The Urban Affairs Minister, Ampareeen Lyngdoh seems to have bitten off more than she can chew by declaring a particular area of the city as a slum. Mawlai is not the first area to be declared a slum. Earlier some areas of Malki, Nongthymmai, Pynthorumkhrah etc., were declared slums by the Urban Affairs Department to be able to access funds and bring these areas up to the desired levels with the facilities necessary to make the area liveable and healthy. In a city like Shillong that is unplanned and bursting at the seams and where urban migration has outpaced development, special funds are necessary to provide basic civic amenities like potable water, sanitation, better roads, lighting, drains, electricity and reasonably good, durable housing facilities for those that cannot afford them. The dictionary defines urban slums as settlements, neighbourhoods, or city regions that cannot provide the basic living conditions necessary for its inhabitants. The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) defines a slum as a household that cannot provide one of the following basic living characteristics (a) Durable housing of a permanent nature that protects against extreme climate conditions (b) Sufficient living space, which means not more than three people sharing the same room (c) Easy access to safe water in sufficient amounts at an affordable price (d) Access to adequate sanitation in the form of a private or public toilet shared by a reasonable number of people (d) Security of tenure that prevents forced evictions. The inaccessibility to one, or more, of the above basic living conditions results in a “slum lifestyle.”
This definition has significance because a population boom, associated with urbanization, creates a greater demand for housing than the urbanized area can offer or supply. This population boom often consists of rural inhabitants who migrate to urban areas where jobs are plentiful and where wages are stabilized. However, the issue is exacerbated by the fact that many of these areas lie outside the purview of the Shillong Municipality which provides civic amenities after charging fees for the same for those services from every household. These areas are managed by local traditional bodies which do not have the wherewithal for civic management, particularly in managing garbage disposal. It is evident that the backlog is building and garbage in these areas is mounting.
No locality in Shillong city can call itself a completely developed, area with all the facilities of a modern township. Every locality has pockets of slums inhabited by the urban poor. Even areas in Laitumkhrah the educational hub have also been declared slums without any protest because those citizens desire that their areas be developed rather than nurse their egos. It is bad enough that Mawlai which also houses the oldest central university of the region is declared a slum. A clarification on the matter could have been sought from the Urban Affairs Minister. But for the politicians of the area to play up this issue and disallow the disposal of garbage at Marten where the rubbish of the whole city is dumped, is outrageous. Tomorrow, Laitumkhrah could also get offended about something and ban people from other areas from entering its precincts. This could also have snowball effects elsewhere. When politicians start playing politics with genuine issues then people need to speak up and make themselves heard. Enough of opportunistic politics!