It is commonly said that more than half of Mumbai lives in informal settlements. Seeing the city on a satellite map can testify to that. The mix of blue tarp roofs and terraces of swanky high rises reveals extreme poverty occupying the liminal spaces between wealth.
Within the web of these tightly packed houses, there is a severe lack of ventilation, open spaces, and basic services. In a ‘Mumbai’s Slums Map’ created by architect and activist PK Das, he estimates that 52.5% of the city’s population resides in informal settlements that cover only 8.75% of the total Greater Mumbai land area, pointing towards alarming densities.
These highly dense and under-resourced bastis* are home to migrants from across the country. Many don’t have the legal entitlements to prove they live here while others may have lost it due to relentless evictions. The resulting “informal” status is another reason people are denied their right to live in the city, despite it being their hard work that powers Mumbai’s economy.
Ambujwadi is one such basti. Located in Malvani in North West Mumbai, it is surrounded on three sides by mangrove forests, wetlands, and the Arabian coast. The 1981 Development Plan reserved large areas as public housing, and almost all of this land is still partly owned by the Central, Municipal, and State Governments. Settlements in Malvani began in the 1970s, most of which were planned resettlement colonies, and in the 1990s, people started settling in Ambujwadi.
The inhabitants of Ambujwadi devoid of housing rights take shelter under unpredictable roofs — living with the fear of their homes being demolished or facing eviction and involuntary relocation. Some stay to reconstruct a life and some pour in with dreams still fresh while some leave for elsewhere. And so, Ambujwadi, like most other bastis, is never still. It is a place constantly in the making, being built and rebuilt time after time.
In 1997, 750 families were forcibly evicted from Bhabrekar Nagar resettled in what is now known as New Bhabrekar Nagar. They were allotted 10ft by 8ft plots of land and left to their own devices, with no roof over their heads, no water supply, and no roads to walk on, just muddy and marshy land.
YUVA (where I work as a Banyan Impact Fellow) stepped in to assist. Together with the residents, they began advocating for “ghar ke badle ghar” (home in exchange for home). With citizen participation, a model house prototype was designed in collaboration with architect Neera Adarkar to tailor housing solutions to the needs of the people. This comprehensive approach also ensured land tenure, adequate open spaces, and basic services at the new resettlement site. However, due to the site’s proximity to the creek, the rehabilitation process was stalled by the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) guidelines, which are still awaiting environmental clearances. As a result, the people sought to build their own homes. Piece by piece, people created makeshift shelters with bamboo and tarp and formed something that resembled a community.
After 1997, many migrants from different parts of the country began settling in Ambujwadi, causing the population to grow significantly. However, within a few years, homes in Ambujwadi started being incessantly razed without warning or explanation, despite residents providing papers and proofs of residency.
This was part of 2004-05 city-wide eviction drive, culminating in the complete bulldozing of Ambujwadi. More than 12,000 families were rendered homeless. In response, the community members resisted these demolitions under the Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan.
Tapping into the proactive citizenry, YUVA began collectivising residents to support rehabilitation and community rebuilding efforts. Sustained work in spreading awareness about people’s rights and forming links with larger housing networks at city, national, and international levels, resulted in a well-informed population in Ambujwadi who fought against injustices.
YUVA focused on securing entitlements for residents, actively creating documents and ID cards, and facilitating the biometric process to legalise their homes. Once documentation and entitlements were secured, the next step was to improve people’s living conditions.
After about five years of support from YUVA, the residents organised themselves and formed the New Bhabrekar Nagar Sangharsh Samiti. Their collective efforts and persistent lobbying with the government eventually led to the provision of essential services — such as roads, water connections, gutters, and other basic amenities — in New Bhabrekar Nagar and Ambujwadi.
Through its housing interventions and consistent on-ground presence, YUVA has steadfastly maintained its community relationships over the years. It has nurtured trust with community groups in Ambujwadi, leveraging this network to continue its work in the basti over many years, addressing issues ranging from housing and human rights to livelihoods and issues of the youth. Now, they are expanding their focus area to include aspects of climate justice to address the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable populations.
Like many in Ambujwadi, marginalised populations who suffer from housing insecurities are prone to recurring demolitions, leaving them in constant motion, pressing restart every few years with no pause or respite. Denying people their right to live and work in the city based on their legal status perpetuates a vicious cycle of poverty and vulnerability, impacting all aspects of one’s existence – living with dignity, access to education, and future opportunities.
Reflecting on the long-term impacts experienced by people over generations as a result of holistic and participatory approaches to community development like that of YUVA reaffirms the importance of going beyond housing challenges while working with vulnerable populations. Sustainable social impact is a result of consistency over a long period of time, maintaining trust relationships with the community, and developing strong local leadership that continues the practice even after the organisation steps out or does not have an active role anymore.
The next part of this series will zoom into the story of a youth collective from Ambujwadi that has been at the frontlines of driving local change. Stay tuned.
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*The term “basti” is used as opposed to “slum” for its non-derogatory implications, lending dignity and respect to the homes of marginalised communities.
References
Jaikishen, D. (2019). When Youth Lead Change: Tracing the journey of a promising Mumbai youth collective. In Stories of Change: Case Study Challenge. Azim Premji University. https://cdn.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/media/publications/Stories-of-Change-Compendium-2020.pdf
Malvani People’s Plan (2014). Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and Environmental Studies (KRVIA), Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA).
Joseph, M., Siddharth, K. J., & Jaikishen, D. (2023). Making Right to Housing Work: Learnings from YUVA’s Approach of Enabling the Right to Adequate Housing. Journal of Human Rights Practice, 15(3), 736–747. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huad049
Slums maps and publications. (n.d.). PK Das. https://pkdas.com/maps.php?p=9
Unequal Scenes – Mumbai. (n.d.). https://unequalscenes.com/mumbai
YUVA’s journey over the years. (2020, September 8). Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action. https://yuvaindia.org/yuvas-journey-over-the-years/
Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action. (2023, August 19). Who we are – YUVA. YUVA – Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action. https://yuvaindia.org/about/who-we-are/
