The Work of the Anjuman Samaji Behbood and the Larger Faisalabad Context

In September 1988, Diana Mitlin of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), UK, suggested that I carry out a study on the scaling up of the Orangi Pilot Project (OPP). I informed her that I was already involved in such a study for the UNDP-World Bank Water & Sanitation Programme for South Asia, but I would be interested in looking at the growth patterns and service provisions in Faisalabad from the point of view of communities and other interest groups. Faisalabad is the third largest city in Pakistan and an important industrial centre. I further suggested that I could relate my findings to the work of the Anjuman Samaji Behbood (ASB), an NGO replicating the OPP model in the low income settlements of the city. IIED agreed to give financial support for this undertaking.

My colleagues, Architect Salim Alimuddin (joint director OPP-RTI), Akbar Zaidi (economist and researcher) and myself spent about a week in Faisalabad in March and April 1998, talking to government officials, community members, informal developers, contractors, shopkeepers and NGOs so as to sketch a picture of the city, its problems and future potential for development work. A list of people and organisations whom we met is given in Appendix – 1. Earlier, Architect Asiya Sadiq and myself spent four days as part of the UNDP-World Bank Orangi Replication study, the findings of which form part of section 5 of this report. These four days were spent with the ASB in their Project Area, talking to their staff, area activists and community members. Our research work has been aided by the fact that I and Salim Aleemuddin have carried out previous research on Faisalabad in 1989 and have worked closely with the ASB since 1994. The reason for involving a number of people in this research work was to acquaint them with conditions in Faisalabad so that they could take up further research independently of each other in the future, and also to create a group that shared a common knowledge base and work methodology.

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