Widening urban, rural divide must be addressed
Confusion and conflict among the younger generation from rural areas can lead to social tensions and this needs to be dealt with immediately.
Among the many contradictions and paradoxes of Gurugram are the varied kinds of settlements in the city. In general, when Gurugram is mentioned, all we think of are the swanky office buildings and gated communities of New Gurugram. I wrote a few weeks ago about the large migrant population that are often invisible in the city. But there are also the urban villages which are a key part of the city. We know them as areas such as Sikanderpur, Nathupur, Tigda, Wazirabad, Jharsa and Ghata among others.
Gurugram was just a set of villages in the 1960’s when private developers began buying the land. At that time, the Haryana government was the only state government that allowed for private developers to buy land directly from farmers. This began the process of transforming agricultural land in this area for non-agricultural purposes. Over the years, several private developers have bought land directly from the farmers and land owners. The two decades following the 1980’s saw a flurry of land being acquired for private buildings.
While the local villagers sold their agricultural land, they continued to live in the villages. There were around 100 villages. With the setting up of the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon in 2008, many of these villages became incorporated into the city.
Some of the villagers made a fair amount of money selling their lands which they either invested in lands further away, building houses, setting up small businesses and even on luxury items such as fancy cars. There were of course some who did not and some who kept the lands had to sell them to HUDA for lower compensations.
These areas are very poorly served in terms of infrastructure and services. Thus, even today inside some of these areas, you will find poor narrow streets, poor drainage and sewage facilities and these are quite in contrast to the gated communities that they border. The areas are extremely congested and densely populated. While the private developers have provided services to residents where it was not given by the city, these areas became neglected. One of the main problems of this city has been poor service delivery by the city authorities.
While they are residents of this city, many of them feel a sense of alienation and even erasure of their histories. These villages are enclaves within the larger city of high rise buildings and malls. Some of them have set up businesses, others work as drivers or security guards. Many of them are landlords now, renting their properties to migrants who come into the city looking for work.
In her research on these urban villages, anthropologist Shubra Gururani found that many of them choose to continue living in the village area as they enjoy the traditional village ethos and structure. The village remains a support network for them. Even though there are more migrants now living in these areas, the landowners and the original inhabitants of the area have a sense of belonging to the village, and often a sense of marginalisation in the larger city.
This reality of Gurugram needs to be addressed and the city must be seen as a conglomeration of all the different sets of people who inhabit it. For many of the younger generation in the urban villages, the lifestyles of new Gurugram are aspirational and this leads to both confusion and conflicts. These need to be dealt with and not swept under the carpet. The diversity of Indian cities and the people who inhabit them are part of the contemporary urbanisation process, but the increasing divides and exclusions can only lead to social tensions.
@SafetipinApp
Co-founder and CEO of Safetipin, the author works on issues of women’s safety and rights in cities
Source: Hindustan Times, 21/02/2019
