Paper short abstract:

Kalyani Municipality implemented a sanitation project changing its dynamics of managing land and perception of land tenure in the slums. By examining the means used to do so, the paper aims to understand the implication of adopting informal means to challenge formal systems and access formal rights.

Paper long abstract:

The paper explores the informal 'means' or approaches adopted by the Kalyani municipality in the state of West Bengal (India) to challenge the unconstitutional limiting of its powers by the state government using a voluntary sanitation project and the resultant dilemma regarding legitimacy of land tenure in two of its slums. By understanding the kind of sanctions imposed upon the municipality, the nature and the policy-level requirements of the sanitation project and the informal 'links' or networks among people, groups and organisations; that were developed to support the programme, an effort has been made to understand the degree to which an urban local body can impact the established land administration system in Kalyani and its resultant effect on the understanding of land tenure system in the two slums. It is found that not only did informal means of the municipality help instill faith in the slum communities; it also triggered voluntary slum development initiatives and a strengthened perception of legitimacy of their land tenure. This has further led to implementation of other state-funded projects in the slums, that in the past, required legal land ownership. From a planner's perspective, this has introduced another dimension in the land administration of the city and the way land tenure functions in the informal settlements of Kalyani. With sanitation being one of the national priorities and a recently declared human right, the study provides an insight into how informal means are adopted by formal agencies to access formal rights and further challenge formal regulations.