When New Delhi’s Informal Settlements Make Way For Something ‘Smarter’

On a scorching hot New Delhi day, Mathura Prasad slips through a crack in a brick wall adjacent to a partially constructed elevated highway. He offers his hand to those behind him as they negotiate their way down the precarious makeshift path below.

Soon, they’re walking along another path which cuts across an open drain beneath the unfinished flyover. The drain, full of raw sewage and wild pigs, gives off a stench that can be overwhelming, but it fails to deter the group from moving forward. When they reach the other side, one of the pigs runs by, greeting them with a plume of dust in its wake. If the group follows the dust they may not be able to go more than 15 feet before hitting the fencing of another construction site—this one for a new high-rise apartment complex.