Short essay on the Problems faced by modern cities in India

The process of urbanisation and the rapid increase in the population provides enormous pres­sure on the surrounding environment. According to one estimate a million city, on an average, daily requires 6, 25,000 tones of water, 2,000 tons of food grains, and 9,500 tons of fuel. Similarly it daily generates about 5, 00,000 tones of polluted water, 2,000 tones of solid waste and 950 tones of air pollutants whose disposal is a major problem for civic authorities. Hence, a city puts dual impact over its surroundings.

Thus, an uncontrolled and un­planned urbanization may not only make the city life deplorable but may cause serious damage to the physic-socio-economic environment of the sur­rounding area. Urban problems may, therefore, be grouped under two broad categories: (1) internal problems which affect the city-area and its inhabit­ants; and (2) external problems which have their impact on the area and people of its fringe area and upland. Some internal problems include shortage of space and residential houses, transport bottleneck, paucity of pure drinking water, pollution, disposal of city waste and sewage, supply of electricity and field, maintenance of law and order and control of crimes, etc.

1. Problem of Space

Cities constantly require more and more space for their growth. This demand for space is met by colonizing fringe or rural areas. But sometimes due to physical and other constraints this expansion is obstructed. The island nature of Mumbai and occur­rence of salt water lakes in the eastern periphery of Kolkata are causing such problems.

Also there is general tendency in city dwellers, especially in those urban areas in which internal transport is not cheap and efficient, to live closer to their place of work or business establishments. City planners lot different sectors for industrial, residential and commercial requirements which soon become overcrowded and congested.

This leads to enormous increase in land values and rents which make the living of poor people difficult and painful. Many of Idiom, who are not able to pay high rent, are thus forced to live in slums and squatter settlements which is a great slur on the face of modern civic society.

2. Residential Problem

Urban population, particularly in developing countries, is rising at terrific rate which is leading to shortage of houses and residences. According to one estimate there is annual shortage of about 1.7 million houses in Indian cities. This has led to phenomenal rise in house rent and many families are compelled to spend 30 to 50 per cent of their monthly income in hiring residential accommodations.

This has also forced low income group people to live in slums or occupy foot-paths and road pavements. The number of such slum and pavement dwellers is rising by leaps and bounds in metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi etc.

3. Problem of Transport

Transport bottleneck and traffic congestion are major problems of the Indian cities. Amongst all cities of the country Delhi is better placed in respect of road transport. Here average road density is 1,284 km per 100 sq. km of area (cf. Chandigarh 1,260 km, Ahmadabad 680 km, and Mumbai 380 km). But most of the city roads are carrying higher traffic than their actual capacity. Here main roads carry 6,000 PCU per hour which increases to 12,000 PCU during peak hours.

The ITO constructed in 1964-65 had planned capacity of 40,000-50,000 PCU which has now exceeded to 100,000 PCU. If the number of vehicles are allowed to increase at present rate with­out upgrading the roads the whole system of capi­tal’s transport is bound to collapse. Already with the rising pressure of traffic there is jam and traffic bottleneck in several localities of the old city and the causalities in road accidents are mounting at alarm­ing rate.

In Kolkata despite the construction of metro rail and Vivekanand Setup the congestion in many old localities and near Haora bridge is a daily routine. In Ahmadabad the speed of vehicles drops down to 5 km/hour on Gandhi Marg and Relief Marg due to congestion and overcrowding.

4. Problem of Water Supply

Water is life and man cannot subsist without water. That is why sites of settlements are always chosen to keep sources of water supply in mind. Modern cities which represent huge human agglom­eration require large supply of water for domestic and industrial needs of their residents.

The average per head per day consumption of water in Kolkata is 272 liters, in Mumbai 190 liters, and in Delhi 90 liters (cf. Los Angeles 1,200 liters, Chicago 1,058 liters and London 200 liters). Similarly each tone production of aluminum, rayon, woolen textile, cotton textile and steel requires 1280,780,560,218 and 170 cubic meters of water respectively. Hydel power stations need 10,080 cubic meters of water per hour to generate 3 million kvt of electricity.

Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) has fixed up 125-200 liters of water per head per day for cities with a population of more than 50,000; 100-125 liters for population between 10,000 and 50,000; and 70-100 liters for population below 10,000.

The Zakaria Committee has recommended the water requirement of per head per day 204 liters for cities with population between 5 lakh and 2 million and 272 liters for cities with population of more than 2 millions. This water is utilised in drinking, kitchen, bath, cloth washing, floor washing and gardening. Table 28. VI presents a dismal picture of demand and supply of water in four important cities of India. Despite All efforts this gap is rising day by day.

According a study made by the Central Pollu­tion Control Board, Delhi only few cities like Nagpur, Pune, Patna, Varanasi, Vishakhapatnam and Ahmadabad are able to cover their total population by municipal water supply. Gap in four metro cities (Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai) is roughly 10 per cent.

The condition is worse in small cities and towns. To meet this growing demand of water city administration is tapping external sources oil water supply. Mumbai draws its water from water-1 sources located at 29-120 km away from the city. Chennai uses water express trains to meet its growing demands.

Hyderabad collects its water from Nagarjun Sagar barrage (137 km), and Bangalore from Kaveri River (100 km). In addition to local] sources Delhi obtains some water from Haryana canal. Under the proposed scheme it will meet its needs from Tehri, Renuka and Kishau barrages. Transporting water from such far off places is not only costly and pains taking but dangerous espe­cially during emergency and insurgency.

5. Problem of Urban Pollution

India has witnessed mushrooming of cities and phenomenal increase in the number of industries and vehicles in the recent years. As a consequence, there has dramatic deterioration in the quality of urban environment. The problem is aggravated with growing consumerism, luxurious way of life and low environmental perception among urban dwell­ers. This deterioration in urban environment is caused by air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution and solid waste pollution which have great bearing on the health of urban dwellers.

The unprecedented spurt in the number of vehicles in India has emerged as the most significant contributor to poison in urban air. While industrial air pollution is localised in nature, mobile sources bring entire cities into the grip of severe air pollution. Table 28.VII gives an account of the number of vehicles and pollutant discharge in some of the major cities of the country. Studies by research organisations have already confirm­ed that the proportion of pollutants and toxins in the urban air has reached dangerous levels in many cities of the country.

The problem of air pollution has assumed serious proportions in the metropolitan cities. Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai have already been rated 4th, 6th and 13th among the 41 most polluted megacities of the world in view of suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations. With regard to SO2 levels, Mumbai comes 18th, Delhi 27th, and Kolkata 37th.

About 52 per cent of the total pollution load in Mumbai is contributed by vehicles. About 48 per cent of SO2 emissions come from industries and 33 percent from power plants. Besides, noxious fumes emanating from garbage dumps has also become a major cause of concern in the big cities.

In Delhi transport sector causes 60 per cent of the air pollu­tion. Here more than 11 lakh registered vehicles per day generate about 250 tons of carbon mono- oxide, 400 tones of hydro-carbon, 6 tons of sulphurdioxide and heavy quantity of SPM. As per NEERI’s report of 1981 Kolkata metropolis daily releases about 1305 tons of pollutants in the at­mosphere. Of these industrial establishments con­tribute 600 tones, transport sector 360 tones, ther­mal power stations 195 tones, and domestic kitch­ens 150 tones.

Water pollution, in cities, is caused by the mixing of sewage waste water in the sources of drinking water supply and pipe lines. Majority of the Indian cities do not have adequate water treatment facilities, as a result of which sewage and waste water is allowed to flow to the rivers and lakes which supply drinking water to the city. Sizeable populations of slum dwellers do not have lavatories in their homes and use open spaces, wherever available, as latrines.

This poses serious health hazards. The skeptic tanks of the individual houses also pollute the ground water which is another source of water supply for the urban dwellers. The chemicals used by the farmers in the agricultural fields of the fringe areas also get collected in the river water during rains. Waste untreated industrial water from urban industries also flow to the river and pollutes its water.

Noise pollution is the state of discomfort and restlessness caused to humans by unwanted high intensity sound or noise. Noise pollution is increas­ing with growing urbanization and industrialization in developing countries like India. Most of the mil­lion cities of India are facing the problem of this pollution due to phenomenal growth in the number of automobiles, factories, mills, blaring sounds of loudspeakers and hustles and bustles of crowded market places.

Most of the big cities of the country suffer from high level of noise pollution, generally above 70 dB, e.g., Chennai 89 dB, Mumbai 85 dB, Delhi 89 dB, Kolkata 87 dB, Kochi 80 dB, Madurai and Kanpur 75 dB each, and Thiruvananthapuram 70 dB. Most of these cities either do not have sufficient laws to check noise pollution or law enforc­ing authorities do not muster courage to take suitable penal action against law breakers.

The deafening sounds of loudspeakers fitted on the tops and mina­rets of temples, mosques and gurudwaras, placed on the house tops, electric and telephone poles during festivals and ceremonies; use of mobile loud speak­ers during electioneering; and blowing of vehicle horns near hospitals, educational institutions and residential areas are common sight in most of the Indian towns. During the time of festivals like Holi, Dasehra, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, Rathyatra, Id etc. noise level sometimes becomes intolerable which causes irreparable damage to ears, and pro­duces irritation, tension, nervousness and mental disorder.

Soild wastes include such substances and materials which are thrown out from homes after they become useless. These include rusted pins, broken pieces of glass, plastic cans, polythene bags, tins, old newspaper, household garbage etc. These are called refuse, rubbish, garbage, and solid waste etc.

Amount of such solid wastes is increasing at alarming rate in Indian cities due to phenomenal rise in their population, greater attraction of urban young­sters towards material and consumer culture based on use and throw method and lack of perception on the part of urbanites.

About 45 Indian cities with a population of more than 3 lakh generate about 50,000 tones of municipal wastes per day. Mumbai metropolis pro­duces 4,400 tons of garbage per day which is collected through 16,000 municipal workers and 270 trucks. It is disposed off at three dumping sites viz. Deonar, Malad and Dhanwari Mohan Creek. Kolkata metropolitan area daily generates about 4,000 tones of solid wastes, only 70 per cent of which is disposed off by the municipal authorities. Same quantity of urban waste is generated by the national capital (Delhi) whose disposal is done in Jaitpur, Ghazipur, Mandi and Bhatti areas. Kanpur and Lucknow urban areas have a daily output of 1,000 and 900 tons of garbage of which roughly one-third remains uncollected by civic authorities.

Above description presents a brief account of the growing menace of solid waste pollution. Major­ity of these cities do not adopt scientific methods of solid waste disposal. Either they do not have solid waste disposal / treatment plants or these remain idle due to their high cost of operation or negligence of civic authorities.

The compost plant installed in Delhi has met with similar fate. Greatest negligence is seen in the disposal of hospital wastes which contain viruses and bacteria of many infectious / communicable diseases. These are heaped along the roadsides and are disposed off in a most unscientific manner posing danger to human health and sanitation.

6. Problem of Urban Crimes

Increasing urban crimes are disturbing the peace and tranquility of the modern cities. Material culture, growing consumerism, selfishness, stiff competition, lavishness, increasing socio-economic disparities, rising unemployment and loneliness are some of the reasons for this menace. It is not only the poor, deprived and slum dwellers who are prone to such crimes but many youngsters from good fami­lies who wish to amass wealth and prosperity within shortest time or who are frustrated due to unemploy­ment and broken homes are also showing tendency towards crimes.

The problem becomes complicated and aggravated when such criminals get protection from politicians, bureaucrats and elite class of the urban society. Some of these criminals have even reached to respectable political positions using their money and muscle power.

Dutt and Venugopal (1983) have madel able attempt to analyse the spatial pattern of in urban centers of India. According to this s urban crimes like rape, murder, kidnapping, robbery etc are more pronounced in the north’ central parts of the country. It has two focal areas :( extensive area incorporating Moradabad, Bare and Shahjahanpur towns of Uttar Pradesh and tending in the south-east up to Raipur city Chhattisgarh; and (2) a smaller area constituted the cities like Gaya, Ranchi, Munger and Darbh in Bihar and Jharkhand.

Interestingly, economic crimes (theft, ching and criminal breach of trust) in cities are concentrated in the north central region of the co try. A primary area of focus of economic cri encompasses Dehra Dun, Meerut, Aligarh, Mathu Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad and Bareilly Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh and Muzaffarpur Munger in Bihar. A secondary area extends from Amravati to Greater Mumbai, through Pune in Maharashtra. Kolar in Karnataka, anil Guwahati in Assam lie outside both these regions, but are major centers of economic crimes. The plausible reason for this overlap in area for different crimes is the fact that crimes are usually highly correlated, and the old adage of ‘cime begets crime’ holds true.

Poverty related crimes are widespread and there is a single small focus of concentration in eastern India, in the cities of Patna, Darbhanga, Gaya and Munger in Bihar. This may be the result of the intense poverty of the region coupled by caste and class based riots (Dutt, A. K. et at, 1966, pp. 81-82).