Unbalanced URBANIZATION in INDIA
The consequences are more severe and it lead to The process of urbanization is preceding a pace without commensurate growth in industrialization and the rise in the level of overall economic development. Unplanned urban growth, for instance causes growth of slums and squatter settlements, varying effects on environmental degradation and increased burden on existing infrastructure. The general problems which are the byproduct of certain kind of urbanization characteristic of low income countries are:
1. Shortage of
houses
2.
Critical inadequacies in public utilities, power, water, health facilities
3.
Deteriorating urban environment, urban unemployment, congestion
4. Acute
poverty
5. Slums proliferation
Shortage of Houses
The problem that perhaps causes the most concern to a majority of urban dwellers is that of finding an appropriate place to live in. According to Tenth Five Year Plan the nation needed twenty two million additional houses. Inadequate housing that forces more than fifty percent of our population in some metropolis to live in slums, all these severely decrease the quality of life and lower the wellbeing of urban population (Approach Paper for 11th Plan-Govt. of India).
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| Shortage of Houses in Urban Areas |
Critical Inadequacies in Public Utilities
Massive problem have emerged due to rapid growth of urban population without a corresponding increase in urban infrastructure like safe drinking water, preventive health services, sanitation facility, adequate power supply and provisioning of basic amenities. Minimum basic facility is also not available for many cities. The existing urban health services are under tremendous pressure to meet the demands of all needy people. The quality of life for the bulk of urban population involves many avoidable hardships. Poor urban infrastructure, congested roads, poor public transport, improper treatment of sewage, uncollected solid waste are the general feature of urban settlements. According to Urbanization report of World Bank only fifty eight percent of urban population of India has access to improved sanitation facilities.
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| Crowd in Mumbai's Local Rail |
Deteriorating Urban Environment
India is the world's fifth-largest producer of global warming gas and emissions (USA leads the race). The problem of pollution is more severe in big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. In India, urban areas are more developed and industrialized than the rural areas, and this attracts still more people to the urban areas. Thus there is more pressure on facilities like transport services, housing and drainage facilities, as well as more production of other goods required by the urban population, which in turn results in the release of large amounts of wastes and pollutants. The rapid growth in urban population, which affects patterns of production and consumption, is a principal source of pressure on the environment. The environment has to sustain the basic human needs for survival and also the conversion of raw materials into products and services. Urban centers and mega-cities in particular cause many environmental problems like the declining and contaminated water supplies, accelerating atmospheric pollution, severely inadequate sanitation facilities and enormous quantities of solid and liquid waste for disposal. A common and general instance that can be cited here is the contamination of water and rising level of toxins in almost all major rivers of India due to heavy disposal of sewage wastes, excreta and chemical wastes. Due to large migration of population to urban areas the threat to the environment becomes inevitable and it not only leads to environmental degradation but also the increasing vulnerability to infectious disease and congestion.
Poverty
Poverty in India can be defined as a situation only when a section of peoples are unable to satisfy the basic needs of life. According to an expert group of Planning Commission, poverty lines in rural areas are drawn with an intake of 2400 calories in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas. If the person is unable to get that minimum level of calories is considered as being below poverty line. In the cities people are suffering from acute poverty and the living conditions is so poor that in one small room all family members are staying and this is common feature of people who are living below poverty line. The speed of population growth and levels of poverty in mega cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad pose immense infrastructural problems.
Slums Proliferation
Rapid urbanizations with lack of adequate housing led to proliferation of slums across cities. The pace of urbanization is not matched by adequate housing and other basic facilities and this resulted in rapid proliferation of slums and slum population. Resulting emergence of uncountable slums and slum dwellers across the mega cities need utmost attention from the government and policy making bodies. In 1981 about thirty million people were living in slums which increased to fifty-five million in 1991 and in 2001 the total number of people living in slum reached to about seventy five million and it is about twenty six percent of total urban population in 2001. In terms of slum population as a percentage of urban population Haryana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra occupied the top three places. If we consider a specific case of the glittering metropolis of Mumbai it appears that 55% of the total population of 11 million is slum dwellers occupying about 12-85% of the city’s total land area (Asha et.al).Data from a study by National Institute of Urban affairs (NIUA) reported that among the poorest cities were Kolkata, Bangalore and Indore. More disturbingly, there was a gender divide in the distribution of urban poor in the slums: NIUA reported that 68% of this group consisted of women. Also notable is the fact that 6 million of this population is in the age group 0-6.It also reveals that the urbanization of the country has created the most brutal and inhuman living conditions of the people, with vast sections of the population living in squatter settlements. People who are living in slums are under conditions of multiple deprivations. They tend to experience the highest rates of unemployment, under-employment, malnutrition, morbidity and mortality. Some other facts are that the crime and social unrest is high in the slum areas. In consequence, the long standing presumption that living conditions are better in larger cities than in the countryside is only true where efficient city management and governance occur (Brockerhoff and Brennan 1998) .Unfortunately, they are lacking in many countries included India.
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| Slum Area in Mumbai,Maharashtra |
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