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Planning mess in Urban centres of India
By Sanjay Chaturvedi Almost 30% of Indian population will reside in urban areas of India by 2010. Rapid urbanisation is in offing, while city planners are finding it difficult to cope up with the rapid pace, reports “India Urban Report, preparing for an urban transaction”, commissioned by the Urban Ministry. Speaking at the discussion on the report, Montek Singh Ahliwalia, deputy chairperson of the planning commission, said “ Planning efforts so far have evolved supporting a market economy, but the provision and delivery of services won't happen as a result of market forces. Steps will need to be taken towards that”. He further added “ We build flyovers and hotels in order to host the Commonwealth Games for instance, but is that what the city really needs?” The report said that the a key feature of India's urbanisation is the increasing concentration of urban population in the comparatively larger cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. These cities have entered a phase of metropolitanisation or to become extended urban corridors. Population growth rates are higher in the periphery than in the core of all these cities, except Bangalore. It has serious implications on infrastructural necessities like housing and transport. The report conducted by National Institute of Public Finance. Mr. Om Prakash Mathur, professor of urban economics and finance, who headed the research study, said “ Urban workforce has remained stable and manufacturing remains the core activity accounting for 23 per cent of total workforce.” The report says that the composition of the country's Net Domestic Product has changed and manufacturing is no longer the key factor. Manufacturing has been replaced in urban areas by public administration, defence and other miscellaneous services. New economic activities such as financial intermediation and formal real estate development will characterise future prospects in the economy of urbanisation. The report also said that there is huge imbalance in the level of urbanisation within the country. States like Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu have 35 per cent urbanisation while Uttar Pradesh 20%, Orissa 14.3 and Bihar has 10% of its population living in urban areas. The report has highlighted some of the anomalies like 90% of all urban areas have water but 40% of it unsafe for drinking. Nearly 50% depend on source other than tap water within premises while average availability is 2.9 hours per day. Nearly 40 to 60 % of the water released is lost to theft and distributional leakages. The concept of 24x7 water supply is no longer a key goal in any of the cities. The report said that a process of Function and sources of revenue are transferred between the different levels of the government. Local bodies were responsible for public health, sanitation and water supply. Today they are also deemed responsible for economic and social development, urban and town planning, protection of environment and poverty alleviation. But there is also much confusion over the precise role of these local bodies. Their responsibilities overlap with state department over lot of issues. State of Rajasthan scrapped Property Tax and hence additional responsibilities were a burden on them. Mumbai should learn a lesson from the study and plan more infrastructural projects in suburbs. Instead of projects like Bandra Worli sea link or Pedder Road fly over, planners must consider to expedite Andheri Ghatkopar Link and Trans Harbour Link way. Planners must consider to shift public offices to Navi Mumbai so that day migrants from other part of the state do not add congestions. High Lighter : Definition of Urban Areas A minimum population of 5000 persons. At least 75% of the male population engaged in non-agricultural activities. Population density of at least 400 persons per sq. km. All statutory towns having a municipality.
International research on economy of urban areas suggests: That they are generators of employment and income That Urban labour markets in developing countries have become increasingly segmented, broadly into formal and informal. That there are barriers of different kinds that impede movement between the formal and informal sectors.
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