Slums are still growing in Mumbai. Infact the slum growth rate is actually greater than the general urban growth rate. In fact, the city is gaining the name Slumbay. - To me this is a social evil, which grows along with urbanization. Do u agree ?
Posted On : 4/7/2009 5:23:08 AM
Suchismita Aditya Reward Points : 11800 Member Since : Saturday, March 14, 2009
The moment we think of slums, we picture a dirty, unhygienic group of make shift shanties with long lines of people waiting at the Municipal water pump, babies with endless cries. According to recent survey about 22% of Indian urban population lives in slums. In India, Mumbai, among the glittering metropolis leads with the increasing population slum dwellers. According to 2001 census, slum population was as high as 40,297,34. Slums are really social evil that effects the society. slums spoil the look of the city. In an urban society it poses to be quite an ironic situation. Slums breed poverty and high unemployment, there is a high crime rate also. They are considered to be illegal settlements as well. Slums have inhuman and dangerous living conditions with a total lack of security. They do not have clean drinking water, properly maintained drainage system, electricity or paved roads. keeping all this in view the Government should take certain corrective measures in the society. local bodies in the area should take active participation. The learning and knowledge awareness base are to be increased about the current socio-economic issues of India. Indian slum dwellers need proper job, food and basic living condition.
Posted On : 4/11/2009 3:10:36 AM
Riya Sen [Guru] Reward Points : 93800 Member Since : Tuesday, December 16, 2008
You are absolutely right Anjana, slums have become one of the identities of this Metro city of India. Slums in Mumbai have always existed. Even back in the time when the fort was developed, the native villages have always been close to slums. They never underwent any planning, infrastructure construction or implementation of facilities such as water, sewage and drainage. This has led to many problems with Mumbai s poor population.Slums have risen dramatically since 1950. Most of this is due to the fact that Mumbai s tripled since India s independence in 1947. The island of Bombay is only 12 miles long, and Greater Mumbai, including Salsette Island, occupies an area of 240 square miles and it has a density of 16500 people per square mile, extremely dense. To add to the fact is the reason that housing in Mumbai is scarce and expensive. In 1976, the Government passed the Urban Land Act which was supposed to enlarge the area on which middle and lower class housing was to be built, however the act has been used, once again in the elitist fashion, to build more upper class housing and to keep hold of wealthy neighborhoods which has only worsened the slum problem. Before 1950 slums were predominantly found around the mills, on the western part of the island, predominantly in an area called Byculla. They were mostly industrial workers in one room tenements. Health and provisions to these areas were issues that were ignored by the head policy makers. Instead of going away, the slums have just spread. From 1950 to1968 the amount of slums increased 18%, in the 1970s they had a huge surge and by 1980 slum dwellers were half of the entire city s population. All this despite the fact that the city underwent slum clearance, implemented by the Municiple Corporation in 1954. Today slum dwellers make up 60% of Mumbai s population, that is approximately 7 million people. The eventually spread into the areas neighboring Byculla, such as: Mahim Creek, Parel, Dadar and Matunga and whereever else they can find space, even in roads. The conditions in the slums are terrible. Slum inhabitants constantly have to deal with issues such as, constant migration, lack of water, no sewage or solid waste facilities, lack of public transit, pollution and housing shortages. Infant mortality is as high as it is in rural India where there are no amenities. General Hospitals in the Greater Mumbai region are overcrowded and underresourced. In fact, most people rely on private doctors, many of which do not have any qualifications or official training. The World Bank has funded development of 176 Primary Care Dispensaries, but they are finding that those efforts are underused and the water supplies to the area are problematic. It seems that the water supply is always to much or too little, for when monsoon season hits some slums are submerged knee deep in water. In 1985, the government tried to rectify the problem by passing the Slum Upgradation Project. It offered secure long-term legal plot tenure to slum households on the basis that they would invest in their housing. By giving people an interest in their housing and by guaranteeing home ownership, they hoped to oblitterate slums. Unfortunately the program targeted only 10-12% of the slum population, those who were capable of upgrading their homes. It disregarded those who did not have homes at all. Despite all the attempts to remedy the slum problem of Mumbai, slums are still growing. The slum growth rate is actually greater than the general urban growth rate. In fact, the city is gaining the name Slumbay. And now even a British filmamker Danny Boyal has been so inspired by these slums that he has recently made a movie Slumdog Millionaire on a slum boy. Probably these slums have become identity of India as it is the film which was liked so much by the international viewers that it earned eight Oscars.
Posted On : 4/11/2009 5:21:39 AM
Abhi Tripathi [Guru] Reward Points : 74900 Member Since : Monday, January 07, 2008
It is indeed shocking to see that the number of people living in slums has more than doubled in the past two decades. India s growth in population is indeed to be blamed for this. Although i cant even leave the cause like poor urban planning for the growth of slums. i just googled to know about the census report. and the picture i got is anything but rosy. The population in slums has increased from 27.9 millions in 1981 to 61.8 million in 2001. Now it 2009 and let us just hold our breath for the deadly figure that it might have reached by now... The kind of economic loss the slums represent for India is astonishing. But i feel that more importantly the massive growth of slums points out the sheer collapse of urban planning
Posted On : 4/23/2009 9:32:51 PM
Maniam PS [Guru] Reward Points : 137200 Member Since : Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Slums in Mumbai have always existed. Even back in the time when the fort was developed, the native villages have always been close to slums. They never underwent any planning, infrastructure construction or implementation of facilities such as water, sewage and drainage. This has led to many problems with Mumbai s poor population. Slums have risen dramatically since 1950. Most of this is due to the fact that Mumbai s POPULATION tripled since India s independence in 1947. The island of Bombay is only 12 miles long, and Greater Mumbai, including Salsette Island, occupies an area of 240 square miles and it has a density of 16500 people per square mile, extremely dense. Add all of these elements to the fact that housing in Mumbai is scarce and expensive. In 1976, the Government passed the Urban Land Act which was supposed to enlarge the area on which middle and lower class housing was to be built, however the act has been used, once again in the elitist fashion, to build more upper class housing and to keep hold of wealthy neighborhoods which has only worsened the slum problem. Before 1950 slums were predominantly found around the mills, on the western part of the island, predominantly in an area called Byculla. They were mostly industrial workers in one room tenements. Health and provisions to these areas were issues that were ignored by the head policy makers. Instead of going away, the slums have just spread. From 1950 to1968 the amount of slums increased 18%, in the 1970s they had a huge surge and by 1980 slum dwellers were half of the entire city s population. All this despite the fact that the city underwent slum clearance, implemented by the Municiple Corporation in 1954. Today slum dwellers make up 60% of Mumbai s population, that is approximately 7 million people. The eventually spread into the areas neighboring Byculla, such as: Mahim Creek, Parel, Dadar and Matunga and whereever else they can find space, even in roads. The conditions in the slums are terrible. Slum inhabitants constantly have to deal with issues such as, constant migration, lack of water, no sewage or solid waste facilities, lack of public transit, pollution and housing shortages. Infant mortality is as high as it is in rural India where there are no amenities. General Hospitals in the Greater Mumbai region are overcrowded and under resourced. In fact, most people rely on private doctors, many of which do not have any qualifications or official training. The World Bank has funded development of 176 Primary Care Dispensaries, but they are finding that those efforts are underused and the water supplies to the area are problematic. It seems that the water supply is always to much or too little, for when monsoon season hits some slums are submerged knee deep in water. In 1985, the government tried to rectify the problem by passing the Slum Upgradation Project. It offered secure long-term legal plot tenure to slum households on the basis that they would invest in their housing. By giving people an interest in their housing and by guaranteeing home ownership, they hoped to oblitterate slums. Unfortunately the program targeted only 10-12% of the slum population, those who were capable of upgrading their homes. It disregarded those who did not have homes at all. Despite all the attempts to remedy the slum problem of Mumbai, slums are still growing. The slum growth rate is actually greater than the general urban growth rate. In fact, the city is gaining the name Slumbay.
Growth Of Slums In India
