kathputli colony
THE CASE OF KATHPUTLI COLONY
In 2007, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) began planning for Delhi’s first in-situ slum rehabilitation project. It chose the Kathputli Colony (Kathputli), a jhuggi jhopri (JJ) cluster tucked into West Delhi’s Shadipur region, as the site for this project. In 2009, Raheja—the private developers chosen to undertake the project—announced the construction of Raheja Phoenix, “Delhi's first true skyscraper,” on the current Kathputli Colony plot. With a planned height of 190 metres, Raheja Phoenix is 54 floors of luxury flats, equipped “with sky club and helipad,” according to the developers. The Kathputli in-situ slum rehabilitation is a three-step process. First, the residents of Kathputli who qualify for the project will move from their current settlement in Shadipur to a transit camp. Second, Raheja will raze the JJ cluster and begin the construction of high-rise apartments—and a luxury skyscraper—on site. Finally, within the next three to five years, the transit camp residents will move back into the settlement, next door to Raheja Phoenix. A Brief History of Kathputli
In the early 1970s, a handful of itinerant performers from Rajasthan settled in West Delhi’s Shadipur region. Such artists—primarily puppeteers and musicians—often migrated through the capital, and Shadipur made a convenient location for commuting to performances across the city. Over time, they were joined by a variety of artists from states like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, and together, they began to cohere into a single settlement known as Kathputli after the type of string puppet theatre performed by its residents.
Over the next two decades, during which many surrounding slums were demolished during the 1975-1977 Emergency, the settlement organized around its artistry, forming the Bhule Bhisre Kalakar Cooperative.
It was around this time
In 2007, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) began planning for Delhi’s first in-situ slum rehabilitation project. It chose the Kathputli Colony (Kathputli), a jhuggi jhopri (JJ) cluster tucked into West Delhi’s Shadipur region, as the site for this project. In 2009, Raheja—the private developers chosen to undertake the project—announced the construction of Raheja Phoenix, “Delhi's first true skyscraper,” on the current Kathputli Colony plot. With a planned height of 190 metres, Raheja Phoenix is 54 floors of luxury flats, equipped “with sky club and helipad,” according to the developers. The Kathputli in-situ slum rehabilitation is a three-step process. First, the residents of Kathputli who qualify for the project will move from their current settlement in Shadipur to a transit camp. Second, Raheja will raze the JJ cluster and begin the construction of high-rise apartments—and a luxury skyscraper—on site. Finally, within the next three to five years, the transit camp residents will move back into the settlement, next door to Raheja Phoenix. A Brief History of Kathputli
In the early 1970s, a handful of itinerant performers from Rajasthan settled in West Delhi’s Shadipur region. Such artists—primarily puppeteers and musicians—often migrated through the capital, and Shadipur made a convenient location for commuting to performances across the city. Over time, they were joined by a variety of artists from states like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, and together, they began to cohere into a single settlement known as Kathputli after the type of string puppet theatre performed by its residents.
Over the next two decades, during which many surrounding slums were demolished during the 1975-1977 Emergency, the settlement organized around its artistry, forming the Bhule Bhisre Kalakar Cooperative.
It was around this time