Problems of Urbanisation

What is urbanisation?

• Urban area is where most of people work in secondary or tertiary (service) sectors.
• Urban areas include statutory towns, census towns and outgrowths.
• Census towns are area with the
  1. minimum population of 5000
  2. 75% male workers engaged in non-agricultural activities&
  3. population density of minimum 400 persons per sq.km.
• A Statutory Town is one with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee.
• Out Growths are viable units such as a village or part of a village contiguous to a statutory town.
• Examples of out growths are Railway Colonies, University Campus, port areas, etc.
• Urbanisation is the process of shifting from rural inhabitation to urban inhabitation in a particular time and place.

What are the reasons for urban population growth?

• Health -Increase in size of cities is usually not substantially due to high birth rate, though total births in a city do have a bearing on the growth.
• There is a less birth rate per year due to relatively less total fertility rate (TFR) of women due to better education, prevalence of small family norms.
• The infant mortality rate (IMR) Per thousand births, under five child mortality rate (CMR) Per thousand births as well as maternal mortality ratio per lakh births are much lower in urban areas than in rural areas.
• Migration -Migration (both from rural and other urban areas) contributes hugely in population growth in cities.
• Migration occurs usually due to both 'pull' and 'push' factors.
• Pull factors of cities include mainly the new and better opportunities for livelihood in both organised (public and private) and unorganised sectors.

• Employment -Migration from villages (rural to urban migration) or from small towns (urban to urban) given a fixed population size for a period in a specific city,
• Push factors in villages are primarily, lack of livelihood employment opportunities.

• Society -Various restrictions on the basis of bondages and regressive customs, especially on the women, lower castes and communities are not much emphasised in urban corridors.
• In the last five-six decades it is also a trend that due to the problem of extremists and naxals in villages, many families have migrated en masse to urban centres in the same State or other developed State/or national capital.

What are the Problems of urbanisation?

• Noise Pollution - There is a large number of high level of noise pollution due to vehicles.
• Primary sources of noise pollution in large urban areas are road traffic, aircraft, trains, constructions activities and industries.
• Delhi has been ranked second in the world in terms of both most noise and maximum hearing loss
• There is a close positive relationship between urban noise pollution and hearing loss.
• Air Pollution -As per Central Pollution Control Board report (August 2016), 41 Indian Metros faced bad air quality in 60% of total days monitored.
• Long term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) contributed to 42 lakh premature deaths in 2015 in the whole world out of which India and China together shared 52%
• Except a few cities in South India, most of Indian cities do not comply with National Ambient Air Quality Standards
• Air pollution primarily leads to respiratory, cardiac and blood pressure problems, especially among the young and old ones.
• Water Scarcity -There is uneven distribution of water by regions, nations and sub-nations.
• One of the Millennium Development Goals was to reduce the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water by half by 2015 but we could not achieve this major goal.
• In urban India, we have water scarcity in different ways and proportions in different cities.
• In four metros (Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai & Mumbai) 90 crore litres of dirty water is thrown out in rivers daily but only 30% is treated.
• Water scarcity has often led to riots among common people in slums and undeveloped colonies where population density is very high.

How the issues can be addressed?

• Air pollution - As directed by NGT, all diesel vehicles of 15 years of age or more should not be allowed in cities.
• Only Bharat VI compliant vehicles should be produced and registered and only clean fuel should be allowed for use in vehicles.
• There is a need to switch from diesel to petrol and CNG fuel.
• Waste and biomass burning needs to be stopped to reduce NO2.
• Use of kerosene stoves should be strictly banned in cities.
• Use of cycles and battery rickshaws (with safety devices) should be encouraged and like many European countries cycle tracks should be constructed for cycle users.
• Water pollution - Rain water harvesting should be popularised by giving subsidies; and all old ponds/ tanks should be revived;
• There should be well-planned tree plantation drives in cities every year and students, govt. officials, voluntary organisations, etc. should be involved genuinely.
• Every citizen should be entitled to get adequate safe drinking water as a part of the right to food in both urban and rural areas.
• Swachh Action Plan should also comprise of devices and mechanisms for preventing water, air and soil pollution.
• Noise pollution -There should be a ban on use of high power loud speakers, D.J. etc. in residential and institutional areas to check noise pollution;
• For construction works there should be the well planned norms to cover, to check noise and air pollution, and not to obstruct road with construction materials.

Source: Employment News