The Urban Poor in the Slums of Cuttack

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The merriment of yesterday could not have been more greatly contrasted than with today's visit. Nothing I have seen last week could have prepared me for the dire situation that thousands of people face in the slums of Cuttack city, living in extreme poverty. Many of these slums have been here for decades, expanding over time. Often they are on Government-owned land which is vulnerable to reclamation for growing industrial uses. Unfortunately, the government simultaneously represent many conflicting interests, not least the need to grow this area economically by encouraging the development of industry, whilst at the same time the welfare of families who have made their homes here in these slums, desparately in need of safe water and sanitation. Some of the slums are officially recognised by the government, whilst others are not. Slum-dwellers are therefore constantly at risk of eviction, usually without compensation, often meaning a forced relocation to an area too far away for people to continue or find employment.
Many slum-dwellers work as unskilled labourers or rickshaw-pullers, for meagre wages. People tend to settle where the work is, so government relocations are often unsatisfactory and unsuccessful. The population of the slums is rapidly increasing, adding every day to the already great problems of overcrowding, non-disposal of waste and unhygienic conditions. As there is little employment or facilities in rural areas, there is a general trend of migration to the cities, which is why the urban poor are increasingly becoming the most in need.
The residents of the slums live in tiny makeshift ramshackle structures of mud and dried cow dung, bamboo, sometimes bricks, wood, corrugated iron or polythene sheeting. Some of them have electricity by (illegally and dangerously) hooking wires to tap the passing supply.
Whole families live togather in these cramped and dirty conditions. One such resident is Gukul, aged 62, who lives in one small room together with his wife, mother and five children. These people have to defecate in the open, on the banks of the nearby river, as there is nowhere else to go. The handpump does not work, and the only source of water they have for drinking, cooking and washing with is the same stretch of filthy river. Infant mortality rates here are shockingly high, as is diarrhoea-related morbidity.
Kulamani, an old man of 70+, has lived here for around 40 years. He suffers from chronic diarrhoea and is too weak to work. He lives in a tiny space under a tarpaulin propped up by some pieces of wood, with his wife. They have lost two young sons to diseases. He used to have small hut here but it was destroyed in the 1999 cyclone and he has been unable to rebuild anything from the rubble. The slum regularly floods during the rainy season.
It makes me cry seeing the conditions that people have to live in here.

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Photos

Gukul and Sarah
Gukul Nayak, (left) age 62, lives here with his wife, mother and five children.

The riverbank near the slum
This same place is used as a toilet, rubbish dump, bathing place and drinking water source.

Comments

[Aditya Kiran Nag]

Cuttack
Well Madame you are pretty darn right about the condition of these slum dwellers most of them for neighbouring states and also from the orissa hinterlandCuttack being a 1000 year old city it's biggest problem is the rabid and unplanned growth even after being the provincial capital for very many years even after the independance but due subsequent failures in formulating a proper policy and rampant corruption has resulted in these shanty towns and slums where crime,drugs,narcotics and flesh trade are rampant. Now things are looking up though with the goverment provinding rehabilitation to these people but it is similar to anyother town facing such problems. I must say that you have not mentioned anything about the illustrious history of this city soI would like to point out that this city was an important trading post and fotress from time in memorial.