Nivara Hakk story then and now: The struggle for housing rights By Gurbir Singh 10th Sept 2022. https://questionofcities.org/nivara-hakk-story-then-and-now-the-struggle-for-housing-rights/
As slums were demolished in massive operations and slum dwellers summarily evicted, often out of Bombay (as it was called till 1995), in the 1980s, a smorgasbord of organisations emerged to protest this. Nivara Hakk Suraksha Samiti, a collective of nearly 30 slum dwellers’ groups and grassroots organisations, hit the streets to protest the inhumane demolitions and frame housing as a right that people could claim from the State. The action in the then Bombay was the precursor of the movement to secure housing rights. From protesting against demolition to ensuring people’s right to basic amenities, Nivara Hakk has come a long way. Here’s its story told by one of its earliest and long-standing members.
Through the early 1990s, the borders of the National Park were occupied by thousands of new migrants – the last big wave into Mumbai. Politicians and slum mafia made hay “selling” land and settling them here. As demolitions continued, slum dwellers from other areas and new migrants to Bombay went to the area too. These slums, with a high Muslim population, were targeted during the communal riots of 1992-93...
The focus ( of the NHSS) is now on improving the conditions in slums, ensuring that finance is available if slum dwellers want it, and reducing builders’ involvement. This market calls for government bodies like MHADA to fund slum dwellers for self-development. Otherwise, we are looking at a massive scandal of land as in the BDD Chawls case where more than 60 per cent of the area is being taken over for upper class housing, as highlighted by town planner Shirish Patel and others.