Activists of Hamara Shaher Mumbai Abhiyan, a group working on urban development issues, released a people’s manifesto on Tuesday.
Sitaram Shelar, convenor of the group, said, “We are initiating a dialogue with political parties. We have put together a number of objective and rational demands of the people.” The vision document prescribes action on issues like affordable housing, water supply, transport and making Mumbai more women, children and disabled-friendly.
The manifesto has made a pitch for the construction of shelters for the homeless. It also calls for delineation of slums as ‘special zones of social interest’. These zones are to be treated as eviction-free zones where basic amenities for housing and livelihood are provided.
Mr. Shelar condemned the use of terms such as illegal migrants and encroachers to refer to slum dwellers. Criticising the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), he said, “SRA has a developer-driven model. They run a formal land-grabbing mafia. Many people [in the settlements] do not want re-development and are capable of self-improvisation. On the other hand, people living in highly unsatisfactory environments ask for re-development themselves. But the idea of re-development is being imposed on everybody.”
The manifesto also pushed for better compliance of laws like the Right To Education Act, Street Vendor Act and Solid Waste Management Act. The manifesto called for the formation of area sabhas at the polling booth level, and proposed the initiation of participatory budgeting in the civic body.
