State has most people living in urban areas

With more than 5 crore people living in the cities and towns, Maharashtra has emerged as the state with highest number of urban residents, as per the 2011 provisional census figures which map distribution of urban and rural population.

With more than 5 crore people living in the cities and towns, Maharashtra has emerged as the state with highest number of urban residents, as per the 2011 provisional census figures which map distribution of urban and rural population.

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Mumbai’s population stood at 1.25 crore, marginally up from 1.19 crore ten years ago in 2001. Mumbai’s numbers take into account the island as well as the suburbs. Specifically, the island city’s population decreased by about 2 lakh, while the suburban population grew by more than 3 lakh. It is the only urban region that saw a decline in rate of growth, attributed to large-scale migration of residents to other parts of Mumbai metropolitan region.

The state’s population stands at 11,23,72,972, of which, 45.23%, i.e. 5,08,27,531 people are in urban centres while the remaining 6,15,45,441 are in rural areas. The urban population grew 23.7% in the 2001-2011 decade, while rural numbers went up by 10.3%. The national aggregate for urban population is 31.8%, while for rural, it stands at 12.2%.

Housing experts see this as a challenge to the state’s planners, who will have to ensure better living conditions and will have to scale urban infrastructure to cope with this trend.