Smart Cities project put to "action": Forced eviction, demolition in Indore, Pad Yatra organized to oppose move

The Smart Cities flagship modernization programme of the Modi government has taken a big toll in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. The Biyabani and Loharpatti areas in the old part of the Indore city have borne the brunt, with the demolition of 100-150 year old houses over the last two months.

The demolition drive led to more than 100 families becoming homeless, with their shops/livelihood also in jeopardy. More than 18 roads in Indore are set to undergo a transformation and await similar the similar fate of demolition.
The demolition, said to have been carried out without any democratic process consultation, has led to the local Nagrik Seva Samiti organize a foot march (pad yatra) in the ciy, in which social workers and academics across India, includng Ashok Dube, Tapan Bhatia, Bela Bhatia, SK Dube, Vijay Dalal, Pramod Bagnani and Medha Patkar participated.
A communique issued following the pad yatra said, “The residents stressed that the authorities used force to evict them and carry on with their demolition drive; often they employing ‘bouncers’ clad in the the Indore Municipal Corporation’s uniform to fulfill their objectives.”
Prepared by the National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM), the communique said, “A few of the residents were subject to physical violence and assault in what is an unprecedented abuse of power and authority.”
“Durgashankar, a resident of the area, witnessed his 65 year old house demolished along with his shop Bahaniya Arts. Another resident Kesarbai Rajendra Chauhan of Bhagat Singh Marg has lost 2 shops and his house”, the communique said.

“Shyamabai Rathod, a widow who has been living on her own is now rendered homeless, while Kaliram Vaidya’s family, after whom one of the roads in the area is named after did not find any relief, neither from the in-laws of the state’s ex-Chief Minister nor from an active BJP worker, whose house has also been partly damaged,” the communique said.
“Some of the residents approached higher authorities and also sought judicial recourse in response to the initial notification regarding the demolition only to find their pleas fall on deaf ears. In some cases, the court issued a stay order on the demolition only for a period of eight days, while in other cases it turned its back on the residents and directed them to the corporation again”, the NAPM said.

While the local BJP MLA was of no help, the NAPM reported, adding, Mayor Malini Gaur, whose proposed multi-storeyed construction site, also in the area, remains unaffected. “On the other hand, Gowtam Kumar Jain’s shop opposite Gaur’s proposed multi-storeyed shopping and residential complex lies currently partly demolished and is set to be fully demolished in the coming months”, NAPM said.
Suffering from open sewer and drainage problems, the demolition drive, said NAPM, has remained “complacent to the potential dangers of malarial epidemic in the area. “Sharp objects and rubbles from the demolition drive lie unattended to heightening concerns over children safety in the area”, it underlined.
Commenting on the development, the NAPM said, “The true nature of the transformation to Smart Cities has preliminarily shown that the Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution is being restricted merely to big industrialists close to the Central government while the promise of Acche Din still waits unfulfilled and in fact unattended to.”

Comments

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members. As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Search This Blog