First a note on Darmesh. Attend any effort to save abandoned animals, trees and people in Chennai, you will find Darmesh there. This extremely intelligent, exceptionally hard-working and very young man has taken it upon himself to voice the rights of the voiceless. I never found out what he does for a living. But I saw him working with People for Animals, at a meeting to spread information on RTI and now taking an active part in spreading information on the Chennai Master Plan. Here is a mail from him.
INVITATION
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority’s (CMDA) second draft master plan will decide the fate of Chennai city and its residents for the next two decades. Even while a sham consultation is ongoing on a shoddy master plan, the city’s landscape is set to become even more hostile for economically weaker sections through the JNNURM projects. Nearly Rs.44,000 Crores will be invested over the next 8 years for various infrastructure and developmental schemes/projects. The majority of this money will go towards widening roads and building flyovers for automobile owners, while bus services, education, and other infrastructure that will benefit all citizens will receive very little funding. The plans primarily supposed to benefit the poor of the city have however fallen short of its expectations. Most of the data is nearly a decade old and in some cases even manufactured to fit into the proposed ideas under the plans.
What will Chennai look like, who will the new ‘development’ benefit and whom will it harm, who will be heard and who will decide what’s the best for us? Agencies representing the software industry, the real estate sector and other corporate houses have made clear demands and presented vision papers to the Government. But no such consolidated vision has emerged from the city’s working class communities, the poor or those who work amongst them.
What would the city need to look like if the aspirations of the city’s poor are to be addressed? What forms should consultations take to assimilate and articulate these aspirations? What role could community groups, voluntary organisations and public-spirited individuals play in enabling this process? These questions define the agenda of the meeting proposed to be held on 14 July, 2007. We invite your organization to participate in planning the future course of the campaign and to challenge the JNNURM and the CMDA Master Plan in its current anti-poor form.
The agenda for the meeting:
Session I (1:30pm to 2:30pm):
Understanding the JNNURM and the CMDA Second Master Plan -
Mr. Louis Menezes and Mr. Devasahayam.
Session II (3:00pm to 4:30pm):
Presentations on areas of prime impact:
i) Shelter and Evictions – Ossie Fernandes, Human Rights Foundation
ii)Transport – Parimala Jayanthi, Penn Thozhilargal Sangam
iii)Health – Dr. Rakhal Gaitohnde, Community Health Cell Chennai
iv) Water – R. Srinivasan, Pudu Vellam
v) Livelihood – Sujata Mody, Penn Thozhilargal Sangam
vi) Environment – Nityanand Jayaraman, Journalist and Environmentalist
Session III – Opportunities (4:30pm to 6:00):
Discussion with panel; moderated by Dr. Rakhal Gaithonde, Community Health Cell, Chennai.
DATE: 14th July 2007, Saturday
TIME: 1:30pm to 6pm
VENUE: Madras Institute of Development Studies
79, Second Main Road, Gandhinagar, Adyar
Chennai – 600020
For more information Contact Dharmesh Shah 9444416546.
The Hindu published a critique on the first draft of the Master Plan. It was written by Bharat Jayraj of Consumer Action Group. He too had highlighted the facts raised by Darmesh here.
