[sustran] fwd: Urgent! Bombay rail slum evictions appeal

[SUSTRAN Network Secretariat]

[forwarded from the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights]
....

We need a little help urgently!

Jockin has just phoned with a big emergency in Bombay.  They are evicting
large numbers of railway slum dwellers, in violation of the state's
resettlement policy, and in a reversal from the very enlightened
resettlement process that the NSDF/Mahila Milan/SPARC alliance have been
working for years to develop and implement.  

Jockin has asked all of us to send urgent faxes to three key government
officials.  I'm enclosing a copy of the letter we wrote from ACHR - can you
please put it in your own words and fax your letters to the following right
away :

 1.  Mr. Bongirwar, Chief Secretary, 
Government of Maharashtra
Mantralaya, Mumbai,  INDIA
Fax Number :  (91 22) 202-8594

2.  Dr. Joshi, Urban Development Secretary
Government of Maharashtra
Mantralaya, Mumbai,  INDIA
Fax Number (91 22) 282-9282

3.  Mr. Thamal, Housing Secretary
Government of Maharashtra
Mantralaya, Mumbai,  INDIA
Fax Number :  (91 22) 202-5939


Date :  1 March, 2000
REGARDING :  EVICTION OF RAILWAY SLUMS IN MUMBAI.  

Dear Mr. Bongirwar,

We have learned with great alarm from our partner federation in India, the
Railway Slum Dwellers Federation (RSDF), about the recent eviction of slum
dwellers living along the railway tracks in Mumbai.	

Over the past five years, groups around Asia and Africa have watched with
great enthusiasm as Mumbai's state-of-the-art resettlement policy for
railway slum dwellers has evolved and been implemented.  Effective working
partnerships such as the one in Mumbai between the urban poor federations
and various government agencies are the best news coming out of India, and
exemplify enlightened governance, finding "win-win" solutions to urban
problems that work for everyone - for the poor and for the city as a whole.   

Dozens of groups of government officials, NGO workers, policy makers,
community members and representatives from bilateral and multilateral
organisations have travelled from countries all over Asia and Africa to
visit the model resettlement project along the Central Railway line at
Kanjurmarg.  The Kanjurmarg project has been documented at several stages
in our publication, Housing by People in Asia, has been presented as a case
study at the United Nations World Habitat Awards in Japan, and is scheduled
to be visited by US President Mr. Bill Clinton later this year.   

Maharashtra State's resettlement policy has been held up in the Asia region
as a model of practical, efficient, just and sustainable resettlement,
which makes room for urban infrastructure projects, without destroying the
lives or compromising the housing rights of poor families who come in their
way.  Maharashtra State Law guarantees every slum dweller residing in their
community before the cut-off date of January 1, 1995 protection against
eviction and entitles them to a secure, 225-sq. ft. dwelling on the same
site, or close by.

We are therefore shocked to learn of the eviction of hundreds of poor
railway slum families whom this enlightened resettlement policy should be
protecting and supporting.   We request you most urgently to stop these
illegal evictions at once, and to go back to the negotiating table with
your partners in the RSDF, SPARC, the Railways and the SRA.

If we can be of any assistance in this critical situation, we hope you will
not hesitate to contact us.  Thank you for your consideration. 

Yours,
Somsook Boonyabancha, Secretary General, ACHR
Director, Urban Community Development Office (UCDO)





Asian Coalition for Housing Rights
73 Soi Sonthiwattana 4,
Ladprao Road, Soi 110,
Bangkok 10310,  THAILAND
Tel (662) 538-0919    
Fax (662) 539-9950
E-mail:  achrsec at email.ksc.net