3 City slums to benefit from AusAid project

By Divya Sreedharan

BANGALORE, SEPT. 20. An AusAid-funded project is trying to improve the living conditions in three City slums -- Cement Huts Colony off J.C.Road, Sudamanagar towards HAL, and Chandranagar slum in Uttarahalli constituency.

The work is part of the BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board)-AusAid programme for an Environmental Sanitation Master Plan for the City.

The team leader, Mr. Ross Kearton, said that initially 300-odd such slums were considered. Later, only 30 were examined in detail. ``We looked at service deficiency in water supply, sanitation and drainage; land tenure (whether the land was under dispute or not), and also if the slums had prior NGO assistance,'' Mr. Kearton told The Hindu.

Cement Colony, Sudamanagar and Chandranagar fitted the bill. The first is very small, comprising only 100-120 cramped hutments of mostly Tamils who work as ragpickers. ``Cement Colony is probably the worst of the three,'' Mr. Kearton said.

At the entrance is a huge mound of garbage which never gets cleared. Huts here are built around a drain which floods and overflows. ``The public toilet was bad, so we're working with the NGO, `Maithri,' which acts as our link, to build a new one,'' Mr. Kearton said. Besides, the Australians are laying new water lines, public taps and also trying to improve the drainage system.

``We did a health survey in the area and found that most of the people were alcoholics. So, we have developed health education material and conduct health camps,'' he said. While the slum- dwellers were wary in the beginning ``things got better once we started constructing the toilets, and their attitude improved.''

In Sudamanagar, the team works with Avas, an NGO. ``This land is owned by a trust but there is apparently some difficulty in getting a water connection. So we are trying to get the BWSSB relax its requirements for putting in such facilities.''

The place had 300-odd households, Mr. Kearton said. While Avas had got the dwellers HUDCO loans, the Australian team concentrated on laying out individual connections for water/sewage and putting in place a solid waste management system.

The third and largest project is in Chandranagar slum. It has between 900 and 1,000 households. ``It on a steep slope so they have no water, sanitation or sewage lines. They do have a rudimentary system but because the slum is on the edge of a very big drain, conditions are not too good,'' he said.

Here too, the emphasis is on providing adequate sewerage/water and solid waste management systems. ``Besides, there is a lot of soil erosion, so we are doing road work too.'' The NGO, Samraksha, works there on problems such as AIDS.

Project cost: It may be recalled that AusAid had set aside Aus $ 0.5 million for these pilot projects. Mr. Kearton said work at the Cement Colony would cost Rs. 13 lakhs while it would be Rs. 30 lakhs for Sudamanagar. ``We still preparing the design for Chandranagar but it will probably use up the remaining money,'' he said.

Asked when these projects would be completed, Mr. Kearton said the first two would be over in a month or two. But work on Chandranagar would last till March next. The Australian team is to leave Bangalore by May 2002 (when the Master Plan work will be over). ``But sustainability is the main issue. So, we will probably request for follow-up action by AusAid.

The team was concerned with the mixing of drainage and sewage, Mr. Kearton said. ``For that we have brought in specialists to talk to the BWSSB and the BMP (Bangalore Mahanagara Palike). If need be, we will approach the BATF (Bangalore Agenda Task Force) to address the problem,'' he added.

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