NEW DELHI: A first-of-its-kind study on the state of India’s small towns — those with a population of less than one lakh — has come up with a grim picture of these mushrooming urban settlements.
Though the numbers of such towns have grown by 157 % -- from 2223 in 1961 to 5705 in 2011, they have “enormous backlogs” when it comes to basic infrastructure and socio-economic indicators vis-à-vis metro cities with a million plus population, according to the study done by National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), an autonomous body under the union urban development (UD) ministry during 2015-16.
The report “Towns of India” based on secondary data from 2011 Population Census was released by UD minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday.
On the basic infrastructure index, two industrial townships in Gujarat-Reliance Complex and Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited in Motikhavdi Sikka were rated the best while eight towns in West Bengal (Lalpur, Dihimandalghat, Dinga Khola, Shankara, Chekya, Bankra, Hincha Gerya and Paranpara) fared among the worst.
Of the 5705, only 14 largely industrial townships have 100% coverage of households through tap water. Only 24 towns have all households covered with drainage facilities, while the coverage is less than 50 % in 1666 towns. Drainage system is completely non-existent in 7 towns of India. Besides, 69.3% of the towns have access to toilets while just 11.2% of the towns have access to piped sewer.
{{/usCountry}}Of the 5705, only 14 largely industrial townships have 100% coverage of households through tap water. Only 24 towns have all households covered with drainage facilities, while the coverage is less than 50 % in 1666 towns. Drainage system is completely non-existent in 7 towns of India. Besides, 69.3% of the towns have access to toilets while just 11.2% of the towns have access to piped sewer.
{{/usCountry}}Slums were reported in 1893 towns. The share of slum population is more than 50% in 252 towns. The study found that in seven towns the entire population lives in slums. These include three in Uttar Pradesh (Safipur, Ugu and Nyotini), three in Jammu and Kashmir (Hajan, Magam and Beerwah) and Nayabazar in Sikkim. Valparai in Tamil Nadu and Hojai in Assam have the lowest share of slum population.
“It shows that small towns are not fully integrated in the urban fabric and adequate investments have to be made. If these towns were better equipped to steer their economic assets and development, the national GDP could be increased, with significant benefits reducing rural poverty in the hinterlands,” said Professor Debolina Kundu of NIUA, the lead author of the report.
Overall, Tamil Nadu has the largest number of towns (795) followed by Uttar Pradesh (709).