Indore, India

For having successfully mobilized and coordinated the financial

and human resources of funding agencies, government

organizations, NGOs and local communities in order to create a

better living environment for the residents of the informal settlements

of Indore and, in the process, reclaiming for public use the formerly

polluted lakes and riverfronts of the city. This has been done by

establishing an innovatively planned, low-cost, city-level sewerage

network, a solid-waste management system and recreational areas

What is unique about the Slum Networking of Indore City is that

the slum regularization and upgrading exercise is part of a larger

environmental upgrading plan for the entire city. The application

. ( S c h e m e S c f t q m X ) j
of this approach to other similar conditions would go a long way

in overcoming the weaknesses of conventional urban upgrading

projects, which seldom attempt to integrate slums into the

t,-''
The Slum Networking of Indore City is and Saraswati rivers. Of Indore's total

a community-based sanitation and population 0fi,400,000 (in 1995), 28 per

environmental improvement programme cent live in slums, a proportion expected

that regards urban slums not as resource- to rise to 30 per cent by 2000. The

draining liabilities but as opportunities Muslim population constitutes 25 per

to make sustainable changes and cent of the inner city of Indore.

improvements to the city as a whole. The Indore sewer system built in

Devised and pioneered in the city of Indore 1936 served only 5 per cent of the city's

by the engineer Himanshu Parikh, the population. All the sewage and solid

networking concept was made possible waste were discharged into the Khan

and sustainable by bringing together and Saraswati rivers, which resulted in

communities, governments, ngos unhygienic conditions in the city and poor

and industry for its implementation. health in the slums. The concept of the

Centrally located in India's fertile networking project was to create an

Malwa Plateau, midway between Delhi efficient urban infrastructure that in

and Bombay, Indore is a marketing and turn would help to upgrade the slums.

distribution centre for cotton, nuts, Himanshu Parikh took advantage of the

wheat and other cash crops, as well as pattern ofthe Indore slums in order to

an important textile-manufacturing city. introduce an efficient infrastructure path

A B O V E Secondary paths through the slums,

Its growth as a business and transport for sewage, storm drainage, and fresh once covered in mud, have been dramatically

improved with the introduction of sewerage

centre has created numerous employment water services that followed the natural
lines and concrete paving.
opportunities, resulting in a continuing river course. An extensive physical survey

rural-urban migration of jobseekers. Most was conducted to plot the city's natural O P P O S I T E Physical improvements made

under the programme include paved roads

ofthese people move into the 183 slums drainage paths to the river, and a
and footpaths, storm drainage, water supply
that are scattered throughout the city, socioeconomic survey identified the slum
and sewerage hook-ups, street lighting,

many of them on the banks of the Khan families with the greatest needs. The landscaping and solid waste management.
 objective was not to find solutions

unique to the slums but to explore the

Project Components
commonalties between the slums and

the city and to integrate the two to make

mutually beneficial interventions.

Slum networking set out five

objectives: (1) a holistic approach to

Community Development Physical Works Miscellaneous Activities
environmental issues in order to upgrade

the slums and the entire city; (2) a

Surveys
Social < Evaluation
significant reduction in the cost of utilities
Economic MIS
Education • Monitoring and housing; (3) the mobilization of
Health
Training On Site City Level Buildings material resources for the development

of settlements; (4) the increase in

community responsibility and control;

Roads Transition Zones Community Halls

and (5) the improvement of the overall
Sewerage Main Sewer Dispensaries
Storm Treatment Plant
quality of life in terms of education,
Water Supply River Front
Street Light
Landscape health and income. The objectives were
Earthworks
Solid Waste realized through innovative and low-cost

O engineering solutions. The designer gave

Q
priority to lowering and then paving the
O
slum streets, so that they drain off excess
Ü
rainwater during the monsoons; to
O
5* placing a gully trap in each house for the

removal of waste water and sewage; to

5
D installing a manhole-covered inspection

pit for every six to eight houses; and to

OPPOSITE BELOW The success of the

Indore Habitat Project relies on three main

components: physical works, community

development and various monitoring and

information gathering activities that

support those programmes.

O P P O S I T E and R I G H T Underground

sewerage systems and an improved water

supply system have been put in place in the

slum colonies. The slum dwellers pay for

and build their own toilets and connections

to the water and sewerage systems. The

investment enhances their quality of life

and hence their pride in horre ownership.

slums and their relation t o waterways

Pipliya Kumar

Gandhinagar Chandra Naqcr

Nipaniyo

Sangcm

Khajrana
*
5
Kalaninagar

Kardiyabad Naginnagar

JâtfVbirpu'
H m
Tolab Schema
LEGEND cheme

Futi Kothi

** Natural Drainage Courses

O Spots Already Developed Hawa
C) Spots Under Planning Bunglow
•• Proposed Pedestrian Greens

C.A.T

"al ob

Rau Rangwasa

connecting slum sewerage lines to the Authority and Great Britain's Overseas

main artery along the river. Development Administration (now

The solution was implemented at two the Department for International

levels. At the city level, a main sewerage Development) was constructed along the

artery funded by the Indore Development riverbank at a cost of us $18,000,000. At

L E F T A study of the Indore slums showed

that most were located along the city's

Chart of Implementation Structure
natural drainage paths, which led to rivers

polluted with sewage and waste. Through

the networking system, the rivers have now

been converted to fresh water lakes, and

the riverbanks feature pedestrian paths

and a new marketplace.

Local Government

• Overall Framework
R I G H T The success of the project is due
• Finance
to the continuous collaboration of local • City Infrastructure
• Maintenance
authorities, professionals, NGOs and • Convergence of other
aid agencies with the community. Programmes

the slum level, slum dwellers paid for and

built their own toilets and connections to

water and sewerage lines at an average Consultants Local Industries

• Technical Support - Finance

cost of10, OOO rupees (US $260) per
• Plannings.Design • Slum Infrastructure
• Implementation • Community Development
family. A state government ordinance

that gave Indore slum dwellers long-term

land leases, effectively legalizing their

unauthorized colonies, was an incentive

for making the sewerage investment. The

COMMUNITY
dwelling lots typically provide space for a
Finance
one-room house that cortains a kitchen, Control
Maintenance

a toilet and a washroom. The improved

roads, the sewer and water services,

the installation of street Ights and the

building of community halls led to

dramatic improvements in the quality

Financing/Bilateral NGO's Professional Groups
Institutions
of the slum dwellers' homes, for once • Community Savings
• Finance • Health
their neighbourhoods were improved, • Training Support • Education
• Training Support
they invested in their houses. The façades O
Û
that line the improved streets now feature

different colours, cornices, railings and O

u
other decorations that enhance the city.

Government Organizations o
The pivotal point in the networking
(State level, Central) >5
project is the jheel, the meeting of the Khan • Legislative Framework
- Networking at various levels
2
and Saraswati rivers, which is also the site D
of the Krishnapura slum at the centre of

6i
O P P O S I T E Once the piped sewerage

system was in place it was possible to clean

the rivers and restore historic riverside

structures. This improvement to the slums

had a citywide effect, reinvigorating urban life

at the centre of Indore.

R I G H T To increase water levels at thejheel,

where the Khan and Saraswati rivers meet,

the banks ofthe river were lowered. This

also accommodated terraced pathways

that improve access to the main bridge.

Indore. Once full of sewage and garbage,

the jheel has been transformed into a

waterfront area that has revitalized Indore's

cultural heritage and the city as a whole.

On one bank, two kilometres of riverfront

have been landscaped with curved, paved

walkways, flowering plants and shade

SECTION - 1.1
trees. On the opposite bank, a two-level
EXISTING
PROPOSED
shopping arcade has been developed.

In the 1980s, slum improvement

SECTION
EXISTING
projects typically provided facilities such

536.230 —WATER LEVEL

as community toilets and washrooms. —PROPOSED G.L
EXISTING G.L
O MAIN SEWER
Sharing such facilities gave rise to

communal riots, crime and abuse. For

privacy, women frequented the toilets

early in the morning, where they were often

subject to rape or assault. Now, with each

house equipped with an individual toilet

and washroom, not only is the housing

upgraded, the slums are also nearly

crime-free.

Alleviating poverty is a priority in

developing countries but it consumes

an enormous portion of national fiscal

allocations and sustainability is often

difficult, resulting in sporadic,

nonintegrated development. In Indore,

major design innovations helped alleviate

the poverty of the slums, and already

similar networking programmes are

taking place in such cities at Barodha,

Ahmedabad, Jodhpur and Bombay.

A slum is an organic entity that

grows, and if slum dwellers are evicted,

they simply move. Slums are present in

all cities, but once acknowledged they

can become meaningful parts of a whole

city. In Indore, the slums are a means to

a solution. Recognizing and using nature's

tools to upgrade and beautify people's

environments, the Indore slum networking

project strengthens people's right to have

the basic necessity for human dignity: a

home in their communities.

A B O V E The new sewers and water supply

lines have improved life in the Indore slums.

Slum dwellers are investing money and work

in their communities and homes, meeting in

community centres and taking pride in their

accomplishments.

R I G H T A key factor to upgrading the slums

was lowering the mud roads before paving

them. The lowered streets and pathways now

serve as natural drainage channels during

heavy rainstorms, as well as improving the

quality of life in the slums themselves by

reducing the effects of dust and mud.

O P P O S I T E Experience has shown that

concrete roads are cheaper to build and

easier to clean. The technology is such

that local people are able to take part in

the construction process.