SEWAGE BASTI 

SITE LOCATION & CONTEXT 

Sewage basti located in Juhapura, Ahmedabad comprises of the Fatehwadi canal on one side and a sewage treatment plant on the other. The houses of the daily wage workers are located here and a bridge over this canal connecting the sewage basti to the labour naka. Their main area from which they get work is the labour naka which is 1.5 kms away from this basti. The sewage basti is the settlement of the labour groups who have shifted here due to the construction process of the metro line near their earlier settlement.

SCALABILITY

ECONOMICS

The residents of sewage basti are the daily wage workers. They travel 1.5 to 2 kms daily to the labour naka from where they are hired by the people to do whatever work is required in their houses. They are then paid daily according to the work done. The labour returns back to their house if they do not get any work which means that they do not have any income for that day. 

The markets in the basti both the formal and the informal shops are also a source of income. 

The labours live in a small house of 2.5m by 2.5m and spend a very less amount by using only on buying necessities and the rest of the money saved is sent back to their families in the village. Their monthly income is around RS.12,000- 15,000 in which only Rs. 5000 approximately is spent by them. Usually the parents in the family are working therefore the children of these labours usually spend their time in the creche’ provided to them in the sewage basti. 

REPLICABILITY of Materials, Technology & Temporality 

Offsite housing happens aross in our surroundings at various scales and intensity. Sewage basti is one such which is formed organically over the time on the edge of Fatehwadi Canal in Vasna, Ahmedabad. The opportunity of what can a canal provide is important in understanding the possible origin of this basti. As being a self formed housing the lack of any formal/legal infrastructures of electricity, waste management and water facilities is given. Thus, the slope of the canal becomes important as it allows the settlement for communal lavatory. 

Sandy soil condition again becomes an alternative for one of the main necessities ie. provision of water. Here, instead of a shared water system among 400-500 families, a cluster of houses (varies anywhere between 15-30) shares a bore pump which bores water from 4-6ft down the sandy soil. For this the families/ houses sums up an amount of 10000-12000 Rs. for development of one such bore pump. 

These shared facilities and alternatives subtly hints at the economic background of the settlement. Another striking thing about this would be the materials and the structural logics that the people are using. The materials are usually scavenged from their place of work (construction site) such as bamboss, tarps, plastic banners, gi sheets, etc. These are generally available of some standard sizes and theres little that you can do with these materials. Overlapping of all these materials by tieing them or fixing them results in the end house that one sees covered with tarps which are as temporal as they can be. 

SOCIO-SPATIAL RELATIONS

The life of the people of the sewage basti happens more on the outside rather than the inside.The inside of the house is a very small space which can’t be occupied throughout the day due to lack of ventilation and electricity. The mornings are the times when the women of the house are observed to be in the house cooking lunches to be carried by her husband to the site, taking care of her kid and other household tasks whereas the men of the house are involved in personal activities such as bathing, having tea and getting ready to go to the site. Usually all the members of the family go to the site (construction site) for work.

The afternoons are usually a slow movement of people where the women who do not go for work are observed sitting on the outsides of the house or resting on a bed under the tree, filling up water from the handpump and washing clothes and some men gather in groups to chat and rest. Kids are seen playing on the road and in all common spaces. Women then start preparing for the dinner before the sunset as there is no electricity in the house. 

In the evening the labours return back to their houses, bring vegetables from the market and start preparing for dinner, have a bath and bring their children back from the anganwadi. Then they come out of their houses for some socialization with their friends and neighbours.

RENTAL ACCOMMODATION

SITE LOCATION & CONTEXT 

ACTORS NETWORK (CLUSTER)

The construction site is located at Grant Road, Mumbai, and is part of a redevelopment project by the builder Shreepati Skies, which includes a 38-floor building. Some workers live in a nearby transit camp, a G+5 building provided by the developer. Others come from a neighboring slum area, approximately 15-20 minutes away from the construction site, traveling by foot or bus. These workers are migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar. Those living in the transit camp are single male workers who have come alone from their hometowns and share a room with three people. 

MATERIALITY - SERVICES

Initially, the workers lived in the slum, occupying ground-floor structures. However, as the number of workers grew, the slum incrementally expanded to G+2 levels. This expansion was carried out using available materials, such as raising brick walls with the support of C-section channels, applying PCC for flooring, and using GI sheets for roofing. The slum residents face a lack of essential services, with only one common washroom for nearby slum dwellers. Some people are  even forced to use the railway tracks as a washroom.

In contrast, the entire transit camp is built using GI sheets, with approximately 17-18 units on each floor. Each unit has a small ventilation window measuring 0.7 x 0.7 meters, making the environment cramped for the workers. Additionally, the GI sheet material causes extreme heat during summer, making the space unbearably hot and unlivable. Consequently, workers often avoid staying in these units, choosing instead to work overtime or sleep at the construction site. However, the transit camp does have common washrooms on the ground floor with a proper water supply, which is more functional than the slum facilities.

ECONOMICS

The idea of security for people living in slums is closely tied to the arrangement of their belongings, which they store in their homes with a sense of permanence. They often feel the need to install safety doors and take other precautions due to the diverse neighboring communities and castes living together. The narrow alleys in slums, which become inactive during work hours, further contribute to a feeling of insecurity.

On the other hand, people living in transit camps tend to feel more secure, despite having fewer belongings and utensils. This is because they are familiar with each other and share a common background. Though people in both environments may come from similar socio-economic backgrounds, their differing living conditions shape their sense of security, which in turn influences the economy based on their surroundings.

SCALABILITY 

In the past, Mumbai's construction laborers frequently consumed full G+1 rooms in slums.However, due to the increasing population and rising demand for housing, these spacious accommodations have become scarce. Many workers now find themselves sharing a single room within a G+2 building, where the ground floor is typically owned by the landlord and the upper floors are rented out.