This project aims to improve the living conditions of inhabitants in the Chamundi Nagar slum of Bangalore, India by addressing water and sanitation issues. The key problems are lack of access to clean drinking water, inadequate sanitation facilities, and flooding during monsoons. The proposed solutions include collecting rainwater from rooftops to store in a central reservoir, installing additional water tanks, building more toilets, and creating a system to treat and drain wastewater to address health, productivity, and flooding concerns. The goal is to empower the community and strengthen social ties while reducing dependence on outside services.

1. This project for the slum of Chamundi Nagar, is based on an analysis of the
principal needs of its inhabitants. My objective is to improve the everyday
life of its inhabitants by proposing another approach than the destruction
of their habitat in order to rehouse them in apartment buildings. Buildings
that do not correspond to their way of life and present many defects like
loosing the direct relation with the outside spaces and the social relations
it represents, as well as being build in such cramped ways that they don’t
even offer natural light or sufficient air ventilation for some of them.
Of course slums are facing many problems. Man thinks always first about
the size and the quality of their housing as being their main default. But
many examples show that these populations are quite capable of building
themselves decent houses when they have the means to do so.Another
consideration about these slums is by seeing families of 4 to 5 people
sharing a single space of 20 m2, that they absolutely need more space to
live. But we forget that the traditional homes in the rural parts where
these populations come from, are often not bigger even if they have the
materials means and space to make them bigger. More, it is socially normal
in India for a same family to live and sleep in the same space.
During this semester developing a project for the slum of Chamundi
Nagar, my analysis of the situation has brought me to ask myself what was
the main thing the inhabitants thereof were missing. I noted that the
principal problems to which they were confronted were linked to the
water.Therefore the goal of my project, after having determined which
were the main needs of the inhabitants of the slum of Chamundi Nagar,
consist in proposing to improve their daily life by implementing functional
solutions.
2011 2014
railway
metro (under construction)
highway ring
introduction
10km
city of Bangalore
ON SITE FOR SITE
water course, lakes and tanks
parks
site: Chamundi Nagar slum
SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE
SLUM OF CHAMUNDI NAGAR - BANGALORE
52.50
main radial roads
Prof. Florinel Radu, directeur de thèse
Haris Piplas, expert externe
Prof. Ursula Stuecheli, expert JMA
étudiant: Emmanuel Nijenhuis
2010
The slum of Chamundi Nagar is composed of small
constructions of one storey high and about 20 m2, built with
bricks and covered with asbestos roof.The families, which are
living in, consist on an average of 4 to 5 persons living all in the
same room. Inside these houses there is generally a space to
cook and a space to wash. Laundry and dishwashing as well as
cooking when there is not enough space inside are done
outside in front or around the houses.
The homes in the slum are mostly officially connected to the
electrical network and many even own a television. It is easy to
noticing it because of all the satellite dishes installed on the
roofs.
Most of the children are schooled, their education being a
priority for theses populations seeing through it the only way
to escape their social condition.
The men of the slum are mainly daily workers in the
construction sites or the factories situated in this part of the
town, and many are also rickshaw drivers.Women are mainly
hired as house made by the middle class living around the slum.
As it is often the case for the poorer populations, their
economical activities are strongly linked to their location.
Displacing them outside of town, as many programs for the
poor have done before, would mean loosing their means of
survival.
general life
conditions
Since 2011 the authorities have undertaken the construction
of buildings to relocate the inhabitants of the slum. In order to
do this they have moved the inhabitants in temporary shelters
on the other side of the site until the buildings would be
finished.
But by today, the construction of the new buildings as been
stopped. Indeed the development plan of the city (CDP 2015)
was foreseeing the creation of a green area on this plot where
the slum is located.Thus, the owners of the nearby plots,
hoping to see an increase in the value of their plot brought the
problem to the courts, requiring that the slum should be
dismantled and the park built. But their chance in winning the
case seems very small because the new national directives
don’t allow the displacement of slum populations anymore.
Unfortunately the construction of these rehabilitation buildings
has created a new split between the parts of the slum.Today
this separation is not only social but also physical because a
pile of dirt cuts the buildings from the rest of the slum.
evolution and actual
status
rehabilitation buildings
temporary shelters during construction
site of temporary shelters after their demolition
between new buildings and the slum
middle income housing around the slum
housing type in the slum
electrical connection
many are rickshaw drivers
tv in the house
topography
watercourse along the site
land use CDP 2015
residential
public utility
park
commercial
site evolution

2. millionlitersperday
500
1000
1500
2000
1991 2001 2007 2011 2025
water demand and supply gap in Bangalore (BWSSD, 2007)
evolution of the built surface and the diminution of waterbodies in Bangalore
1992 2001
more than 10% of the world
population have no access to safe
water (WHO/UNICEF, 2013)
in slums only 37% of the population
have no access to safe water
(WHO/UNICEF, 2013)
2010
cascading lake system of Bangalore
people defecating in the open in the world
Sudan 17m
Nigeria 33m
Pakistan 48m
Ethiopia 49m
China 50m
Indonesia 58m
India,
638m
access to sanitation for slum dwellers of
Bangalore
10% share
public toilets
8% have toilets
at home
USA France Mumbai slum
600
average water consumption per capita per day
According to a report published in 2013 by the WHO and the
UNICEF, 768 million people in the world don’t have a direct
access to a clean water source. In the cities, only 75% of the
population has an access to drinking water, and it is suspected
that the inhabitants of the slums are only 37% to have this
chance.
The consequences of this lack of drinking water are huge.As a
matter of fact, still according to the WHO, more than 20% of the
illnesses contracted in developing countries are linked to the
poor quality of the water.The most widespread illness linked to
the water quality in the world is diarrhoea, killing more than 1.8
million people in the world each year. It is also the second child
mortality cause (WHO, 2013).And it is sufficient to have an
access to clean water to avoid these illnesses.
the water
problematic
150
90
40
The water supply is one the main problem that the city of
Bangalore has to face. Indeed, Bangalore is one of the rare
megalopolis that has not been built by a body of water such as a
lake, a river or the seaside. Historically, the city depended on a
system of interconnected reservoirs built using the topography
of the hills and valleys, characteristic of the region. But the
development of the city and the arrival of channeled water
brought the neglect of the reservoirs and the drains feeding
them. Many have been filled to build new neighborhoods and
the remaining reservoirs were polluted because the drains were
used to evacuate wastewater.As a consequence, the number of
lakes in Bangalore decreased from 262 in 1961 to 82 today and
most of them are badly polluted.
The water provisioning of Bangalore today depends mainly on
the pumping of the river Kavery situated about a 100 km away.
But this source is by far not covering the needs in water of the
city, which undergoes numerous cuts and an alternated water
supply depending on the days and the hours.
And this situation is going to be even worse in the coming years.
Indeed the development of India and the improved economic
conditions of its inhabitants leads to an increase in their water
consummation for domestic needs.As it can be seen in the
world, the wealthier populations consume much more water.
Thus an American consumes an average 600l per day, a
Canadian 250l and a French 150l. In India the average is 90l per
day while it is estimated that slum dweller consumes at most 40l
per day.
provision
The access to the water is one of the most important problems,
which the inhabitants of Chamundi Nagar have to face.Actually,
the entire population of the slum, telling more than a 1000
inhabitants, is depending on one public tap located at the foot of
the rehabilitated buildings.They thus all have to carry this water
to their house or apartment. Furthermore, the public water
network in this neighbourhood is only supplied every other day
and this from 6am to 6 pm.The inhabitants are therefore storing
this water in containers and barrels in order to have enough for
their daily needs.To this we can add the fact that this water is
not drinkable and can only be used for domestic use or boiled
to be consumed.The inhabitants of Chamundi Nagar mostly buy
their drinking water or have to go and get it at the bus stop,
which is situated at the south end of the slum.There we find a
small filtration station, which is also supplied by the public
network and is thus only working one out of two days.
The access to improved sanitations is also a big problem in the
world and in India.As an estimated 1.1 billion people in the
world have to defecate in the open, 600 million of them live in
India. In 2010, the UNN (United Nation University) published a
report on India demonstrating that more people have a mobile
phone than an access to water closets. Indeed India is described
by some people as the most important open toilet of the world.
More than 69% of the population in rural India defecate in the
open and 18% of the urban population.The case of the slum
population in Bangalore is even worse as only 8% have toilets at
home, 10% use shared or public toilets and 82% defecate in the
open. But even more problematic than the smell and the view of
these excrements, the lack of latrines and treatments of the
wastewater is the principal source of water pollution and thus of
the illnesses that this water contains. (graphs open defecation)
The Indian authorities have of course tried many times to
improve the sanitary installations of the slums through different
programs and developing systems, mainly by installing public
toilet blocks. Sadly in a huge majority of the cases, it has been
observed that the lack of maintenance of these infrastructures
had completely undermined all the efforts.
Bangalore water provision
water in Chamundi
Nagar
access to water
Although the inhabitants have generally organized zones inside
or around their homes in which they wash, do the laundry or do
the dishes, the slum only has around 15 water closets for the
1000 inhabitants living there.These toilets have been built by
several families who share the use of them.
The others are forced to relieve themselves outdoors around
the slum or to go to the paying public toilets at the bus station.
When they have enough space for it, the inhabitants of
Chamundi Nagar have a room in their home for their personal
hygiene. Doing the dishes, the laundry and even showering when
there isn’t enough space inside are done outside in front or in
between the houses where they build a kind of basin on the
floor with concrete edges.The wastewater of the slum is then
directly dumped in the watercourse along the site. During the
dry periods of the year, this watercourse is almost only filled
with the wastewater causing really strong smells.
sanitation
sanitation
public toilets in India
people defecating in the open rural India people defecating in the open urban India
washing area in frot of a house
water points around the slum
toilets within the slum
public toilets and open field used by the slum dwellers
public tap by the new building
water filter by the bus stop
shower place between houses in the slum
jan.
feb.
mar.
apr.
mai
jun
jul.
aug.
sep.
oct.
nov.
dec.
rain precipitation in Bangalore
(mm)
Most of the Chamundi Nagar slum is protected by a retaining
wall running along the watercourse. But in different places this
wall is broken.This causes several houses situated in the lower
parts of the site close to the watercourse, to be flooded during
the important rainfall of the monsoon.
In addition, while some of the paths in the slum are equipped
with a drain covered with concrete plates for the evacuation of
the rainwater, other are only dirt and become almost impossible
to use during monsoon and are completely eroded.
flood risk
58% 82%
18%69%
1 7 16 32 104 78 106 119 244 127 52 19

3. The improvement of the water infrastructures of the Chamundi
Nagar slum can significantly change the everyday life of its
population. Really well beyond being a comfort, water and
sanitary installations are a necessity. Having an access to drinking
water can help thtem avoid many illnesses increasing the days
they can go to work and thus increasing their earnings.A direct
water supply at home would also allow the women generally
responsible of transporting the water to gain many hours spent
to get it and waiting in the queues. But my intervention tries to
preserve the social contacts that are present in the women’s
water duty in India.
As well, the implication of the community will permit to create a
new community dynamic around a common objective
strengthening the relations between the inhabitants and their will
to improve their life conditions.
According to a study, there is no developing intervention that
has a more important impact than the improvement of the
sanitary system.We can than estimate that for every invested
dollar, 9 dollars turn back to the national economy by increasing
the productivity and by reducing the healthcare costs.
the project
means
My project consists thus in creating and improving all the
infrastructures linked to the water in the Chamundi Nagar slum.
By maximally using the resources present on site, diminishing in
this way the dependence of the inhabitants to public services,
and creating a system that has no impact on the environment
and the rest of the city. My project begins by the creation of a
rainwater collector to provide all the inhabitants of the slum
during the whole year, than to place reservoirs filled by the
public services to provide the homes in water for the everyday
domestic use.Then I propose to create as many water closets as
possible in the slum, reducing in this way the number of users
ensuring a better maintenance and a better hygiene. Finally, I
propose the establishment of the evacuation and the treatment
of the wastewater directly on the site, rejecting only clean water
in the watercourse. (shéma système)
aim
The roofs of the rehabilitation buildings represent an ideal
surface for the collection of rainwater. Bangalore receiving about
970 mm of rainwater per year, we estimate that more than 80%
of it can be collected, filtered and stocked.A first filtration will
allow to clean the water from the particles present in the air,
than a second filtration done with a manually powered pump
will make this water perfectly drinkable.
In order to stock as much water as possible, a reservoir of about
600m3 shall be created.The emerging part will be covered with
a roof to create shadow.This platform will serve as a community
center where we come to get water but also where the
inhabitants can meet and assemble.
The rainwater collecting represents thus the principal element
common to both parts of the site.The reservoir being placed
between the two parts of the site, are very accurate to create a
new place of meeting and sharing, binding the inhabitants in a
common project again.
rainwater harvesting
In order to provide for the water needs of the inhabitants to
wash, do the laundry or the dishes, I propose to install reservoirs
on a metallic structure above the trading shops situated along
the road.These reservoirs are of the same type as the ones
present on the roofs of the buildings and allow to stock water to
provide for the water needs during the days the network is not
supplied by the city. By their position upstream of the site, they
allow also to have some pressure in the houses situated on a
lower level.The sharing of this reservoir by the different parts of
the slum represents a common project as well which has to be
developed and maintained.
tanks implementation
As I have said previously, certain paths in the slum are only made
of dirt. I propose then to reorganize the paths and take
advantage of this reorganization to ad to them the different
connections. In this way the paths will be equipped with the
following elements: a drain serving as a rainwater collector to
pour them in the watercourse, the supply in clean water for the
houses coming from the reservoirs as well as a sewage system
to collect the wastewater for an ulterior treatment.The
installation of a sewage system to bring the wastewater to the
place where it can be treated, allows me to create a walking path
along the now clean watercourse, linking in this way the different
parts of the site and increasing the added value of this
watercourse.
enhancement of the paths
and connection of the
houses
The Indian authorities experiences in installing communal water
closets have often been a failure. Indeed the lack of maintenance,
the theft of the devices and of the materials has often reduced
to nothing all the investments that had been made.As there is
not enough water, I have also considered the possibility to uses
dry toilets. But this solution is culturally difficult to be accepted in
India. In effect, the lowest castes were always given the task of
manipulating human excrements and were therefore victims of
aggravated discriminations.As of today, when the government
tries to abolish this caste system, it seems difficult to have the
populations accept a dry toilet system that has to be emptied
and evacuated regularly.
The best solution occurred to me to be to give the inhabitants
the possibility to install toilets (poor flush toilets) in front or
between their homes. In this way they can share a toilet
between 2 or 3 families, dividing the maintenance costs and
ensuring a better hygiene of these toilets.
toilet creation
10m52.50
10m52.50
elevation on the drinking water tank and community center
elevation on a path of the slum
domestic water tank added toiletsclear water and sewage drains sewage drainage rainwater evacuation
water tank excess water
evacuation in the
watercourse
reed bed water
treatment
sceptic tank for
decantation
houses + toilets
connected to clear
water and sewage
domestic water tankdrinking water tank hand water pump and
second filtration
coal and sand first
filtration
rooftop water
harvesting
drinking water tank hand water pump rooftop water
harvesting
the system

4. The wastewater is then treated by a reed bed system.The water
is slowly drained through the roots of the reeds being thus
purified.The advantage of this system is that everything happens
below the ground and does not create bad smells. In the
meantime these reeds create a beautiful landscape element
around which I organized a walking path and benches to enjoy
the park. I use the opportunity to create a footbridge above the
watercourse that will facilitate the access for the people living on
the other side.This park will then be accessible to all the
inhabitants of the neighborhood and will then be a new
common element promoting social contact.This park also offers
a compromise in the conflict opposing the inhabitants of the
slum to the surrounding inhabitants.
the a park around the reed
bed and the tank
The wastewater that is collected is brought to a septic tank in
order to be decanted before being treated.Again, the structure
of this septic tank is covered with a roof and can be used as an
educational center to sensitize the children to the importance of
the water and its conservation. It can also be used as a
community center for all the inhabitants of the surroundings for
discussions and meeting between the different communities.
wastewater treatment and
educational center
This basin is being inspired by the water reservoirs that are to be
found all around India. Indeed in the Indian culture, it is estimated
that the cosmos and the nature are directly linked to the human
existence.The influence of this belief can be seen in the
architecture (Gast, 2007). In this way, the Indians have been
respectful of their environment during centuries and were
integrating this notion in their traditional constructions.Typical
principles resulted from it like the use of local and long lasting
materials or the recuperation of rainwater. India with its arid
climate had developed throughout history an incredible mastery
of constructions and hydrological systems. But this environmental
conscience has slowly been forgotten, driving to a huge burden
on the natural resources and to the degradation of the
environment. In this manner, when India is packed with
monumental reservoirs, most of these reservoirs built to stock
rainwater are abandoned or filled with waste. (photo basin
traditionnel)
At last, in the goal to make this project even more coherent, I
propose a renaturation of the watercourse that flows along the
slum of Chamundi Nagar.The city of Bangalore already started a
vast operation to save its lakes and rivers. It seems thus logical to
do the same for this watercourse before pouring clean water in
it. By this reshape of the banks of the river, we can also protect
the houses, which are exposed to floods.This operation could by
the way employ the inhabitants of the slum and give them an
additional economical activity.Then, living close to this drain, they
would be more able to watch its state and to maintain it.
the tank
renaturation of the water
course
Finally, it is important to underline that this project is yet only a
proposition and would necessitate an important participatory
establishment with the inhabitants of the slum before it's
possible implementation.
But such a project as the advantage of not only gathering the
inhabitants of a slum around a common project, but also to
serve the interests of all the city as well.As a result I think that
this kind of solutions adapted to a precise location can improve
the life quality of the inhabitants of the slums by integrating them
in the urban life.Accordingly it could prove to the other
inhabitants of the city that these populations can be an asset for
the urban society.
I am of course conscious that such an intervention comes with a
cost. But a collaboration of the different concerned organizations
could make such a project possible.Actually the water service,
the regional and national programs for the rehabilitation of the
slums like the BSUB (Basic Service for the Urban Poor) or the
JnNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission),
have funds to invest in this kind of projects.This is thus a
proposition, a pilot project, proposing a way to invest these
public funds in the most judicious way.
conclusion: advantages and
limitations
elevation on the sceptic tank and educational center
10m52.50
50m100
reed bed alimentation
25