This is the second of a two-part series.
2005. On a morning like any other, eleven-year old Ahmed (name changed) from Ambujwadi, heard the news that his basti would be demolished within three hours. Panic ensued as all his neighbours rushed to transfer their belongings to someplace safe. Soon after, bulldozers entered and began tearing down homes. Ahmed and his family took cover in his uncle’s taxi and spent the night there. Half of Ambujwadi was razed to the ground that day, and the other half the next day.
That year saw large-scale demolitions in Mumbai driven by a vision to transform the city into Shanghai – a global financial centre with an impressive skyline. The aim to clear space for new infrastructure, commercial developments, and high-rises led to an extensive clean-up drive on an unmatched scale. Within just two months, over 70,000 houses were razed to the ground in Mumbai. It left countless people homeless. The aftermath was marked by numerous unnatural deaths, suicides, loss of jobs, and immense suffering.
Many of Ahmed’s neighbours travelled back to their villages while others started searching for affordable homes nearby. Ahmed and his family stayed in nearby flats for some time, ultimately returning to the basti and restarting their lives from scratch. He was out of school for more than a year.
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Like Ahmed, many youths in the basti faced the brunt of these demolitions — disrupted education, mental health challenges, and being forced to work at a young age. These events left them further marginalised and cut off from mainstream society economically and socially. In 2013, YUVA began engaging the basti’s young people with the goal of empowering them to assert their rights and voice their demands.
Through creative and interactive methods to engage the youth, including street plays, film screenings, games, identity and leadership-building activities, and interactions with youth from nearby bastis, a safe space was created. Skill-building courses — such as tailoring, beautician work, and computer repair — not only generated livelihood opportunities but also mobilised more and more youth to participate in local changemaking initiatives. By 2014, 40 young people had come together to officially form the Malvani Yuva Parishad (MYP).
A key focus of YUVA’s youth engagement was deciphering complex official documents such as the Rehabilitation Policy and Mumbai’s Development Plan that outlines a blueprint for the city’s future. The goal was to understand the implications of these legal texts on the lives and futures of basti dwellers through careful reading and breaking down of legal jargon. This effort was complemented by on-ground community mapping exercises to better understand issues in their neighbourhood.
“I was fascinated by urban planning concepts. I would come back home after school and try to make sense of the development plan. I knew it was an important document that impacted me and my people but it had so many terms I did not understand. This was before the world of the internet but thankfully I had a friend from YUVA who would explain to us what certain words or abbreviations meant”, recalls Shahenshah, a member of MYP.
Leveraging their knowledge of legal processes, members of MYP have led efforts to resist forced evictions by the municipal authorities. For instance, during the revision process of Mumbai’s Draft Development Plan 2034, the youth initiated a campaign called Laapataa Pehchan (Missing Identity) in 2015. They spread awareness on planning issues, initiated dialogues with the community, garnered objections and suggestions, and submitted the results of the campaign to MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority). Their efforts led to significant changes for Ambujwadi. The basti transitioned from being designated as a “No Development Zone” (NDZ) in the plan, which mandated no development and allowed for evictions, to becoming a “Special Development Zone” (SDZ) due to its location in a coastal regulation zone.
The power of collective action is evident in the case of Malvani Yuva Parishad. As ownership grew, the youth began holding regular meetings, becoming more process-oriented and taking actionable steps towards addressing their shared concerns. Since May 2023, MYP members have lobbied with the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) on issues such as water stagnation, overflowing toilets, and flooded drainage lines affecting over 100 houses. They followed up persistently with authorities and mobilised the community, with women taking lead by pressuring the ward office directly. As a result of their efforts, in January 2024, a work mandate was issued. This included installing pipelines from toilets to external areas and adjusting levels to prevent water accumulation, marking a significant improvement in local infrastructure.
In an attempt to redefine how stories of urban change are told and who tells them, members of MYP regularly conduct curated walks (organised by YUVA) for people from outside the basti, typically the middle class. They guide participants through the basti, sharing lived experiences and stories of resilience. This initiative aims to broaden perspectives on urban poverty and marginalisation by dialoguing on not only challenges but also the unique character and strengths of the community.
During these walks, participants learn about the mixed status of the basti, with some parts officially recognised (notified), and others unrecognised (non-notified). It is easy to understand the increased threats experienced by the latter, just by looking at their far more temporary housing structures.
On a walk, Asma, a member of the youth collective, explained, “In addition to facing housing vulnerabilities, our community has endured discrimination and abuse based on our identity”. The Pardhi tribe residing here is stigmatised with the derogatory label of “Tadipar,” stemming from the colonial Criminal Tribes Act of 1871.
Although the Pardhis were officially denotified post independence in August 1952, this change has had little impact on their marginalised status within society. The ‘criminal’ tag refuses to go away, making their integration in the society precarious. As a result, many young residents of the basti face immediate job rejections solely based on their place of residence.
In sharing lived experiences of growing up in the face of housing vulnerabilities and identity struggles, the youth of Ambujwadi are determined to change their place and perception in the city. “We are gradually erasing the Tadipar label that was etched on us decades ago and continues to oppress us”, explains Vinay (name changed), a boy from Ambujwadi and walk guide.
Consistent effort over a sustained period of time reaps results – which is evident in the case of the confident and brilliant young minds from Ambujwadi who are fighting at the frontlines to protect their rights and bring about meaningful change in the community. They are role models for other young basti residents who might doubt themselves for who they are and where they come from.
References
Kennedy, J., McKinsey & Company, Inc., & Bombay First. (2003). Transforming Mumbai into a world-class city. In A Bombay First – McKinsey Report (p. vii). Bombay First. https://mumbaifirst.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/McKinsey-Report-on-Vision-Mumbai.pdf
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
Olwe, S. (2018, August 31). Decades after denotification, Pardhi tribe struggles to shrug off “Criminal” tag. The Wire. https://thewire.in/society/decades-after-denotification-pardhis-in-maharashtra-struggle-to-stave-off-criminal-tag
Raj, S. (2023, June 1). Historical stigma: Pardhi settlers in Mumbai struggle to shake off criminal tag. Citizen Matters. https://citizenmatters.in/historical-stigma-pardhi-settlers-in-mumbai-struggle-to-shake-off-criminal-tag/
Singh, S. (n.d.). Development, Dispossession, and Accumulation: Mumbai in Contemporary Times. In Mumbai Reader ’13 (p. 25). UDRI. https://udri.org/wp-content/uploads/Mumbai%20Reader/MR%2013/25%20Development,%20Dispossession%20And%20Accumulation-Mumbai%20In%20Contemporary%20Times_Simpreet%20Singh.pdf
