Cuttack is an ancient city which is famous for its Barabati Stadium. It is surrounded by Mahanadi river which is the largest river in Odisha. Although it has the famous Ravenshaw College, Barabati Fort, Deer park and many temples still it has many slums around it. People hail from nearby villages and have got settled in the slums to earn their livlihood. Hairanapur, where we live is among one of those slums. Our parents and grandparents have been living in Puri ghat, Telenga Bazar since 32 years. On 16 June 1988,Government had evicted usand given us space near Sector VI . We have been here since last 30 years. People from different districts like Puri, Nayagarh, Jagatsinghpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Cuttack live here. Ashwini Hospital is the landmark to our basti.
BDA Nilamadhav Basti is 18 years old. The inhabitants of this neighborhood have come from the districts of Khurda and Nayagarh. The first inhabitants of Nilamadhav basti were from Nayagarh district who came to the city in 1998. Gradually people from neighboring areas of Khurda came and settled here. The first few residents of the community named the area as Nilamadhav basti. Due to its proximity to the BDA colony, this neighborhood in course of time, came to be known as BDA Nilamadhav basti. Most of the inhabitants of this neighborhood had come to city in search of livelihood options and settled down here. The residents are mostly engaged in daily wage labor or run petty business. Few also work as auto drivers.
Humara Bachpan Trust (HBT) is a not-for profit organization advocating for safe and healthy living conditions with improved socio-economic status of communities living in poverty.