srinidhi - 26 April, 2015 | Bangalore | Slum | urban development | Analysis | jnurm | flats

There are umteen number of slums in Bangalore which were and are being populated for 'vote banks' for the local politicians. So the way they went about it was:

• Get labourers/villagers into the city and let them setup shanties (most times on govt land). They put up a DSS type flags along with Karnataka flag
• The Politicians become the god fathers for the slum and organize functions (annamma/rajyotsava types)
• They get them ration cards first and along with that voting cards
• Election time and they get loaded into cabs/trucks as filler crowds for the biryani/money combo. All votes go to the local hero or who ever he asks them to vote for.
• They get deeds for the piece of enroached land they have been living on.
• And the slum flourishes though being in patheitc conditions

The vote banks is in question now, considering the way the populace has been voting in the past few elections.

Anyways what can be done for this in human condition?

The same politicians also have the ability to build decent appartments for them, which they have also done at some places using JnNURM funds. But the problem is the actual rehabilitation part where the slum continues to exist along with the appartments, which are most probably given to the more powerful/influential persons from the slum. They have the task to re-rent the land they had earlier to a new family so that the slum continues.

What is the way that these slums can be managed better first ? Then the building of the appartments and relocation is managed better?

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