Seminar II Displacement Vikas

200809

DIBYAJIVAN PATI 08AR6008

DITIMONI BARUAH 08AR6009

KIRTI JAWALE 08AR6011

NABANITA SAHA 08AR6019

SAMBIT MALLICK 08AR6024

VIKAS KUMAR NIRMAL 08AR6031

DEPTT. OF ARCH. & REGIONAL PLANNING

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND DISPLACEMENT

Urban Development and Displacement

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CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

2. CURRENT SCENARIO AND SCALE OF DISPLACEMENT

3. MERITS OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

4. DRAWBACKS OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

• Landlessness

• Joblessness

• Homelessness

• Marginalization

• Food Insecurity

• Increased Morbidity and Mortality

• Loss of Access to Common Property

• Social Disintegration

5. CASE STUDIES

• Mihan (Multi-Modal International Hub And Airport) At Nagpur

• Reliance SEZs In Mumbai- Navi Mumbai & Maha Mumbai

• Sardar Sarovar Dam Project Over Narmada River

• Lake Development Authority, Bangalore

6. PROVISIONS FOR PEOPLE DISPLACED DUE TO DEVELOPMENT

7. CONCLUSION

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY


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Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister, once famously said to a group of development

displaces,

‘If you are to suffer, you should suffer in the interest of the country.’

Is this the attitude that the government should have for its people?


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1. INTRODUCTION Development projects often involve the introduction of direct control by a developer

over land previously occupied by another group. Natural resource extraction, urban renewal

or development programs, industrial parks, and infrastructure projects (such as highways,

bridges, irrigation canals, and dams) all require land, often in large quantity. One common

consequence of such projects is the upheaval and displacement of communities. Apart from

physical development, conservation programs, such as wildlife re-introduction schemes and

the creation of game parks and bio-diversity zones, also often push out communities. For

example, a distributive policy decision that shifts jobs between two regions might cause

some people to move in search of new employment. Such displacement are called

development induced displacement and these are forceful and not voluntary (migration).

2. CURRENT SCENARIO AND SCALE OF DISPLACEMENT While an estimated 25 million people are displaced worldwide by conflict, the number

of people displaced by development projects is much higher. In 1994, a study of all World

Bank-assisted development projects from 1986-1993 found that just over half were in the

transportation, water supply and urban infrastructure sectors, which means urban

infrastructure projects are the major force behind displacement. Extrapolating from World

Bank data to derive estimates of global figures, the study concluded that, in the early 1990s,

the construction of 300 high dams each year had displaced four million people. Urban

and transportation infrastructure projects accounted for six million more displaced

each year.

Ongoing industrialisation, electrification and urbanisation processes will increase the

number of programmes causing involuntary population displacement. Categories of

development-induced displacement include the following: water supply (dams, reservoirs,

and irrigation), urban infrastructure, transportation (roads, highway, and canals), energy

(mining, power plants, oil exploration and extraction, pipelines), agriculture expansion,

parks and forest reserves, and population redistribution schemes. Displacement from

individual urban development projects is low but the frequency of such projects is higher

than in some other sectors, resulting in a high overall number of displacees.


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Table no. 1: Number of people displaced worldwide in World Bank projects

Region Projects Percentage People Percentage

Africa 34 23.3 113,000 5.8

South Asia 29 19.9 1,024,000 52.1

East Asia 58 39.7 588,000 30.0

Europe/Central Asia 5 3.4 27,000 1.4

Middle East/North Africa 7 4.8 32,000 1.6

Latin America 13 8.9 180,000 9.1

Total World Bank 146 100 1,963,000 100

Table no. 2: Distribution of displaces by the cause of displacement in World Bank projects

CAUSE PROJECTS PERCENTAGE PEOPLE PERCENTAGE

Dams, irrigation, canals

46 31.5 13,04,000 66.4

Urban infrastructure, sewerage, transportation, water supply

66 45.2 4,43,000 22.6

Thermal (including mining)

15 10.3 94,000 4.8

Other 19 13.0 1,22,000 6.2

Total World Bank 146 100 19,63,000 100

Source: WBED, 1996

The WBED has estimated that 60 per cent of development induced displacement every

year, which is about 6 million people, is a result of urban infrastructure and

transportation projects (non World Bank projects).

It is estimated that displacement in India due to dam projects alone range from 21 million to

40 million. Dam projects may be argued to be rural development project but it has


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major contribution towards satisfying urban water requirement. Without multiple

benefits such projects would not be initiated.

Certain examples of displacement in Asia due to various urban projects are shown below:

• The Narmada Sardar Sarovar Dam Project in India is set to displace 127,000 people.

• China’s Three Gorges Dam Project, which will displace upwards of 1.2 million

• There has been displacement of 40,000-50,000 people in Indonesia to make way for a

Jabotabek urban development project, which involved the widening and upgrading of

roads in Jakarta and nearby cities. The modernization of Shanghai’s sewerage system,

displaced 15,000 urban dwellers in the city.

• India’s Hyderabad Water Supply Project displaced 50,000 people.

There are certain rules and protection for rehabilitating the displaced, such rules are

regularly violated.The Morse and Berger report (1992) which is the World Bank’s internal

review of the project, found systematic violations of Bank policies and loan agreements,

particularly those concerning the environment and resettlement.

3. MERITS OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS Progress. National self sufficiency. Industrialism

• Most of the displacements happen in rural areas where there are less settlements. Here,

the tribal people does not have sustainable income generating capacity, therefore they

keep on migrating. Almost 9 month in search of employment along with families and

staying in temporary huts in cities as floating population.

• So keeping them at their original habitat would only mean continuation of their BPL

status.

• They themselves are dislocated through struggle for livelihood. Their children doesn’t

have access to education and suffer from severe malnutrition.

• In contrast the displaced people are given agricultural lands, primary health, education,

employment.

• Backward class areas need development and not the already forward or developed areas

and hence it is seen that only the backward or the congested/blighted areas need


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displacement and development for the betterment of the future. For example: Mumbai

slums grew up as there was no planned growth of the city due to its geography.

• In case of areas where displacement because of unplanned growth occurs, rehabilitation

is providing better facilities and lifestyle due to presence of planned development.

• It is also seen that with displacement, people are imparted vocational skills as well and

hence it cannot be termed as an ill rather it is a boon through which the future is planned

by providing better opportunities to the displaced people in the long run.

• Slums are illegal settlements so by displacement and resettlement we are legalizing

them.

• In case of Singur in West Bengal, the Tata company wanted to set up an industry at the

cost of 50% more price for the property and job training for one member of each

displaced family. That would have counted to 31,000 employment for Singur which have

a population of 1,80,000 making it itself a class I town. It could have been developed as a

satellite town.

4. DRAWBACKS OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

It has been researched that being forcibly displaced from one's land and habitat might

induce poverty rather than development, since a significant portion of people displaced do

not receive compensation for their lost assets, and effective assistance to re-establish

themselves productively. The risks associated with displacement are:

• Landlessness:

Expropriation of land removes the main foundation upon which people's productive

systems, commercial activities, and livelihoods are constructed.

• Joblessness:

The risk of losing wage employment is very high both in urban displacements for those

employed in enterprises, services or any other urban engagement. Creating new jobs is

difficult and requires substantial investment hence people are rendered jobless.

• Homelessness:

Loss of shelter tends to be only temporary for many people being resettled but for some,

homelessness or a worsening in their housing standards remains concerning condition.

In a broader cultural sense, loss of a family's individual home and the loss of a group's

cultural space tend to result in alienation and status deprivation.


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• Marginalization:

Marginalization occurs when families lose economic power follows a “downward

mobility” path. Many individuals cannot use their earlier-acquired skills at the new

location, human capital is lost or is rendered inactive or obsolete. Economic

marginalization is often accompanied by social and psychological marginalization.

• Food Insecurity:

Forced displacement increases the risk that people will fall into temporary or chronic

undernourishment, defined as calorie-protein intake levels below the minimum

necessary for normal growth and work. This is inevitable in the absence of jobs and is

particularly harmful of the children displacees.

• Increased Morbidity and Mortality:

Displacement-induced social stress and psychological trauma, the use of unsafe water

supply and improvised sewage systems, increase vulnerability to epidemics and chronic

diseases.

• Loss of Access to Common Property:

For poor people, loss of access to the common property assets that belonged to

relocated communities result in significant deterioration in income and livelihood levels.

Standard of living is further deteriorated.

• Social Disintegration:

Displacement causes disturbance in the existing patterns of social organisation. This

disturbance occurs at many levels. When people are forcibly moved, production

systems, life-sustaining informal networks, trade linkages, etc are dismantled.

The above discussion shows the amount of negative effects that is caused by forceful

displacement in urban areas. Also it is seen that these effects are biased that is majority of

the people affected are poor. Instead of increasing their standard of living by incorporating

urban development projects they are forced to the level of minimum survival. The rich are

becoming richer and enjoying the benefits and facilities of urban projects where as the poor

are becoming poorer and are sidelined.


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5. CASE STUDIES

I. MIHAN (MULTI-MODAL INTERNATIONAL HUB AND AIRPORT) AT NAGPUR Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) is an airport

project for Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur. It the biggest

economical development project currently underway in India in terms of investment. The

project aims to exploit the central location of Nagpur and convert the present airport into

a major cargo hub with integrated road and rail connectivity. Project consists of two parts

namely International airport to act as a cargo hub and a Special Economic Zone with

residential zone covering a total area of 40.25 km² on the southern end of Nagpur city.

The estimated capital cost of the project is 2581 cr.

Positive aspects of MIHAN:

• The projected target of serving 14 million passengers annually and handle 0.87 million

tons of cargo this is one of largest aviation project in India.

• The project aims at boosting the economy of under developed Vidarbha Region and stop

the brain drain to other parts of Maharashtra and India.

• To generate revenues of 5280 cr.

• Captive Power Plant of 100 MW capacity.

• Employment generation of approximately 150000 directly & 450000 indirectly.

• Attracted investment of 50000 cr and further 6000 cr by NMC for Metro project.

Drawbacks of MIHAN:

• Nagpur’s present population of 24lakhs to go up close to75lakhs by 2015.

• MIHAN has eliminated whole 13 villages and forceful displacement of 10000 population

has render people landless–without rehabilitation.

• The compensation given to farmers was only 1 lacs/acre against market price of 1-2 cr /

acre.

• Most of the land is irrigated and orange belt of region is affected which is soul identity of

the city.

• Increasing airport’s monthly passenger capacity from 65,301 per month to 1.2 million is

quite utopian projection under MIHAN that looks a distant dream.

• Predominantly an airport project has only 1270 ha of land out of total 4350 ha and rest of

area is for private developer to built SEZs & IT Parks.


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II. RELIANCE SEZS IN MUMBAI- NAVI MUMBAI & MAHA MUMBAI Reliance Industries has planned 2 mega SEZs in Maharashtra one at Navi Mumbai other

at Maha Mumbai in Raigad district each of 14000 ha of land. It has been alleged that the

SEZ is slated to come up in ecologically-sensitive areas and will violate Coastal

Regulation Zone rules. News reports say that the state government has already cleared

land for the SEZ, without taking the ecological aspects into account. Reliance has now

begun to buy land directly from farmers instead of approaching government which has

cost company a stamp duty of around Rs 60 lakh on these registrations as an additional

cost for the company, which is understood to have paid farmers 3 times the government

rates.

Positive aspects of the projects:

• The compensation farmers got for their land is at market price of 45-50 lakhs/ha against

government rate 10 lakhs/ ha.

• Generation of 25 lakhs direct & indirect jobs.

Drawbacks of the projects:

• 45 villages to be displaced alone in Maha Mumbai SEZ with population of 100000.

• Even after 17000 objection the project is under approval.

• Almost all major villages displacing are well developed presently connected with pucca

road and telephone facilities, electric supply, primary and secondary schools.

• SEZs are used as a ploy by corporate to acquire bulk amount of land with tax incentives

for personal profits.

III. SARDAR SAROVAR DAM PROJECT OVER NARMADA RIVER The Sardar Sarovar Dam is on the Narmada River in Gujarat state, 170 kilometres (106

miles) upstream from where the river flows into the Gulf of Khambhat in the Arabian Sea.

The dam is a 1210 m (3970 feet) long wall of concrete across the valley. It is designed to

impound a reservoir with a full level of 139 m (455 feet) above sea level (asl). The

middle section of the dam is planned to reach a height of 146.5 m (481 feet) asl. The first

proposal of the project came in 1959 but the actual construction started in 1987 i.e after

28 years duration for which the local farmers are made deprived of their property & land

on the land of the project.


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Positive Impacts

• The project is to irrigate a 'command area' of 1.8 million hectares in Gujarat and 75,000

hectares in Rajasthan.

• Installed power generation capacity of 1450 megawatts.

• Drinking water to 40 million people living in the drought-prone regions of Gujarat.

• Prevent flooding downstream. Negative Impacts

• The projects estimated displacement at least 100,000 people, who reside in

approximately 245 villages and approximately 140,000 additional, farmers will be

affected by the canal and irrigation system.

• The dam will dry up the river downstream destroying the livelihood of at least 10,000

fishworker families and also severely affect the water supply to over 700,000 people in

210 villages and at least five towns.

• Over 42,000 adivasis would be displaced by the Shoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in

Gujarat planned to compensate for the forests and wildlife lost to the reservoir. There are

no arrangements to resettle or compensate these people.

• Over 200,000 acres (80,000 ha) of land in Gujarat will be lost to the canal network.

• Large parts of the area slated to be irrigated have soils which are highly prone to

waterlogging and salinization and are unsuited to canal irrigation.

IV. Lake Development Authority, Bangalore

Given this background, the government of Karnataka through a government order dated

10th July 2002, set up the Lake Development Authority (LDA), as a registered society,

which was meant to be a non-profit organization, whose objective was to work for the

regeneration and conservation of lakes in Bangalore district as well as other cities,

municipal corporations in the state of Karnataka

Positive Impacts

• Restoring lakes and facilitation of restoration of depleting ground water table.

• Diverting/treating sewage to generate alternative sources of raw water and preventing

contamination of underground aquifers from wastewater.


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• Environmental Impact Assessment studies

• Environmental mapping and GIS mapping of lakes and surrounding areas.

• Improving and creating habitat for water birds and wild plants. Reducing sullage and

non-point water impacts.

• Improving urban sanitation and health condition especially of the weaker section living

close to the lakes.

• There are some efforts by NGOs to train these displaced, especially the youth at

livelihood skills and attempt to help them acquire jobs

Negative Impacts

• As the city grows, there are increasing cases of displacement to cater to needs that have

arisen to urban comforts and amenities.

• There have been many cases in point, where people who have been living and earning

their livelihood having to vacate their lands and also their livelihoods, supposedly for the

greater common good.

• In the case of the Devanahali airport as well as the BMIC project, not only have the

lands had to be given up, but also livelihoods had to be changed.

• Where once, people used to earn their living using their traditional skills in agriculture

and related areas, are now being forced to take up jobs such as of security, menial

labour etc.

• The ecosystem people due to displacements and forceful changes in livelihood due to

various projects are converted into ecological refugees in order for the omnivores.

From the above discussion it is seen that the urban development projects have caused

huge disturbances in the life of the people who are directly affected by them in the form

of displacement. However urban development cannot be stopped owing to the

increasing population and demands on services. Such projects will be initiated with their

share of benefits. The following pages will show the importance and benefit of urban

projects and why it should outweigh the negativities of displacement.


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6. Provisions For People Displaced Due To Development

In 1986, the UN General Assembly adopted a Declaration on the Right to Development,

which states that "every human person and all people are entitled to participate in,

contribute to and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all

human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised.” But the problem is that

people displaced by development projects are generally seen as a necessary sacrifice for

developments’ sake. The dominant perspective is thus that the positive aspects of

development projects, the public interest, outweigh the negative ones, which is the

displacement or sacrifices of a few.

However measures and guidelines are being developed to safeguard the interest of

displaces today. The rights which protect these interests are:

• Right to Participation: The affected communities must be able to participate in different

levels of decision-making, from the local (project), state (programme), national and

international levels.

• Right to Life and Livelihood: When security forces take action to move people forcibly

or to quell civil dissent against development projects, this may constitute a direct threat

to the right to life, which is protected in the UDHR (Article 3) and the ICCPR (Article 6)

• Rights of Vulnerable Groups: While development projects may create vulnerability

through impoverishment, they disproportionately affect groups that are vulnerable to

begin with, particularly indigenous peoples and women.

• Right to Remedy: The right to remedy is asserted in the UDHR (Article 8) and in the

ICCPR (Article 2). As noted in a report to the World Commission on Dams, often, due to

the nature of the development process, the project-affected peoples come to know about

actions that have been taken without their knowledge or consent. No step should be

taken without the knowledge of the concerned public.


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7. CONCLUSION

It cannot be said that development should not take place so that the people are protected

from displacement. Development and urban projects are of utmost importance for the overall

progress of the country. However a middle path should be approached so that development

can take place and the people affected by it may be properly rehabilitated and their interests

are safeguarded.

• Since displacement is inevitable, beside payment of compensation the people should

receive guidance of how to use the money to maintain their living standards, and to be

given with options for resettlements, including provision of new job opportunities within

context of community development.

• Policies to be formed and checked regularly.

• Government responsibility

• Resettlement rights

• The choice of technology for development must be one that generates more livelihood

opportunities ,least destructive of natural resources and least displacement of people,

enabling fulfillment of basic needs ,ensure equitable distribution of benefits and supports

sustainable use of natural resources.

• Also development oriented planning displacement for resettlement should also tend to

enhance the prior housing physical infrastructure and sources at new relocated sites.


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8. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Websites:

• www.wikipedia.com

• www.proxsa.org

• www.narmada.org

• www.madcindia.org

Documents

Seminar II Displacement Vikas