Tackling urban slums

SLUMS have been a serious challenge for our metropolitan and large cities. There is need to ensure a proper approach towards the planning and policy directions for appropriate improvements in urban slums.

Recently a workshop on community-based environmental improvement of slums was organised by the Delhi Regional Chapter, Institute of Town Planners, India, at New Delhi. It was inaugurated by Mrs Krishna Singh, Principal Adviser, Planning Commission. Mrs Singh had informed the workshop that she was in search of policies and strategies for enabling appropriate central funding recommendations by the Government of India for shelter and amenities for an urban population below the poverty line.

The following were the recommendations of the workshop: There is need for clear definition of slums and terminologies associated with it. There is no reliable and scientific data and related indicators available with reference to slums and squatter, and for which efforts should be made. There is need for building the capacity of local bodies in town planning management and financial aspects for sustainable development confirmed in the implementation of slum-related projects. There is need to evolve a holistic and comprehensive approach of slum improvement within the overall regional and urban policies and related socio-economic issues.

There is need for the adoption of a community approach to improve slums rather than just engineering solutions. The approach to slum improvement should be preventive rather curative. The outdated Central Slum Improvement Act, 1956, and rules thereof should be reviewed. Experience and successful practices of other countries should be widely published.

The urban slum environmental improvement schemes throughout the country need attention with physical amenities matched with financial justification.

For the environmental improvement of slums there is need for action-oriented programmes, strict evaluation and monitoring of physical amenities with reference to community-based and public participation.

ATTAR CHAND
Delhi

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Saplings as “prasada”

Living in harmony with nature has been an integral part of Indian culture. The global concern for sustainable development and the conservation of natural resources since the Stockholm conference in 1972 and the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in 1992 is of recent origin compared to the long tradition of nature conservation in India.

All ancient Indian festivals are linked to the environment and nature conservation. The temples used to be the centre of cultural activities. Saplings of trees were given to devotees by the temple authorities as “vriksha prasadam” during the seasons which are described below:

Lohri, the festival of forest worship (December-January).

“Vasant” heralds the arrival of spring. Tree plantation campaigns are launched on Vasant Panchami, Shivratri and Holi. (January-March).

Havan Yagna is performed to cleanse pollution and pray for rain. (April-June).

When the monsoon breaks out saplings are planted on all festivals: Nag Panchami, Raksha Bandhan, Gokul Ashthami and Ganesh Chaturthi. (July-August).

The rainy season comes to an end. People clean up their homes before and after Dasehra. (Autumn).

Deepavali commemorates the day when Lord Rama returned after exile and was crowned. (Early winter).

Dr D.C. Bhattacharya, Professor of History of Arts, Panjab University, Chandigarh, says, “When devotees gave saplings of trees as an offering to the temple, it was known as Naivedya (tree offering).”

S. K. SHARMA
President,
Environment Society of India.
Chandigarh

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Law of evolution

Law of evolution teaches us that all evolution takes place along with the “Quest for happiness” — the path-finder. The universe has been so created that there is development towards perfection through the removal of impurities of mind. There was not much scope for happiness in the primitive forms of life although it may have been there in a small degree. With the evolution of man, the potentiality of his happiness and his progressive evolution increased tremendously.

The source of this world is perfect bliss. The journey of life starts with it, and ends with merging into it. However, the merger can be between likes — water will merge with water and not with oil. The purity of mind is, therefore, the sine-qua-non for the merger which can be attained by developing five human values: non-violence, truthfulness, righteousness, universal love and equanimity of mind. There are, however, six major obstacles in the way of a man’s attaining the desired purity or perfection — lust, anger, delusion, pride and envy.

A perfect man alone can attain the state of perfect happiness. The idea of perfection is the greatest thing, indeed. It is very difficult to translate it into reality, but we should not be discouraged to adopt it. Nothing worthwhile has ever been attained without hard work. However, before a man attains his human level, he has to shed his animal level.

Man may not be perfect, but he is perfectible as God has made him in his own image.

To my way of thinking, perfection means purity and similarity in thought, word and deed — one should entertain only pure thoughts and say only what one thinks. One should act according to one’s saying. Perfection, in fact, is the ultimate goal of life, and we all are marching towards it either consciously or unconsciously.

A.K. SURI
Chandigarh

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President’s mistakes

Let me begin by saying that I have no love lost for the BJP. But I do not believe that nobody in this world is infallible, including the honourable President of India. I want to tell you where he has erred.

Instead of asking the ruling group to seek a vote of confidence, he should have asked it as well as the Opposition to submit a list of their supporters mentioning their names and the names of the parties they belong to.

The situation is that the Opposition is not prepared to submit such a list as the MPs of the Opposition have been repeatedly saying that they will not lend support to the party that takes the help of Ms Jayalalitha. They have also been saying that their first priority is the ouster of the BJP, meaning thereby that when the BJP is out of the contest the remaining MPs will have no option but to support the Opposition or face fresh elections, which nobody will be in favour of.

The situation can be retrieved after the debate. The voting may be withheld so long as the Opposition does not submit its list, and it is properly scrutinised.

TARA CHAND SAHI
Chandigarh