Problems Of Slums In Urban Areas or Big Cities

All big cities of India have witnessed a phenomenal growth and development in recent years. Their population has increased and numberless multi-storeyed buildings and skyscrapers has come up. There are glittering malls and multiplexes. All this is very nice and good. But this development of modern cities has its ugly face also. It is the poor labouring classes who come up all the way from their village home to raise these structures. Being too poor to afford a rented accommodation, they set up their thatched shanties on any vacant or deserted piece of land they can find near their place of work.

 

With the passage of time, such pieces of land become a place of refuge for more and more labourers and ultimately these places take the shape of large slums. With no provisions for water supply, drainage and electricity, these places become the breeding spots for all kinds of diseases. Many antisocial elements make these slums a good have for their hiding. The problem of such slums has now assumed an alarming proportion in all big cities of the country. When attempts are made to clear these slums, the so-called social activists step in and make any effective action impossible. The only alternative then left is to regularise these slums and supply them all normal civic facilities. It should be ensured by the authorities that no new slums are allowed to come up in any part of the city.

The surest way to the solution of any problem is the removal of the cause leading to that problem. Now why do we have slums in big towns and cities ? Who lives in these slums and why ? We know that most of the Indian population lives in villages. We also know that the villagers are poor people who can hardly make both ends meet. These people depend upon agriculture which is only a seasonal affair. 

With the hope of finding some means of livelihood, these people migrate to the nearest town or city. Since they have no money to rent an accommodation, they put up small shanties wherever they find a vacant space. By and by, these shanties grow into slums which project a horrible picture of poverty, hunger, disease and misery. The more the authorities try to clear these slums, the more they grow for the simple reason that the cause of the malady is not addressed to. The cause lies in rural unemployment and, therefore, the remedy also lies in creating jobs for these people in the rural areas. 

We have to make some important changes in the infrastructural facilities of rural areas for stopping this migration process; i.e. the main cause for increasing the number of slum areas in big cities.