Housing is critical for the environment

In Mumbai, on Sunday, 31 people died in a series of house collapses after a short burst of intense rain, a tell-tale sign of the climate crisis, triggered landslides. In Haryana’s Faridabad district, protests have continued at Khori Gaon since June 7 when the Supreme Court directed the municipal corporation to take “essential measures” to remove “encroachments” from forest lands. A common thread unites these events — housing poverty. Urban India has struggled with providing proper, adequate and legal housing to citizens that has electricity, water supply, sanitation, and sewage connections. In addition to the homeless, there is a slum population of roughly 65 million (or 17% of urban India).

A safe and climate-sensitive shelter can provide income, security and a future for inhabitants. For poor women, the home plays a critical role in their earning activities, making it a productive asset. In a post-Covid-19 and climate-crisis-hit world, it means better security and health, too, for occupants. Most importantly, legal rights to a house mean that the owner has an identity that the State recognises. To tackle the housing backlog, the Centre launched the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in 2015 that promises to provide housing for all by 2022. To avoid a replay of Mumbai and Faridabad, this programme’s success is crucial in providing homes to all, including those devastated by environmental crises and those displaced to protect the environment.