According to the national Census held in 2011 in India, metropolitan Kolkata is home to over 14 million people. Once the capital city of India, today over 30 per cent of the city’s inhabitants are slum dwellers. In Kolkata, lack of affordable housing has pushed many to informal settlements called bastis. Migrant labourers and low-income families often settle in slums, where they live in highly unhygienic and overcrowded conditions. While they provide access to the city’s centre, and perhaps even to an income, they lack in basic provisions such as adequate sanitary facilities, clean and potable water, and electricity.

Over the years, both central and state governments have launched multiple programmes and policies to facilitate slum redevelopment in India. This has often taken place through two methods, either through in-situ rehabilitation and infrastructure development in existing slums, or by rehabilitating slum dwellers to off-site locations. Rehabilitation, however, may or may not lead to welfare of slum dwellers. Empirical research has shown that redevelopment of slums often leads to impoverishment. This impoverishment includes loss of livelihood, joblessness, loss of community, loss of access to common resources, and marginalisation. Off-site rehabilitation especially, adds to impoverishment and vulnerability, as it adds to joblessness, loss of existing communal spaces and connections, and even homelessness.

Post off-site rehabilitation, residents still prefer to continue living in slums, close to job opportunities and community. Rehabilitation and redevelopment throughout West Bengal have been advocated, but often not successfully executed. On several occasions, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA) has allocated funds for slum redevelopment and rehabilitation in Kolkata, as well as in other districts of the state. However, many of these projects have ended up getting cancelled, curtailed, or dropped. In 2011, the Kolkata Municipality Corporation implemented the Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP) mission, which aimed at providing........

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