Behind the green ‘screens’ put up allegedly by civic authorities in the heart of Visakhapatnam — at the onset of a G20 meeting in the city — are the ‘homes’ of over 100 tribal families. Many of them have lived there all their lives. The homes are really just makeshift shanties with asbestos roofs and wooden walls covered in tarpaulin. The colony, named ASR Nagar, has over 400 residents who are forced to make do with only two municipal water taps and one ‘pay and use’ public toilet complex.
About 14 km away, at a sea-facing luxury hotel, delegates from all over the world assembled on March 28 to exchange views on the theme of ‘Financing Cities of Tomorrow: Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable.’ But in ASR Nagar — named after revolutionary leader Alluri Sitarama Raju who fought against British oppression of tribal people and their land rights — authorities from the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) were busy at work, allegedly covering up the harsh living conditions of its tribal residents. The green sheets were the finishing touch to the ‘beautification’ of the city, before hosting the second Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) meeting under India’s G20 presidency. Delegates from over 20 countries attended the two-day event, and by the YSRCP government’s own account, Rs 157 crore was spent on ‘beautifying’ the city, which seemingly includes hiding the state’s failure to provide basic needs and accommodate its citizens with dignity.
It’s a familiar tale — from criminalising beggars in Hyderabad for Ivanka Trump’s visit in 2017 to evicting or concealing the poor in Delhi for the 2010 Commonwealth Games — of cities being given hasty makeovers to appeal to foreign visitors, instead of fixing long-standing problems. And while the unseemly green curtains made headlines for a day, the families they were obscuring have a bigger story to tell — of the city’s hostility towards its tribal residents, the challenges of urban migration, and a years-long struggle for their right to housing and living with dignity.
(A poster of the G20 meeting featuring a tribal community from Visakhapatnam)
ASR Nagar is located on a busy road near Vizag’s Akkayyapalem neighbourhood. When this reporter visited the area on March 28, the 5.5-foot tall green sheets were still up, extending for about 400 metres. Behind the sheets, around 134 families live in temporary shelters, constructed from whichever materials could be obtained for the lowest possible cost to resemble a home.
Nearly 80 of these families belong to the Chenchu tribe classified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Andhra Pradesh. The tribe has a highly concentrated population in Andhra’s Nallamala forests. For the Chenchu families living in ASR Nagar, it has been over 70 years since they moved to Vizag and started living on the land they currently inhabit, one of the residents Avula Polayya told TNM. The remaining families belong to similarly marginalised communities — Kondadevara and Modibanda — but do not possess community certificates and are therefore unable to avail of any government schemes. Many of the residents make a living through rag-picking or other informal work.
In 2018, the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government promised the residents permanent houses constructed by the Andhra Pradesh Township and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (APTIDCO) under a government housing scheme. But until these houses were allotted, the government asked them to go live elsewhere, and razed the tin roof sheds where they had been living for years.
But finding alternative accommodation in the city was a big challenge. “Our culture, occupation and food habits are considered inferior by most property owners. Who would give houses to people who work as rag-pickers and eat pork?” asked Satish, a young man from the community who has been mobilising residents to assert their rights.
With no interim aid from the government, the residents constructed the makeshift structures where they now live, with each family spending around Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000. This new ASR Nagar colony is located only a few metres from the site of the old, razed colony, and the APTIDCO housing project is visible in the distance.
After the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) came to power in 2019, the housing project was briefly stalled as tenders were invited once again and the contractor was changed. While construction was completed last year, the houses still lack basic amenities including water and electricity connections.
Residents said that in spite of making the subsidised payments for the housing scheme ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 4 lakh in some cases — by borrowing from moneylenders in some cases — the houses are yet to come into their possession.
“We have been waiting for the house we were promised for five years now. Every day, I wake up and look at the project building, hoping I can soon move in there with my children. My daughters are grown up now and we need a better home for them," said Mangamma, another resident.
But the wait seems unlikely to end anytime soon. Speaking to TNM, Project Director of the GVMC’s Urban Community Development wing KV Papu Naidu said, “The houses may be allocated to the beneficiaries by April 2023.” However, the beneficiaries believe it is unlikely that the water, electricity and other infrastructure work will be completed that early.
The main road leading to ASR Nagar is lined with tall trees on either side. In the summer, residents often sit in their shade, unable to bear the scorching heat under the tin roofs of their homes. “The rainy season is much worse,” said Nagamma, one of the residents, describing how rainwater drips through gaps in the roofs and walls.
Following an unseasonal spell of rain last week, the mud roads in the colony were waterlogged, and the shanties turned damp. “Many children have fallen sick, and some of them have been diagnosed with typhoid,” Nagamma added, pointing to two bed-ridden children with intravenous tubes pierced into their hands. Another resident mentioned that it was not uncommon for snakes to enter their homes, or for people to suffer heat stroke.
(Waterlogged streets of ASR Nagar)
Speaking about the living conditions in the colony, retired senior bureaucrat and Vizag-based activist EAS Sarma said, “When slum residents are rehabilitated, they must be provided with livelihood options, and sanitation and other facilities that could facilitate their upward mobility in society. None of these has been provided by the government so far.”
Many of the colony’s residents are unlettered and haven’t had any formal education. Only two people have completed a course from an Industrial Training Institute (ITI), while one more person has cleared his Class 10 board exams. An elderly resident said that a dearth of job opportunities has forced one of the ITI trainees to continue rag-picking. However, most children of school-going age are now enrolled in government schools.
Alleging that the state had failed to provide better opportunities for the community, Murikiwadala Nivasula Sankshema Sangham (Slum Residents’ Welfare Association) leader K Ravi said, “The government has to take a special interest in the community considering their social location. The Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) and the state ST Commission have also failed to support them.” Ravi also questioned the government’s use of funds meant for the welfare of tribal communities.
With support from activists and NGOs, a majority of the families have been able to obtain ration cards, making them eligible for government welfare programmes. Many of the Chenchu residents have also been able to obtain their community certificates.
Satish is among the few residents who have managed to avail of a government scheme, with his documents in order. "I was able to get a ration door delivery vehicle at a subsidised price from the ITDA (under an employment guarantee scheme),” Satish said. The job pays about Rs 10,000 per month.
Ravi, who works with the Slum Residents’ Welfare Association in Vizag, alleged that authorities are well aware of the residents’ living conditions, which is why they chose to put up sheets to hide them. “Instead of rectifying the situation, the government tried to hide it,” he said.
When asked about the GVMC’s alleged attempt to hide ASR Nagar during the G20 meeting, Papu Naidu said he was not aware of the incident. TNM has reached out to other senior GVMC officials, and this story will be updated with their response if received.
The residents allege that the green sheets were the GVMC’s last-ditch effort to hide them, after hounding them to leave the place at least thrice over the last six months. According to EAS Sarma, the residents were also asked to vacate the land for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city in November last year, and for the recent Global Investors Summit (GIS) in the first week of March which was attended by many industrial bigwigs. Inviting investors to GIS, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had said that the state capital would soon be shifted to Vizag. The YSRCP government has also been making promises to turn the city into a major Information Technology (IT) hub. A 2021 study by geography scholars from Vizag’s Andhra University attributed the rising population in the city’s slums to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. According to the 2011 census, about 41% of the city’s population was recorded to be slum residents.
A day before the two-day G20 meeting began on March 28, residents allege that GVMC authorities visited ASR Nagar and installed the green sheets. Despite opposition from the residents, officials allegedly went ahead with the work. “We've been living in these conditions for more than four years. Why did they hide us with these sheets? Leaders make tall promises during elections, but all we want are the houses already allotted to us. There would’ve been no need for all of this (signalling to the sheets) if they had just given us our homes,” said Polayya.
Ravi also says that the recent visits from heavyweights were a good opportunity to rehabilitate slum dwellers in the city with dignity, and present it as a success story at the G20 meeting which was ironically focused on financing ‘inclusive’ cities. “Such a move would’ve been commended by all sections of society. Instead, the government is hiding its failures behind these sheets,” he said.
The green sheets, which were meant to hide the residents of ASR Nagar, have instead thrust them into the limelight. Satish is now tired of having to detail his community’s migration to Vizag, and having to substantiate their status as long-term citizens. “When our grandparents moved here 70 years ago, the city wasn’t this big. It grew along with us, and we have been a part of its development,” he said.
Watch: Vizag hides tribal residents from G20 visitors after neglecting their rights
This reporting is made possible with support from Report for the World, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.