Slums are an unhappy reality for our country and many others across the world. Over one billion world inhabitants live in slums today and the numbers are climbing. The UN estimates that about 1.4 billion people will be occupying slums by the year 2020. In India the total number of slum dweller totals about 65 million, of which Maharashtra alone accounts for 11 million. Next comes Andhra Pradesh, with a slum population of 10 million, followed by West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, with over 6 million each. The figures are indeed staggering. Slums are a major urban drawback and a huge hurdle in the country’s development.
Within a slum problems are manifold: living conditions are deplorable, crime rate is high, sanitation is poor, child mortality is high, education levels are low and diseases are rampant. But the situation has to be tackled and the issues have to be faced.
Various solutions have been suggested:
Provision of tenancy rights to slum dwellers in order to ensure that their housing is not infringed upon by government agencies. Slum dwellers often fear rehabilitation because it affects their access to means of livelihood. The idea behind ensuring tenure is that once they lose their fear of being evicted, the slum dwellers can work to improve their quality of life. In due course they can purchase the land they currently inhabit.
Building low-cost residences for slum dwellers so that proper housing can ensure their safety and hygiene.
Making clean water available.
Encouraging proper sanitation and waste management.
Controlling pollution levels.
Providing transport facilities.
Arranging for informal education.
Making credit and finance available as per requirement.
Introducing new programmes for income-generation.
Providing a platform for sharing ideas, inputs and experiences.
However, these are only broad guidelines and there can be no single uniform model for urban planning which can be used globally. Slum rehabilitation and upgrading are vital, but each city has certain distinctive political, cultural, environmental and economic factors which determine the extent to which such rehabilitation is feasible. Hence, proper assessment has to be made and prospects evaluated before the problem can be addressed.
Slum dwellers need to made aware of the need for improvement in living conditions, and they must readily involve themselves with every phase of the rehabilitation. Practical and innovative approaches need to be put into practice to integrate slums within the cities. Governments need to pay more attention to slums and make concerted attempts to address this problem proactively. One-seventh of the world’s population is in slums right now. It is indeed time for urgent action. Why can we not hear the alarm bell ring?
- See more at: http://blog.mapsofindia.com/india/poverty/the-problem-of-slums/#sthash.rWeO0m08.dpuf