Necessity of community participation in the process of resettlement to improve WATSAN facilities: A study of Indian urban poor women of Madanpur Khadar

The process of slum demolition in order to marginalize the poor has resulted in the eviction of India's largest urban population. Many poor families have been shipped out of the city's leading to increase in the hardships of urban poor. They face the brunt of lack of proper water and sanitation facilities. In urban areas people belonging to rich sections of the society can always access water and sanitation facilities, however it's the poor who are suffering due to the lack of these basic amenities. They spend quality time and a large portion of their monthly income in accessing them. The women are the main sufferers as their physical hardship, vulnerability to problems increases with the absence of water and sanitation. Although, various initiatives in the form of policies and programmes have been taken to provide these basic amenities, which however fail to achieve the desired goal. One of the reasons is the lack of community awareness and participation. The community should be involved from the very first step of programme planning as it gives them a sense of responsibility and ensures better success rate and sustainability. Moreover, the gender perspective of the problem needs to be understood as women suffer the most as a result of the problems arising due to lack of WATSAN facilities.