Urbanisation In India: Causes and Problems

Exploring the impacts and challenges of urbanization in India

by Dharampal Singh*, Dr. Nirmal Singh,

- Published in Journal of Advances and Scholarly Researches in Allied Education, E-ISSN: 2230-7540

Volume 11, Issue No. 21, Apr 2016, Pages 0 - 0 (0)

Published by: Ignited Minds Journals


ABSTRACT

Urbanisation is theprocess of rural migration to urban areas. According to a survey by UN by 2030,40.76% of the country’s population will reside in urban areas. Almost all areasin the cities are developed and there are a lot of employment opportunities,modern and high standard of living but there are a lot of problems due to Urbanisationlike slums, unhygienic conditions, overcrowding, crimes, life stylemodification etc. Girardet in 1996 explained that the impact of cities can beseen both locally and globally in the form of air pollution, sewerage, waterpollution, overcoming etc. The present paper is focused on various causes andproblems of Urbanisation in India.

KEYWORD

urbanisation, India, causes, problems, rural migration, survey, population, urban areas, employment opportunities, standard of living

INTRODUCTION

Urbanisation is a two way process which involves movement of rural population towards urban cities but also change in their occupation from agriculture to business, trade, service and profession. So it is population shift and occupational shift. It is a leading factor for social, economic, technological modernization of rural population. Urbanisation in India speeded up after independence due to adoption of mixed economy which gives rise to private sector. According to 1901 census 11.4% of population was residing in urban areas. This number has increased to 28.53% in 2001 and more than 30% in 2011 and currently 31.16% of the population resides in urban areas. After independence India faced poverty, unemployment and economic backwardness and a need of mixed economy system which resulted in growth of public sector in India.

PROMINENT CAUSES OF URBANISATION IN INDIA:

(i) The contribution of agriculture sector started to decline and the contribution of secondary sector increases gradually. (ii) After 1941, the four metro cities Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai grown rapidly. (iii) Indian economy witnessed rapid changes due to industrial revolution and invention of new technologies which makes the life of people living in urban areas easy and comfortable. (iv) 11th five year plan aimed at Urbanisation for economic development of India. (v) Employment opportunities in urban areas. (vi) Growth of private sector after 1990. (vii) Infrastructure facilities in urban areas.

Consequences of migration:

Source: www.civilserviceindia.com

Fig .2

PROBLEMS OF URBANISATION IN INDIA

By 2001, urban population has crossed 285 million marks and it is expected that by 2030 more than 50% of Indian population will start living in urban areas.

2

1. Urban impulsion: Between 1991 to 2001 over 21 million people migrated to cities. Brush in 1968, explained the situation in which central parts of cities are congested because of people concentration is high in the centers of the city. As employment opportunities and shopping centers are at the centre of the cities which makes it difficult to move in the cities because of population concentration at the centers of the cities. 2. Overcrowding: It means large numbers of people are squeezed in a small space. Most of the cities have only one – sixth or slightly more open space. According to 2001 census. The density of population in Delhi was 9340 person per square kilometer; this puts a very strong pressure on housing sector, Transport, employment, electricity, water. According to Roy turner in 1962, in large cities nearly 67% families is living in a single room and about one –third of families are living in the house without kitchen, bathroom, and in many cases there is no power supply. 3. Unemployment: In urban areas unemployment is very high even among educated people. The average unemployment from 1983 to 2011 was 9% which makes life very struggling in urban cities. 4. Slums: Due to overcrowding in urban cities the migrant population who cannot proper housing facilities is forced to live in slums and unauthorized colonies. According to 2001 census the percentage of slums population was as per different states.

State Percentage of Slum Population

Haryana 33.06% Andhra Pradesh 32.69% Maharashtra 31.65% Chhattisgarh 29.27% West Bengal 26.82%

Table -1

The overall average is 22.85% which is very alarming 5. Transport: Due to increase in population the no. of vehicles in the cities are increasing very rapidly. Transport problems are becoming congestion in the cities. There are lack of parking facilities due to overcrowding, free movement of stray animals add to the traffic problems. In 1971, the road length per vehicle was 3 km which reduced to 2 km in 1981, 1.3 km in 1991, 0.68 in 1988 and 0.23 in 2004. By 2021 this will further reduce to 0.11 km per vehicle and it will take less time to travel by walking than by car. 6. Water: Due to increase in urban population there is a lot of water shortage in the cities. The Zakaria committee recommended that water requirement for cities in which population is between 5 lakh and 2 million is 204 liter per head per day and for the population more than 2 million it is 272 liter per head per day. 7. Sewerage problems: Not even a single city in India is fully sewerage only (35 to 40) % of urban population enjoys the facility of sewerage which is a major cause of various disease and other health related problems in urban areas. 8. Garbage disposal : Huge quantities of garbage are produced by our cities, garbage is thrown in open areas where stray cattle and other animals spread the garbage all over and people very easily becomes victim of various disease like malaria, typhoid, jaundice etc. 9. Urban crimes: Growing materialism and desire for making easy money, selfishness, rising unemployment are the main reasons for urban crimes. According to study made by Dutt and Venugopal (1983), the North central parts of the country are suffering from violent urban crimes like rape, murder, kidnapping etc. 10. Problem of Air Pollution: In urban areas because of industries and vehicles the air quality is becoming worse day by day. People are suffering from various air borne diseases. School going children are suffering from disease like asthma, and other lung diseases. There should be focus on developing a strong public transport system rather than use of personal vehicles. Reynolds in 1989 characterized that Urbanisation is associated with innovation, industrialization and expansion of big cities, change of land use and revolution from rural to urban pattern of organization. Global urban population is growing at a very fast rate

Dharampal Singh1 Dr. Nirmal Singh2

CONCLUSION

In order to resolve the problems of Urbanisation in India experts suggested the government that it should focus on two major factor i.e. solid waste management system and waste water treatment. The present Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has come forward to resolve the issues relating to Urbanisation as Urbanisation is prominent in economic development of India.

REFERENCES

“Rural-urban distribution of population” census of India press release. Amitabh Kundu, “Trends and processes of Urbanisation in India”. Business Standard (15-06-2012) “Victims of Urbanisation India, Indonesia & China. Datta, Pranati “Urbanisation in India”. Indian Journal of Economics and Business. Javir, “Problems of Urbanisation in India”. N.M. Khilnani (1993) “Socio-Political Dimensions of Modern India.” Niu Tong (18 Jan, 2011) “Problems of Urbanisation in India”. Pradhan, Rudra Prakash “Does infrastructure play role in Urbanisation evidence from India”. www.civilserviceindia.com.