M P Singh I MEMBER O F PA R L I A M E N T, B U I L D E R - T U R N E D - P O L I T I C I A N

What he says: Over my dead body will the slums be evicted. We have to be humane. After all they are bechara poor people and have a right to stay. I'm ready to regularize their existence and give them water and electricity, free schools, low-income housing.

What he means: Elections are around the corner and I need your votes. Remain where you are — poor and living in unplanned sub-standard conditions. After elections I shall sell land meant for you to my ‘land mafia’ friend M P Singh II, to put it to wasteful use for shopping malls and plazas. ‘Farm houses’ and banquet halls for Mr and Mrs Kothiwallah will come up.

M P Singh II
MUCH P R O P E RT I E D,
P O L I T I C I A N - T U R N E D - B U I L D E R

What he says: Give me a free hand and I'll develop all these slum areas and turn them into Singapores. The poor residents will get free flats in return elsewhere.

What he means: Why let these people occupy such huge and expensive tracts of land? Kick them to the outskirts and build fancy high-rises. Part of the profits will go to M P Singh I and his party.

Reality: An earthquake on Republic Day 2001, struck Gujarat. Numerous new ‘regularised’ apartment blocks in Ahemdabad collapsed and killed many.

Juggle Morehomes
U R BAN D E V E L O P M E N T M I N I S T E R

What he says: The Master Plan of our city does not allow for noxious factories to be present in residential areas. We need to relocate industries in proper industrial areas, where environmental and health guidelines must be followed.

What he means: In all these years, my office has no clue of how these industries came up in residential areas in the first place. Ofcourse, I am too indisciplined to provide basic figures on what’s actually polluting or the number of such units, but please, can all these factories along with the hundreds of workers be shoved to a yet-tobe-developed site, with no value for money, near a peaceful village miles away on the outskirts of the city?

Reality: The United Nations Habitat report of 2003, cites failed policies, bad governance, corruption, and a fundamental lack of political will for persistent urban poverty and burgeoning developing slums. 44% of Indians in urban areas live in just one room

44% of Indians in urban areas live in just one room