Page 81 - Annual Report

Transformative

Journeys

Every Parichaya has a happy

story of its own

Dense population, informal settlements, crowded Today, more than 500 Parichayas are built within out livelihood activities. In addition, we are also
houses with shared basic amenities and now the the locality of the slums. This has changed the using the space for social functions…. the open play
pandemic bringing its own set of problems; every entire landscape of the slum areas as well as the areas for children that have been developed beside
day is a new struggle for the people living in the lives of the people. The Parichayas can be accessed the Parichayas, are very helpful for the women to
slums of Odisha. This state has over 2,919 slums of by every family and community and are used for keep a watch on their kids playing while they work
which more than 1,500 are densely populated. A various meetings, social functions and in the community space. The other residents share
survey revealed an unsettling fact that in 87% of income-generating activities. The development of her sentiments and opine that the Parichayas have
these slums, one room was shared by more than these Parichayas along with the implementation of not only helped in upgrading the lifestyle of slum
three individuals. Such living conditions are other upgrades have contributed to making the dwellers but also proved to becoming a platform for
conducive for the spread of Coronavirus, as it slum areas of Odisha safer, while helping ease the entrepreneurial development of Women Self
becomes impossible for these slum dwellers to overcrowding and promoting the importance of a Help Groups.
abide by the Covid-19 guidelines; be it practising healthy lifestyle during the current pandemic. Odisha Liveable Habitat Project has been
social distancing or home quarantine. To change
A beneficiary from the Maa Mangala Basti, instrumental in saving the lives of the most
this grim reality, the Tata Trusts partnered with the
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Smt. Asha vulnerable and provided an unprecedented
Government of Odisha to uplift the quality of life of
Mani Padhihari expressed her appreciation for the opportunity to make other cities in India
the slum dwellers under the Odisha Liveable
Parichayas, “ We now have a proper place to carry more inclusive.
Habitat Project. This was the beginning of a new
and better tomorrow for them.
The main focus of this project was to provide
possible solutions by promoting public safety and
improving the aesthetics of the slums. That’s when
the idea of ‘Parichaya – A multipurpose community
centre’ was born. The Trusts team developed
prototype designs and estimates for the Parichayas
and shared them with the city officials, who were
then trained for the execution of the project. The
Parichayas were designed keeping important
factors in mind, like adequate ventilation and
storage facilities, along with easy maintenance.
Since most of these projects were implemented by
the Slum Dweller Associations, capacity building
and providing handholding support were some of
the critical activities undertaken by the Tata Trusts
Project Team and Jaga Fellows.

11 SUSTAINABLE
CITIES AND
COMMUNITIES
PROJECT ALIGNS Kids playing around the newly developed open space while the members of Slum Dwellers’ Associations
WITH SDG conduct a meeting at the Parichaya in the Maa Mangala Basti of Bhubaneswar city

ANNUAL REPORT 2020-21 74