Auroville, utopian city in southern India, threatened by bulldozers

Auroville, a utopian community in southern India, developed with the support of Unesco.

AFP - ARUN SANKAR

Text by: Sébastien Farcis Follow

2 mins

Sponsored by Unesco, this city founded in 1968 wanted to teach men and women to live in peace beyond all beliefs, political opinions and nationalities.

The administration appointed by the federal government imposes radical changes in this city to the collective management, which could call into question its ideals. 

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From our correspondent in India

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The secretary of the Auroville foundation, newly appointed by the federal government to take care of the co-management of the city, orders the destruction of several community buildings as well as the cutting of many trees to build a road through the city.

This, she says, is intended to speed up the realization of the plans for the city, drawn up by its founders 50 years ago.

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The bulldozers suddenly arrive, but hundreds of residents are united to oppose this decision, which they believe is illegal and arbitrary.

The resistance lasted for days, but the bulldozers finally forced their way through and demolished entire sections of this magnificent forest of Auroville.

And by this confrontation, it is the founding bases of Auroville that are affected.

The management of Auroville is unique;

an act of the Indian Parliament establishes a collective administration of the city, and decisions are made in agreement between the foundation and the various assemblies of residents.

It is one of the democratic ideals of Auroville which has attracted intellectuals from all over the world and given rise to innovative projects of collective life.

However, the new secretary of the foundation believes that she has the power to impose her views, and refuses to recognize the various votes of the residents who condemned her decisions by an overwhelming majority.

The government wants to make Auroville a tourist destination

The inhabitants therefore took legal action, and the regional court of appeal ruled in their favor in August, thus invalidating several decisions of the secretary.

The federal environmental court has also frozen certain earthworks projects, but each time, the federal official is appealing these decisions.

And the confrontation continues.  

The secretary says she wants to expand this town of Auroville, and multiply its population by five in three years.

It thus literally resumes the initial development plans, which envisaged accommodating 50,000 people.

But this is an ideal, and cannot be forced, because such a rapid demographic expansion is difficult to absorb if we want to maintain the ideals of this community.

According to the residents, imposing a sudden influx would radically change the spirit of Auroville to make it simply a place of spiritual and ecological tourism, and no longer a space of democratic and ecological innovation.

► To listen: Auroville, this utopian city with realistic projects

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