Role of social capital and urban informality in avoiding resettlement a case study of kathputli colony

This study is an attempt to understand the role of social capital and urban informality in avoiding resettlement project of DDA’s first in-situ pilot project of Kathputli colony comparing with the Alaknanda camp where the dwellers were forced to resettle based on field work in Delhi. The study is based on the indicators of social capital formulated from the Bourdieu’s theory of social capital (Bourdieu, 1986), urban informality and avoiding resettlement. The finding indicates that in the implementation process the Project affected population had to undergo various loss of both natural and human capital. It plays an important role in avoiding resettlement. Social disintegration is one of the major risks which affects and damages their livelihood and income generation. The most important finding is that dwellers are using legal means and government is using informal means to evict them. The study concludes with the recommendation that the responsible agencies should work for the wellbeing of the people trying to build trust by giving proper information to the dwellers and rule breaking for their own self-interest needs to be avoided.