Over 30 per cent urban slums across India have no toilets or drainage facilities, in spite of funds being made available under JNNURM and other schemes
Only 24 per cent of urban slums of across India benefited from Central government welfare schemes such as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) and other schemes run by state governments and local bodies, according to the findings recently released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) of the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
NSSO released the key indicators of urban slums in India, generated from data collected during its 69th round of survey between July 2012 to December 2012. The last survey on slums was conducted during the 65th round of the national sample survey from July 2008 to June 2009.
The indicators say that the proportion of slum people benefiting from welfare schemes was 32 per cent among notified and 18 per cent among non-notified slums. An estimated 33,510 slums exist in the urban areas of India. About 41 per cent of these were notified and 59 per cent are not notified.
23% slums are in Maharashtra
Maharashtra, with an estimated 7,723 slums, accounted for about 23 per cent of all slums in urban India, followed by Andhra Pradesh, accounting for 13.5 per cent, and West Bengal, which had a share of about 12 per cent.
Of the total 44 per per cent slums, 48 per cent of notified slums and 41 per cent of non-notified slums were located on private land. In about 60 per cent of all slums, the majority of houses had pucca structures. The proportion of such slums with pucca structures was 85 per cent in the case of notified slums but only 42 per cent in the case of non-notified slums.
The absence of electricity in slums appeared to be largely confined to non-notified slums. At the all-India level, 6.5 per cent of all slums had no electricity—the corresponding figures being 11 per cent for non-notified slums but only 0.1 per cent for notified slums.
Thirty-one per cent of slums had no latrine facility, the figure being 42 per cent for non-notified and 16 per cent for notified slums.
About 31 per cent of all slums had no drainage facility and the figure is considerably higher for non-notified slums (45 per cent) than for notified slums (11 per cent). Of the total number of slums, 27 per cent had no garbage disposal arrangement—38 per cent non-notified slums and about 11 per cent notified slums.
In an estimated 32 per cent of all slums, the approach road to the slum usually remained waterlogged because of rains. The figure was 35 per cent for notified slums and 29 per cent for non-notified slums.
Interestingly, at the all-India level 71 per cent of all slums had tap as major source of drinking water, the figure being 82 per cent for notified slums but only 64 per cent for non-notified slums, stated the NSSO indicators.
The JNNURM has two major schemes—Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) and Urban Infrastructure Development for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT). The main focus of UIG is on infrastructure projects relating to water supply, sanitation, sewerage, solid waste management, road network and urban transport. It also focuses on redevelopment of old city areas and shifting industrial and commercial establishments to conforming areas.
UIDSSMT focuses on integrated development of slums, achieved through various projects for shelter, basic services and other related civic amenities to provide utilities to the urban poor.
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