2008-09-26 12:36:03 - The country's poorest live in slums and slums also become hot spots for the most nefarious activities in the city. If left to languish by themselves, the slums will be the biggest centers of social unrest in the country. While India's population growth is partly responsible for this menace, poor urban planning is almost equally to be blamed. If we consider India's population to be 1000 million, the total population of slums will account for more than 5% of the Indian population. If we consider the data city wise, we will see that the population living in slums account for more than 22% of each city's population. This shows that about one fourth of our city's population live in slums.

SLUMS IN INDIA IS INCREASING RAPIDLY

It is shocking indeed to know that the number of people living in slums has more than doubled in the past two decades and now exceeds the entire population of Britain as stated by the Indian Government. The 2001 census for the first time calculated the data on slums and the results were anything

but rosy. The population in slums has increased from 27.9 millions in 1981 to 61.8 million in 2001. This sorry figure only further highlights the huge percentage of Indian population that still lives in the most atrocious conditions.?

The situation is worst in the state of Maharashtra where 32% of the state's population live in slums despite the fact that Maharashtra is the richest state in the country. If we consider, Mumbai, the business hub of India, the numbers become reach almost tragic proportions. More than 5 million live in slums in Mumbai and they form nearly 49% of the city's population.
Life in slums is extremely dreary. Most people have to live in shanties and one room houses that must hold so many people as to make existence near impossible. In fact, while the well-to-do refuse choose to close their eyes to the untold sufferings of the slum dwellers, the poor rural people consider slums such dismal places that they wouldn't even let their animals go there. And yet, people keep flocking to large cities in hopes of better lives, only to be forced into the grim dungeons of slums.
The slums originated in the cities on account of the unequal distribution of income in cities. While most of India's GDP comes from cities, a small section gets most of the profit while most of the crowd has to accept meager wages. It is due to this lack of suitable income and unchecked urban growth that slums proliferated. Since the poor migrants cannot afford the housing in cities, they are forced to live in self made shelters. Dharavi, India's and probably world's largest slum, sits on 2 square kilometers of Mumbai's prime real estate.?
The kind of economic loss slums represent for a country is staggering. But even more importantly, they signify a complete collapse of urban planning while representing the shattered lives of millions.