Urban issues with special reference to mumbai metropolitan region

1. Urban Issues with Special Reference to Mumbai Metropolitan Region
Urban Sprawl:
q Urban sprawl or real expansion of the cities, both in population and geographical
area, of rapidly growing cities is the root cause of urban problems. In most cities
the economic base is incapable of dealing with the problems created by their
excessive size.
q Massive immigration from rural areas as well as from small towns into big cities
has taken place almost consistently; thereby adding to the size of cities.
q The first large flow of migration from rural to urban areas was during the
“depression” of late 1930s when people migrated in search of jobs.
q Later, during the decade 1941-51, another a million persons moved to urban
places in response to wartime industrialisation and partition of the country in
1947.
q During 1991-2001, well over 20 million people migrated to cities.
The greatest pressure of the immigrating population has been felt in the central districts
of the city (the old city) where the immigrants flock to their relatives and friends before
they search for housing. Population densities beyond the “old city” decline sharply.
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2. This situation in the central parts of the cities can be described as “urban impulsion”
which results from concentration of people in the centre of the city close to their work
and shopping. Incidentally many of the fastest growing urban centres are large cities.
Large cities act as magnet and attract large number of immigrants by dint of their
employment opportunities and modern way of life. Such hyper-urbanization leads to
projected cities sizes of which defy imagination. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,
Bangalore, etc. are examples of urban sprawl due to large scale migration of people
from the surrounding areas.
In several big cities wealthy people are constantly moving from the crowded centres of
the cities to the more pleasant suburbs where they can build larger houses and enjoy
the space and privacy of a garden around the house. In some cities, the outskirts are
also added to by squatters who build makeshift shacks of unused land although they
have no legal right to the land. The difficulty of restricting town growth in either case is
immense and most towns and cities are surrounded by wide rings of suburbs.
Historically suburbs have grown first along the major roads leading into the town. This
type of growth is known as ribbon settlement. Such sites are first to be developed
because of their location near the road gives them greater accessibility. But soon the
demand for suburban homes causes the land between ribbon settlements to be built
and made accessible by constructing new roads.
This type of development is known as ‘infil’. Simultaneously small towns and villages
within the commuting distance of major cities are also developed for residential
purposes. In this way towns are continuously growing and in some areas the suburbs of
a number of neighbouring towns may be so close together as to form an almost
continuous urban belt which is called conurbation. Urban sprawl is taking place at the
cost of valuable agricultural land.
In Mumbai, ‘The Regional Plan – 1973, ‘ defines land use zones very broadly and divides
the region into 5 principal land use zones, namely:
1. Urbanisable Zone U Zone
2. Industrial Zone I Zone
3. Recreational Zone R Zone
4. Forest Zone F Zone
5. Green Zone G Zone
The Regional Plan laid great stress on regulating future development in the Region to
prevent urban sprawl. The DC Rules of the Regional Plan therefore mainly dealt with the
developments outside urban areas, and focused n G Zone,
R Zone, F Zone, and I Zone.
While all future developments in the G Zone were frozen, exceptions were made to
permit -
1. natural growth of rural settlements (gaothans) and to accommodate
2. certain activities which were considered to be essential or conducive to development
of rural areas or which had no deleterious impact on the countryside. Such exceptional
developments included expansion of gaothans, housing for cooperative societies of the
local villagers, individual bungalows, holiday homes, activities allied to agriculture,

3. highway amenities, transfer godowns, communication routes, public utilities, hazardous
industries, resource- based industries, and small-scale industries.
In the coastal belt between Rewas and Alibag the developments were severely
restricted in order to preserve the coastal environment.
The Regional Plan had designated a two-mile green belt around Navi Mumbai in order
to ensure greater control on the development in the vicinity of the newly developing
city of Navi Mumbai.
Despite the statutory land use plan and the host of laws, rules, regulations and policies,
the development control system in the Region has remained weak. It has not been able
to prevent undesirable development.
The unauthorised construction activity in the Region in the past two decades has been
alarming. Some of the well-known examples can be seen in the industrial development
at Mira-Bhayander, multi-storeyed residential development in Vasai-Virar, Mumbra and
Dombivali, construction of shops, workshops and hutment along Thane- Belapur Road
in Navi Mumbai, and development along highways in G Zone. Some of these
developments, particularly, in Mira-Bhayander and Dombivali, have been the subject of
special inquiry by the Government.
2. Overcrowding:
Overcrowding is a situation in which too many people live in too little space.
Overcrowding is a logical consequence of over-population in urban areas. It is naturally
expected that cities having a large size of population squeezed in a small space must
suffer from overcrowding. This is well exhibited by almost all the big cities of India.
q Mumbai, the sprawling megapolis spread over 600 sq km, has seen its population
grow at a rate which is twice that of Maharashtra’s and 2.5 times that of the
country in the past 100 years.
q Mumbai’s population has grown by a whopping 983 per cent from 11.48 lakh in
1911 to 1.24 crore in 2011.
q As per Census figures between 1991 and 2001, migrants in Mumbai constituted
close to 15 per cent of its population. The area of Mumbai and its adjoining areas
like Thane, Navi Mumbai are supposed to have attracted close to 24.89 lakh in
migrants. Out of these, over 15 lakh were from outside the state while over 9
lakh were from within the state.
q Thus, Mumbai has one-sixth of an acre open space per thousand populations
though four acre is suggested standard by the Master Plan of Greater Mumbai.
3. Housing:
q Overcrowding leads to a chronic problem of shortage of houses in urban areas.
This problem is specifically more acute in those urban areas where there is large
influx of unemployed or underemployed immigrants who have no place to live in
when they enter cities/towns from the surrounding areas.
q An Indian Sample Survey in 1959 indicated that 44 per cent of urban households
(as compared to 34 per cent of rural families) occupied one room or less. In
larger cities the proportion of families occupying one room or less was as high as
67 per cent. (Roy Turner, 1962).

4. q Moreover, the current rate of housing construction is very slow which makes the
problem further complicated. Indian cities require annually about 2.5 million
new devellings but less than 15 per cent of the requirement is being constructed.
The Revised Draft Development Plan 2034 (RDDP) released by the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation, outlines a number of proposals for the creation of one million
affordable housing units in the city.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING is one of the most important issues for Mumbai and
Mumbaikars and it is also the most complex and challenging problem of this city. Rs.28
lakhs is the average price of a 269 square foot dwelling in Mumbai. At this high price, a
vast majority of Mumbaikars whose (median) annual income is Rs. 2.4 lakhs cannot
afford this house. Considering the accepted norm while financing homes is up to 4 times
the annual income, this is nearly 12 times that, thus making even this basic house way
out of reach for a vast majority of Mumbaikars.
Since 1995, about 2 lakh public housing units have been added to the stock, whereas we
need atleast 11.36 lakh houses as of today. This estimate does not even take into
account Mumbai’s future requirements.
57% households live in one room dwellings
4. Unemployment:
Urban unemployment in India is estimated at 15 to 25 per cent of the labour force. This
percentage is even higher among the educated people. It is estimated that about half of
all educated urban unemployed are concentrated in four metropolitan cities (Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai).
One of the major causes of urban unemployment is the large scale migration of people
from rural to urban areas. The general poverty among the rural people pushes them out
to urban areas to migrate in search of livelihood and in the hope of a better living.
But the growth of economic opportunities fails to keep pace with the quantum of
immigration. The limited capacity of urban areas could not create enough employment
opportunities and absorb the rapid growth of the urban labour force.
4. Unemployment:
Urban unemployment in India is estimated at 15 to 25 per cent of the labour force. This
percentage is even higher among the educated people. It is estimated that about half of
all educated urban unemployed are concentrated in four metropolitan cities (Delhi,
Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai).
One of the major causes of urban unemployment is the large scale migration of people
from rural to urban areas. The general poverty among the rural people pushes them out
to urban areas to migrate in search of livelihood and in the hope of a better living.
But the growth of economic opportunities fails to keep pace with the quantum of
immigration. The limited capacity of urban areas could not create enough employment
opportunities and absorb the rapid growth of the urban labour force.

5. 5. Slums and Squatter Settlements:
The natural sequel of unchecked, unplanned and haphazard growth of urban areas is
the growth and spread of slums and squatter settlements which present a striking
feature in the ecological structure of Indian cities, especially of metropolitan centres.
In India Slums have been defined under section 3 of Slum Areas (Improvement and
Clearance) Act 1956. As areas where buildings:
(i) Area in any respect unfit for human habitation.
(ii) Area by reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement and design of such
buildings, narrowness or faulty arrangement of streets, lack of ventilation, light,
sanitation facilities or any combination of these factors, which are detrimental to safety,
health and morals.
q Slums are the products of failed policies, bad governance, corruption,
inappropriate regulations, dysfunctional land markets, unresponsive financial
systems and a fundamental lack of political will.
q Urbanization has created a number of problems like shortage of dwelling units,
mushrooming growth of jhuggis, encroachment of public land and expansion of
unauthorized residential colonies.
q Whenever a big project is commenced, a lot of workers migrate to towns in quest
of employment. With no proper place to live, they usually encroach public land
and the sites earmarked for various developmental projects. This causes
enormous pressure on civic services and creating major bottlenecks in the
proper development of cities.
In Mumbai, in the 19th century slums grew around the mills and other places of
employment. Now they grow in any empty space. Although older slums in Byculla,
Dharavi, sakinaka,mahim and Khar were initially separate villages, with their own
traditional industries, most people who live in slums work outside them.
Of 28.3 lakh households in Greater Mumbai, 11.36 lakh households reside in slums.
• Census 2011 data reveals a marked fall in the percentage share of slum population,
from 54% in 2001 to 42% in 2011. While the share of slum population may have fallen
between 2001 and
2011, 42% households continue to live in ‘inhuman’ conditions.
• In addition to households living in slums, there are 15,274 houseless households in
the city, living
in the open or roadside, pavements, in hume pipes, under fly-overs and staircases, or in
open in places of worship, mandaps, railway platforms, etc.
Thus, at least 11.57 lakh formal dwelling units are required in Mumbai to house the
existing slum and houseless population.
In nine out of 24 wards, more than 50% of population lives in slums. Dharavi slum in
Central Mumbai is one of the largest slums of Asia. Here some of the side alleys and
lanes are so narrow that not even a bicycle can pass. The whole neighbour hood consists
of tenement buildings, two or three storey high with rusty iron stairways to the upper
part, where a single room is rented by a whole family, sometimes twelve or more
people.

6. LACK OF SANITORYCONDITIONS: Poor sanitary conditions and poor quality of water
lead to illnesses like diarrhea and other water borne diseases, affecting the life
expectancy of slum dwellersIn dense, overcrowded urban conditions it is often difficult
for people to find space to build lavotries. Many have to defecate in the open or share
whatever limited facilities are available which tend to offer no privacy, safety or
hygiene. Human waste and refuse collecting in stagnant pools spread diseases and
contaminate water sources. The problem is made worse during the rainy season when
rubbish and excrement are washed into cramped living areas.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS: High unemployment often causes men to stay around the home
growing increasingly frustrated with their pathetic situation and the worsening
poverty. Cramped conditions mean that there is nowhere to go when tensions rise, a
factor that regularly leads to domestic violence. Sometimes the situation goes to the
other extreme, where people abandon their homes, lured by the prospect of oblivion
through alcohol or drug abuse. Once people develop such problems the prospects of
finding work diminish. They fall deeper into poverty and the cycle continues.
CHILD LABOUR:Many children in the slums start work at a very early age with no
prospect of getting any education. They make money by rag picking, selling newspapers
in traffic jams, peddling drugs or begging. They are at risk ofexploitation as well as all
the health problems. Incest and abuse can occur and child marriages are still
encouraged in some areas.
Squatter Settlements:
No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between slums and squatter settlements in
practice except that slums are relatively more stable and are located in older, inner
parts of cities compared to squatter settlements which are relatively temporary and are
often scattered in all parts of the city, especially outer zones where urban areas merge
with their rural hinterland.
Normally, squatter settlements contain makeshift dwellings constructed without official
permission (i.e., on unauthorised land). Such settlements are constructed by using any
available material such as cardboards, tin, straw mats or sacks. Squatter settlements are
constructed in an uncontrolled manner and badly lack essential public services such as
water, light, sewage.
Squatter settlements have following three characteristics in common.
Physical Characteristics:
Due to inherent ‘non-legal’ status, a squatter settlement has services and infrastructure
below the adequate minimum levels. As such water supply, sanitation, electricity, roads,
drainage, schools, health centres, and market places are either absent or arranged
informally.
Social Characteristics:
Most of the squatter households belong to lower income group. They are predominantly
migrants, but many are also second or third generation squatters.
Legal Characteristics:
Such settlements lack land ownership.
6. Transport:
Transport problems increase and become more complex as the town grows in size. With
its growth, the town performs varied and complex functions and more people travel to
work or shop. As the town becomes larger, even people living within the built-up area

7. have to travel by car or bus to cross the town and outsiders naturally bring their cars or
travel by public transport. Wherever, trade is important, commercial vehicles such as
vans and trucks will make problem of traffic more complicated.
Since most of the commercial activities of the towns are concentrated in the Central
Business District (C.B.D.), the centres are areas of greatest congestion. However, other
parts of the town are not free from traffic congestion.
Such congestion becomes greater when the centre is built up in tall skyscraper blocks
whose offices sometimes employ thousands of workers, because at the end of the office
hours everyone leaves the building within a short space of time to make their way
home.
This puts tremendous pressure on public transport and causes journeys to take much
longer period than they normally would. In most cities the rush hour or peak traffic
hour lasts for about two hours and during that period buses and trains are crammed to
capacity, roads are overcrowded with vehicles and the movement of traffic becomes
very slow.
The traffic scenario in almost all the Indian cities presents a pathetic picture with
Mumbai still having the best city transport system and Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune
being reasonably well served by local transport system. In all other cities, if one does
not own a personal vehicle, great hardship is experienced in moving about in the city.
Apart from that, the level of incomes and affordability of Indian masses is very low and
the citizens are not able to pay an economic fare for use of public transport system.
Therefore, all city bus services sustain such heavy losses that they cannot really expand
or even maintain a fleet adequately to meet the city needs.
Moreover, mixture of vehicles causes uncontrollable chaos on the roads. Free
movement of stray cattle and domestic animals on the roads adds to traffic problem and
often cause accidents. Heavy traffic and congestion leads to slow movement of traffic,
fuel wastage environmental pollution and loss of precious time
In Mumbai, nearly 80% of the total journeys made in the city, i. e. 11.2 mn out of 14 mn
journeys per day are by public transport, mainly by suburban trains and buses. The
modal split is divided between trains and buses in the ratio of 58% for trains (6.5 mn
journeys) and 38% for buses (4.7 mn journeys), with the average lead of travel of 25 km
for rail and 7 km for buses. Of the remaining 2.8 mn journeys, about 1.4 mn journeys, or
10% of the total, are made by IPTs (taxis and rickshaws). The rickshaws are used
mainly for short trips to and from rail stations in suburban areas. Car users
approximately account for 5% journeys, and the remaining 5% journeys are walk trips,
particularly in south Mumbai and suburbs.
Urban transport demand is a function of population, employment, land use
development and the level of per capita incomes. So long as the trip-making rate is less
than unity, the most influencing factor is the growth of urban population. However,
income levels become an important determinant as the economic well-being of the
people improves, which pushes the trip-making rate above unity. The growth of car
ownership also affects the trip-making rate. The fact that Mumbai's rate is as high as
1.14 means that income levels and other socio-economic factors of Mumbai's residents
significantly influence it. For in a city where the trip-making rate exceeds unity, the
number of daily trips are likely to increase proportionately more than the growth of

8. population. It is not surprising, therefore, that the number of daily trips in Greater
Mumbai may exceed the 20 mn mark by the year 2020. If this prediction comes true, the
volume of daily traffic might not be met even if the capacity of the existing suburban rail
and bus systems were trebled and the enlarged metro system discussed later in this
article were constructed. Overcrowding is likely to be a key feature of Mumbai's
transport situation, unless demand management measures are introduced to control
traffic growth effectively and efficiently.
7. Water:
What is one of the most essential elements of nature to sustain life and right from the
beginning of urban civilisation, sites for settlements have always been chosen keeping
in view the availability of water to the inhabitants of the settlement. However, supply of
water started falling short of demand as the cities grew in size and number.
Today we have reached a stage where practically no city in India/ gets sufficient water
to meet the needs of city dwellers. In many cities people get water from the municipal
sources for less than half an hour every alternate day. In dry summer season, taps
remain dry for days together and people are denied water supply at a time when they
need it the most.
Gap in demand and supply of water in four metro cities, viz., Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and
Chennai varies from 10 to 20 per cent.
Where does Mumbai get its water from?
The outskirts of Shahapur have four reservoirs — Bhatsa, Tansa, Modak Sagar and the
Vaitarna — that supply 2,960 million litres of water to Mumbai every day through
pipelines.
According to the Mumbai City Development Plan 2005-2025, Mumbai's population has
reached 12 million which requires around 3,900 million litres per day (MLD). At
present, 3,100 MLD is being supplied for domestic, commercial and industrial
requirements.
Apart from the four reservoirs in Shahapur, Mumbai obtains water from various other
schemes including Vihar, Tulsi and Powai
As the Mumbai population is projected to expand to 16 million by 2021, future water
sources have to be identified to augument Mumbai's increasing thirst.
8. Sewerage Problems:
Urban areas in India are almost invariably plagued with insufficient and inefficient
sewage facilities. According to latest estimates, only 35-40 per cent of the urban
population has the privilege of sewage system. Most of the cities have old sewerage
lines which are not looked after properly. Often sewerage lines break down or they are
overflowing.
Most cities do not have proper arrangements for treating the sewerage waste and it is
drained into a nearly river (as in Delhi) or in sea (as in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai),
thereby polluting the water bodies.
In most Indian cities, water pipes run in close proximity to sewer lines. Any leakage
leads to contamination of water which results in the spread of several water borne
diseases.

9. 9. Trash Disposal:
As Indian cities grow in number and size the problem of trash disposal is assuming
alarming proportions. Huge quantities of garbage produced by our cities pose a serious
health problem. Most cites do not have proper arrangements for garbage disposal and
the existing landfills are full to the brim. These landfills are hotbeds of disease and
innumerable poisons leaking into their surroundings.
Wastes putrefy in the open inviting disease carrying flies and rats and a filthy,
poisonous liquid, called leachate, which leaks out from below and contaminates ground
water. People who live near the rotting garbage and raw sewage fall easy victims to
several diseases like dysentery, malaria, plague, jaundice, diarrhoea, typhoid, etc.
In Mumbai, the Deonar dumping ground extends over 132 hectares and receives 5,500
metric tonnes of waste, 600 metric tonnes of silt and 25 tonnes of bio-medical waste
daily.
The Deonar dumping ground has caused health issues for the residents from Mumbai's
neighbour hood of Chembur, Govandi and Mankhurd. Recurrent fires at the dump have
caused conditions unfit for habitation for residents of the adjacent area.
In 2015, neighbourhood surrounding to the dumping ground was identified as the city's
most polluted area. Another fire broke out at the Deonar dumping ground in January
2016 causing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to shut down 74 schools
run by it for two days,
10. Urban Crimes:
Modem cities present a meeting point of people from different walks of life having no
affinity with one another. Like other problems, the problem of crimes increases with the
increase in urbanisation. In fact the increasing trend in urban crimes tends to disturb
peace and tranquility of the cities and make them unsafe to live in particularly for the
women.
Growing materialism, consumerism, competition in everyday life, selfishness,
lavishness, appalling socio-economic disparities and rising unemployment and feeling
of loneliness in the crowd are some of the primary causes responsible for alarming
trends in urban crime.
Not only the poor, deprived and slum dwellers take to crime; youngsters from well-to-
do families also resort to crime in order to make fast buck and for meeting
requirements of a lavish life. Occasional failures in life also drag youngsters to crime.
The latest surveys show that Mumbai and Delhi figure in 35 cities that have high crime
rate. As much as 31.8 per cent of citizens in Mumbai and 30.5 per cent in Delhi have
been victims of crime. Both cities score poorly in corruption, with 22.9% in Mumbai and
21% in Delhi being exposed to bribery.
11. Problem of Urban Pollution:
With rapid pace of urbanisation, industries and transport systems grow rather out of
proportion. These developments are primarily responsible for pollution of
environment, particularly the urban environment