing environmental planning approach to upgrade slums and
innovative design to reduce cost for amenities and construction. It utilized existing resources such as
topography to create a low cost infrastructure system for the city. The success of the project can be attributed
to its recognition of the problem, and trying to find out solution from the problem itself. 1. It created of various
scales of action, cooperation and empowered the slum communities by handing over control and
responsibilities and improving the quality of life for slum dwellers. The slum networking program was unique
approach towards slum improvement, its success in Indore made it a role model for development of slums in
other Indian cities.

Site
Indore is an important industrial, manufacturing and trading center in central India, with approximately 28% of
the city population 2 living in slums or slum like condition before the initiation of the project. The city structure
of Indore is defined by important rivers the khan and the Sarasvati, along with numerous drainage channels
and low lying areas. These low areas were occupied by the slum and squatter settlements, forming the key
aspect dealt within the project. The Slum networking project established a link between these slum sites and
the drainage network of the city, utilizing the opportunity to create a community based sanitation and
environmental improvement program 3 for the whole city.

Historical background
1
Parikh, Himanshu (2010)
2
http://www.akdn.org/, Information on the project.
3
Aga Khan Award, Slum networking in Indore Project Brief.
Indore is an important industrial and manufacturing center in
central India, 4creating employments opportunities and
attracting migrants over many years. In two decades from 1970
to 1990 the slum population in Indore increased four times. Large
portions of the migrants chose slums or informal settlements
within the low lying areas along the drainage channels and rivers.
These slums were overcrowded, with poor building structures 5
and inadequate physical and social amenities.

The sewer system in Indore was built in 1936 catering to only 10%
of the city. Until 1991the absence of underground sewers led to
the Sewage from rest of the city being dumped into the rivers
Figure 2 – The relation of slums along with the
and open channels. Most of the slums are located along these
water courses within the city. Source -
drainage channels, which resulted in poor living conditions http://www.akdn.org
affecting the slum dwellers and impacting health. Their condition
further worsened during the rainy seasons, as the river and
drainage channels would get flooded and overflow due the
sewage. The high pollution in the rivers also became a problem to
the towns downstream, as they depended upon the river as
source of water.

The slums dwelling in Indore are overcrowded, temporary

constructions, unplanned and poorly accessible and in unhygienic
conditions, lack of basic amenities and poor accessibility. The
inhabitants belonged to the economically weaker section mostly Figure 3 – The slums along the river, prone to
displacement due to flooding and diseases. Source
engaged in daily wage jobs in the city. The initial slum
- http://www.akdn.org
development programs of the 1980's were based on extensive
sharing of community facilities, including toilets at cluster level.
These results in crime, violence and noncooperation due to the
ethnic and social cultural backgrounds of the slum dwellers.

Architect
Professor Himanshu Parikh (b1951) is Cambridge educated civil
engineer who has immensely contributed to low cost urban
planning and slum improvement within India. He has been
influential in in utilizing low cost innovations in improving the
quality of life in the slum settlements, along with many other Figure 4 – Typical Street in the slums. Source -
http://www.akdn.org
innovative solutions6. His work on Slum networking in Indore
along with the Aranaya Housing helped development of
infrastructure solutions which have been considered role models
in dealing with the problem of providing basic amenities to the
most of urban poor. He has been part of various planning bodies
in India and the urban poverty alleviation group of the Planning
commission of India. He also has been awarded the Fazlur
Rehman International Travelling fellowship for innovation in
structural engineering in 1985, United Nations World Habitat
Award in 1993, and the Habitat II Best Practice recognition for
Slum Networking in 1996 and the Aga Khan Award in 1998 7. He
Figure 5 – Restored waterfront and heritage
continues to shares his ideas at various institutes across world structure at the confluence of the rivers. Source -
and practices from Ahmedabad. http://www.akdn.org
Description
The slum networking program was part
4
of the larger Indore habitat program
Indore City Development plan initiated in 1989, with assistance from
5
Parikh, Himanshu (2010) the government of India, the
6
Anklesaria, Sarosh – “interest in the environment and habitat Department for International
led him to challenge conventional solutions"  Development (DFID) UK and
7
http://archnet.org/
implemented by Indore development authority. The concept of
Slum networking of Indore is based on developments of low cost
infrastructure, environmental improvement within slums and
using them as resource to create sustainable changes within the
whole city. it enabled cost effective management of water and
waste water using only gravity based systems. It allowed
creation of a large city level network comprising of both slums
and non-slums. It prioritizes the environmental improvement of
the slums with the aim of linking them with the city.

Intervention at scale of city - The aim of the slum networking was

create a sustainable and cost effective sewage network for the Figure 6 – Pre development slum layout, as based
city. The slum networking was aimed to create infrastructure for slum networking.
improvement utilizing the slums, drainage channels, rivers and Source – http://architexturez.net/doc/az-cf-166249
topography as resource. The topography played an important
role in the development, as it was key to reduce construction
cost, identify development areas and also define new public
spaces within the city. The slums along the drainage channels
were used to build the low cost gravity based sewerage lines,
provision of amenities within slums, creation of new water
bodies. The infrastructure improvement of the slums enabled
development of better settlements and integration along within
the city. On other hand the slum infrastructure was designed the
carry additional sewage load of the non-slums areas of the city.
This generated a symbiotic relation between the city and the
slums. Creation of additional city level sewage treatment
facilities enabled to reduce the pollution within the river, Figure 7 – Post-development slum layout with
enabling public space development along the river in key areas. streets and services. With minimum displacement.
Source – http://architexturez.net
Local action and interventions - Physical works within the slums
included development of basic infrastructure bundled with
community facilities. The Indore slum network differentiated
itself from the conventional and failed approaches of slum
improvements. It understood the needs of the slum dwellers and
their desire to improve their living conditions. The designers
developed a participatory methods of development and enabled

Environmental improvements - The continuous nature of slums

along the natural water courses helped the city to manage its
sewage, which was earlier discharged into the open water Figure 8 – Post-development Street using one of
courses. Approximately 90 km of open gutters were replaced by the key design feature of lowering the road level
covered sewer lines, primarily built for the slums, yet allowed the which served as natural drainage channel. Source –
http://architexturez.net/
higher income areas to also connect to the system by building
sewer network at their own expenditure. The strategy also
helped in reduction of water pollution for cities downstream.
Most of the water courses were converted into water bodies and
provided with recreational and pedestrian facilities around along
them. Key historic sites along the river banks were restored
along with landscape development.8

Figure 9 – Improved public realm.

Source http://architexturez.net/

Community level action and participation -

8
Ekram, Lailun Naha (1998) The system integrated the individual
households to the larger sewage network and access to drinking
water and sanitation at much lower cost compared to the
community toilet blocks. It enabled discharging of the complete
sewage from household, in comparison to the UNDP toilet
blocks. 9 Moreover it provided safety and comfort of private taps
and toilet to women within their own homes.

Socio-economic development - Two thirds of the slum dwellers

within Indore lived below the poverty line, with major issues as
high rates of illiteracy, health issues and unemployment within
the youth. The second level of the slum networking program
initiated improvements to tackle the socio-economic issues,
education and unemployment by organizing though the
communist center. Total of 183 slums were connected within the Figure 10 – Individual investments in construction
to of service mains and private toilets.
slum improvement program. These communities were further Source http://architexturez.net/
strengthened by building 120 community halls, four vocational
training centers and workshops, along with two health center and The improved infrastructure, provision of
three dispensaries. These focused on strengthening the socio- community facilities and land ownership
economic conditions within the slums. These community became resulted in significant improvement
the first community level facilities developed in partnership with of housing by individual action.
the local slum dwellers and the development authority. Various
modules were developed for easy implementation based on the
needs, choices and the slum dwellers had option to select option
suited to them. The health center and dispensaries took the role
of increasing awareness in maternal care, family planning and
prevention and cure of disease among slum dwellers. The public
realm within the settlements were maintained by the locals, by
planting trees and growing vegetables in empty corners.

Creating partnerships for implementation and funding - The city

administration developed a unique slum improvement method. It
created opportunity for the city and slum dwellers to participate
in the slum networking project, at two scales. The slum
networking program was implemented at two different levels.
The authority implemented the city level infrastructure along the
rivers and laying of water and service network within the slums.
The city level works were primarily funded by the external aid
agency and monitored by the development authority. At the
settlement level, the slum dwellers had to individually invest in
toilets and service connections to the truck lines for sewer and
water. The local investment from slum dwellers was initiated by
providing long term tenure of the land to them. Creation of
neighbourhood associations fostered better communication Figure 11 – Improvement in dwelling due to
during the improvement process. improved infrastructure and amenities.
Source - http://www.akdn.org

9
Parikh, Himanshu (2010),
Critical Analysis Description
Indore example is one of the large scale implementation of the slum networking concept in India. The
unconventional approach of utilizing the slums themselves to resolve the problem led to the breaking away
from generic slum improvement approaches. Many Indian cities have sewer system within the planned areas,
where slums are considered to be depended on these systems for their survival. Indore city itself had a history
of deficient sewerage system till 1991. The concept of slum networking created the slum-non slum
dependency creating a network which connected them all. It enabled the development of large city system to
treat its waste along with the improvement of its slum settlements, accounting for 28 percent of its
population. Indore slum networking program was also based upon the generic principles of slum improvement
(Physical works, community development and other miscellaneous activities) 10. The success of the project
should be attributed to two aspects. The extensive documentation and surveys in creating the database for
the project and utilizing cost effective solutions and reducing the construction cost. The surveys helped in post
project stages in monitoring and evaluating the results of the project. Indore slum networking has been
considered as best practices towards slum improvement 11 as it recognized the needs of the slum dwellers, and
also based design objectives on the resources they had.

The key issues touched and dealt by the project are assurance of tenure to the slum dwellers by the city
administration, access to amenities and empowerment of the community, especially the women. The access
to safe and secure sanitation is always considered a luxury within slum households. The resulting outcomes
increase in participation of women, reduction of diseases and increased literacy rates. Yet the true success of
the project should be measured through its innovative measures and the empowerment of the slum dwellers.
The project aid emphasis not only provided platform for public participation, it also provided employments,
and post construction maintenance by the slum dwellers themselves. 12The above outcomes should allow the
project to be considered a success, as it was recognized and its designer significantly awarded at many global
platforms.
Its success has attributed to the replication of similar models in many other slums across India. One should
also note that fact that the Indore project received huge grants from external funding agencies. Many relate
the project’s success due to these reasons 13 and also criticized for inculcating ‘dependency syndromes’14 within
the development agencies.

I would like to highlights few key questions, which are involved in similar development programs. Such as the
Approach adopted by the Project initiator? Response by the Designer? Managing the project in post
occupancy period? And Outreach and inclusion of public participation of slum dwellers. The slum networking
project highlights the role of managing agencies and a continuous monitoring of the project. The images
taken along the confluence area in 2008, upon comparison with figure 5, one can see the degradation of the
landscape areas within the control of the city.

10
Parikh, Himanshu (2010)
11
Towards Sustainability : Stories from India
12
Parikh, Priti (2004)
13
Verma, Geeta Dewan (2000)
14
Shah, Priya Florence
Figure 12 – Poor state of water bodies. Source – Author, 2008 Figure 13 – Loss of recovered landscape to waste dumping.
Source – Author, 2008

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