Introduction

The Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC) is one of the largest Indian NGOs working on housing and infrastructure issues for the urban poor. SPARC's primary role is as supporter to two people's movements - the National Slum Dwellers Federation

National Slum Dwellers Federation

The National Slum Dwellers Federation in India was established by Jockin Arputham when he fought on behalf of a community of 70,000 to appeal a 1976 eviction order....

 (NSDF) and Mahila Milan

Mahila Milan

Mahila Milan, meaning "women together," is a credit scheme designed to assist women pavement dwellers in Bombay.Assisted by SPARC, Mahila Milan runs a number of programmes...

 (MM).

SPARC was founded by Sheela Patel

Sheela Patel

Sheela Patel is the founding director of the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers , which she organised in Mumbai in 1984 as an advocacy group for the pavement dwellers of Mumbai. SPARC continues to this day to play a major role in the politics of slum development in India and...

 in 1984 to develop solutions that work for the poorest and most marginalised of the urban poor. SPARC formed an Alliance with National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) and Mahila Milan (MM). The Alliance works in more than 70 cities in India. Its members include social workers, researchers, students, doctors and other professionals who wished to participate in the creation of an institution which would explore new forms of partnerships with the poor. The focus of SPARC is on pavement dwellers

Pavement dwellers

Pavement dwellers refers to Mumbai dwellings built on the footpaths/pavements of city streets, which use the walls or fences which separate building compounds from the pavement and street outside...

, women and the provision of shelter.

Large proportions of India’s urban population reside in slums with harsh living conditions. There is an urban housing shortage of 17 million units and 40.0 million of the urban population lack access to toilet facilities. To address these problems, SPARC engages the state, railways boards and international institutions with the urban poor. It is involved in 3 main areas namely- housing, sanitation and relocation and rehabilitation.

Housing

In the fiscal year 2008-2009, SPARC undertook 8 housing projects and constructed a total of approximately 693 buildings which benefited around 5173 families. Incremental housing is the means by which households residing in informal settlements gradually upgrade their house. Through grants and loans, SPARC enabled families to transform huts made of inferior materials like mud, plastics to multi-storey concrete structures. In areas like Pune, these “model houses” have led to upgrading contracts under government schemes.

Sanitation

SPARC has constructed community toilet blocks to improve hygiene standards and health of the people. Under the Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project I (MSDP I), the Alliance won tenders for building 200 toilet blocks with 4000 toilet seats which benefited at least 200,000 people. To increase affordability of toilet facilities, each family can obtain a monthly pass of 25-30 rupees covers unlimited use. The community is also involved the design, construction, maintenance of the toilet blocks to build their capacities. One third of the 400 toilet blocks built in Pune were constructed by women from Pune Mahila Milan. The Alliance’s initiation of “Zero Open Defecation campaign” spurred on the establishment of a National Task Force for Sanitation in 2005 which promotes for the same cause nationwide.

Relocation and Rehabilitation (R&R)

The Alliance assisted in relocating and rehabilitating the urban poor from various locations like pavements, airports to make way for new infrastructure projects. Examples of such projects are the Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project (MUIP) and Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP).In the MUTP project, the Alliance has resettled more than 11,000 families since February 2000. Out of these families, more than 6,000 were resettled in transit accommodations and the rest in permanent housing.

SPARC adopts a Slum Relocation Approach characterized by several key strategies. Baseline surveys are utilized as an organising tool to understand the collective issues faced by the people. This forms the basis for negotiation with authorities. Between 2008-2009, the Alliance has expanded on city-wide settlement profiling on a national level, starting in 5 cities in Maharashtra
and 13 in Tamil Nadu. Another strategy involves formation of housing cooperative societies among future neighbours. Each society is in charge of specific responsibilities like sanitation.

Limitations of R&R

Challenges faced by SPARC include the disruption of social networks and livelihoods of the affected families. In a World Bank report, grievances filed against MUTP expressed dissatisfaction with proposed resettlement sites as they were situated far from the work and livelihood of the community.