BALIJHARA, PARADEEP

UDRC began working alongside communities in the slums of Paradeep during the 2001 super cyclone that devastated the State. Slum dwellers in the city have a particularly volatile relationship with the Paradeep Port Trust, a central government authority which owns most of the land in the city that is occupied by slum dwellers. When the Port Trust wanted to move households who had settled on their land, UDRC negotiated an alternative resettlement plan in which the federations would identify land, complete household surveys and move families without resistance, if the Port would provide land with possession rights and basic infrastructure. Resettlement began in 2003 and to date, over 1000 slum dwellers have been resettled in Balijhara, in phases. One of the biggest outcomes of the process has been the transformation of the relationship between the port trust and the slum dwellers to one of partnership and pro-active solution-making.

2004