Changes in Infrastructural Condition of Slums in India: A State Level Analysis

Introduction

The world is now experiencing a rapid expansion of urban areas with growing urban population¹. One among the main reasons behind the rapid growth of urban population is migration from rural to the urban areas either due to pull Lewis (1954), Harris-Todaro (1969) or push Davis (2004) and Harvey (2008) of the population and among those migrants, most of them are poor and take shelter in slums. This phenomenon has created an over congestion toward the slum as well as non-slum areas, which is putting pressure on infrastructure facilities available to the cities².

Like most other developing countries, urban and slum population in India has grown rapidly. Census data has revealed that the share of slum population out of the urban population and the share of urban population out of total population have increased over time (see Table 1). Moreover, it is found that the rate of growth of slum population is higher than the growth rate of urban population. This situation has added up pressure on civic infrastructure³.

Source. Author's calculation with census data of 2001 and 2011

But in contrast with the growth of slum and urban population in India, housing with all proper facilities together (like latrine, electricity, etc.) have not improved accordingly (see Table 2). This may indicate the inadequacy of infrastructural facilities in urban areas. In recent future, urban population in India is estimated to increase to a large extent and will be excess than the capacity of the cities. Compared to this, infrastructure has to grow at a higher rate than the rate the population will increase⁴.

Source. Author's calculation with census data of 2001 and 2011