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About 1,200 families were evicted in Indore, according to NAPM

Slum Dwellers Face Eviction As India Builds New Smart Cities

canada goose uk black friday BHUBANESWAR/MUMBAI, India, Sept 28 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) Once known as Temple City for its ancient Hindu temples, Bhubaneswar in the eastern Indian state of Odisha aims to reposition itself as a hub for technology and healthcare with funding from a government programme to modernise cities. canada goose uk black friday

Canada Goose Jackets It is one of 100 Smart Cities Prime Minister Narendra Modi has vowed to create by 2022 that will have internet connectivity, uninterrupted power and water supply, efficient public canada goose outlet nyc transport and living standards comparable to Europe. Canada Goose Jackets

But India’s drive to overhaul its cities canada goose outlet woodbury to accommodate a growing population of migrants will force canada goose outlet store toronto tens of thousands of people from their slum homes as city planners spruce up central business districts and build metro train lines, activists say.

canada goose uk outlet „We have no choice. If we stay, the government will forcefully evict canada goose outlet toronto us,“ said Ananda Chandra Parida, who has lived since 2007 in canada goose coats uk Bhubaneswar’s Kargil slum, home to 2,000 families. canada goose uk outlet

cheap canada goose uk „The houses they are building for us are small, and many https://www.getcanadagooseoutlet.com of us cannot afford them,“ said Parida, 40, who lives in a two room brick house with his wife and two children. cheap canada goose uk

cheap Canada Goose About a third of the country’s 1.25 billion population lives in cities canada goose outlet in new york with numbers growing every year as tens of thousands of canada goose outlet sale migrants leave their villages to seek better prospects in urban areas. cheap Canada Goose

Canada Goose Online Many migrants end up in overcrowded slums, lacking basic facilities. Activists say the canada goose outlet mall Smart Cities Mission is neglecting the needs of millions of people like them. Canada Goose Online

canada goose clearance sale „(The plan) will only benefit canada goose outlet a few and exclude the most vulnerable from the resources they so badly need,“ Rajendra Ravi of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), an umbrella organisation of rights groups, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. canada goose clearance sale

uk canada goose Most cities canada goose premium outlet that have submitted development proposals in order to be picked as a Smart City, plan on spending more than 70 percent of funds on developing an area for the benefit of only about 4 percent of the city’s population, said Bhanu Joshi, a researcher at the canada goose factory outlet toronto location Centre for Policy Research in Delhi. uk canada goose

Canada Goose Outlet „It’s a canada goose jacket outlet uk very exclusionary plan that doesn’t take into account everyone who canada goose outlet store montreal makes up an urban space,“ Joshi said. Canada Goose Outlet

canada goose coats „Simply monetising the land and building fancy enclaves does not make canada goose outlet official a city inclusive or sustainable or smart.“ canada goose coats

canada goose factory sale Government officials, who have canada goose outlet in chicago unveiled 60 Smart Cities so far, say the project will boost investment and create millions of jobs. canada goose factory sale

In Bhubaneswar, campaigners say about 50,000 slum dwellers will be evicted, many of whom will also lose their livelihoods.

canada goose store There have also been demolitions and evictions in slums in the cities of Indore and Bhopal in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, which were named canada goose parka outlet uk as Smart Cities. About 1,200 families were evicted in Indore, according to NAPM. canada goose store

City officials in Bhubaneswar defended the plan.

Canada Goose Parka In the hill city of Dharamsala, which was also picked as a Smart City, about 300 families were evicted from the Charan Khad settlement in June. Most were low caste Dalits and indigenous people who had lived there for 30 years. Canada Goose Parka

„In a smart canada goose outlet store uk city, the poor have no role,“ said Bipin Bharadwaj, an activist with Lok Raj Sangathan in Dharamsala.

The city’s mayor told reporters there was no option but to relocate residents, that due process was followed, and that they had been given enough time to make alternative arrangements.

Even when slum dwellers are offered accommodation, officials are applying an eligibility criteria based on the number of years spent there, thus excluding many, NAPM’s Ravi said.

Canada Goose online „They just want us to go far away. They don’t want huts in the city area,“ said Ramesh Kumar, a cobbler who had lived in Charan Khad and now rents canada goose outlet online store review a tiny room in town. Canada Goose online

„You want to make a smart city and you think we look canada goose jacket outlet poor and are dirty; where should we go?“ he said.