Introduction
Guided by Homeless International, Earth Report took
to the streets and went 'down and out' in some of
the world's most deprived city districts and found
that the urban poor are very far from seeing themselves
as 'down' or 'out'.
'Home' for 30,000 families of Mumbai, one of the world's
most densely populated cities, was a narrow strip
alongside the city's main railway track. In 1989 these
residents formed the Railway Slum Dwellers Federation
to lobby the authorities for safer housing. Seeing
the need for slum-dwellers to speak with one voice
they found solidarity with three other groups - The
Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres,
The National Slum Dwellers Federation and Mahila Milan
which in Hindi means 'women together'. 2000 households
were relocated to apartment buildings but the remainder
still live in self-built 'transit' housing. But Gandhian-style
quiet determination seems to be paying off. By May
2001 this extraordinary collective managed to relocate
13,000 families to safer accommodation.
The slum dwellers associations and the people they
represent keep coming up with workable alternatives.
In fact, they've been so successful that other federations
are urging their governments to visit Mumbai to see
for themselves how working with the poor can achieve
results.
For
further information, please contact:
Homeless International
Queens House
16 Queens Road
Coventry CV1 3DF
UK
Phone: +44 (0) 24 76632802
Fax: +44 (0) 24 76632911
info@homeless-international.org
http://www.homeless-international.org
Mahila Milan
C/O SPARC
The National Slum Dwellers
Federation
C/O SPARC
SPARC (Society
for the Promotion of Area Ressource Centres)
PO Box 9389, Mumbai 400026, India
tel/fax: 00 91 22 386 5053
admin@sparcindia.org
http://www.sparcindia.org
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