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JJ clusters. According to the 65th round report of the is adversely affecting the health of the slum dwellers

NSS (Directorate of Economics and Statistics, 2010) as about 24 per cent of the slums are located around

individual latrine facility is reported from only 7.84 the nallahs and 48 per cent of the slums are usually

per cent of slums.

affected by water logging during monsoon. Safe

drinking water, sanitation, and a clean environment

There are 377 slums with populations of 308,614 are essential needs and basic human rights, and

recorded in Bhubaneswar in 2008 and it is reported India’s policy framework very well recognises this.

that none of the slums have piped water supply in the The provision of adequate drinking water for entire

dwelling units and that public stand posts, urban and rural populations is one of the priorities of

handpumps/ tubewells, open wells, etc., are the the National Water Policy (NWP). Provision of clean

sources of drinking water. Of the total slum drinking water, sanitation and a clean environment

households, 80 per cent have no toilet facility (Odisha are vital to improve the health of our people and to

WATSAN Profile, prepared by HUP-PFI, 2011). reduce incidence of diseases and deaths (Planning

Similarly, in Jharkhand, only 31.2 per cent of the Commission, 2008). But disparity in the provision of

urban poor and 93.1 per cent of the non-urban poor services and an approach based on exclusion rather

have access to sanitary facility. Thirty-four per cent of than inclusion results in the urban poor being

the population of Ranchi lives in slums without generally deprived from essential facilities and

individual toilet facility and only 11 per cent of the services of water, sanitation and clean environment.

slum population has access to public toilets; for the

remaining, defecation in the open is the only option. 3.6 Summing Up

Dhanbad city has no sewage system and only 21 per The 2011 provisional Census of India reports the

cent of the population has access to safe disposal annual exponential growth rate of the urban

facility (Jharkhand WATSAN profile, prepared by population to the tune of 2.76 per cent, which is

HUP-Plan, 2011). The problem is that all cities face the almost the same (2.73 per cent) reported in 2001.

same situation and there is no concerted planning to India’s urban population stands at about 377 million

deal with the situation.

with 31.16 per cent people living in urban locations.

The decadal urban population growth rate during

3.5 Challenges

2001-11 is 31.8 per cent, which is 1.8 times the overall

Urban population growth is much faster compared to and 2.6 times the rural population growth. Therefore,

both overall population growth and rural population the absolute increase in the urban population is more

growth; on the other hand, rural population growth is than the rural population. The latest figures

declining compared to urban population growth and corroborate the fact that due to various socio-

the challenges of urbanisation are increasing. There economic factors, like population pressure and

are a number of factors–natural growth, geographical poverty, the urban regions have seen a large influx of

expansion of urban centres, migration from rural to population from rural areas thus creating new urban

urban areas due to natural calamities, displacement centres.

and non-availability of gainful

employment—responsible for faster urban With the rise in urban areas, urban poverty is also on

population growth.

the rise. The Committee on Slum Statistics and

Census estimated 75.26 million slum populations in

In the absence of a widely acceptable definition of 2001 and projected slum populations to increase to

slums/slum dwellers/urban poor, availability of the 93.05 million by 2011, which is about 25 per cent of the

authentic data is not possible. Various agencies are provisional population of 2011. What is more

involved in estimating slums and slum populations problematic is that the slum locations where poor

on the basis of their own definitions and assessment people live are hardly served by the water supply

methods. Generally, every state has its own systems. Examples from select cities show a skewed

d e f i n i t i o n a n d p r o c e d u r e f o r t h e number of poor being served in the cities. Another

declaration/notification of slums and mostly it is the challenge is urban sanitation. With the lack of

notified/listed slums that are included for the individual coverage for sanitation, and also poor

situation assessment and provision of basic services infrastructure to deal with a city’s sewage,

thereby leaving out about half the slums /human wastewater is becoming a big problem in almost all

settlements from consideration.

cities across India.

Disposal of untreated sewage into the water streams The government has announced a National Urban

Sanitation Policy intended towards making slum- and sanitation are among the essential needs and basic

free cities and provisions for safe drinking water, human rights of all people, they should be provided to

sanitation and solid waste management for entire all irrespective of the tenure status. Availability of

urban populations. These are among the targets of the reliable information on slum settlements and

11th Five Year Plan (2007-12) and reduction of the populations is essential for planning and providing

burden of water borne diseases by 50 per cent by the water and sanitation, and therefore comprehensive

year 2015 is one of the goals of the National Health counting and mapping is required. Sustainable and

Policy 2002. The need is to recognise the fact and reduce effective water and sanitation is only possible though

the disparities in the provision of water and sanitation community participation and there is a need to develop

facilities and services. Considering the fact that water strategies based on learning and past experience.

Footnotes

1. This chapter is written by Health of the Urban Poor Programme of the Population Foundation of India (PFI). Anand Rudra, USAID /

India, Dr . Sainath Banerjee HUP -PFI, Shipra Saxena HUP –PFI, 'Biraja KabiSatapathy HUP-PFI, Meeta Jaruhar HUP-Plan,

Merajuddin Ahmad HUP – Plan, Dr Himani Tiwari HUP- IIHMR, Anil Kumar Gupta HUP-Plan, Johnson R Jeyaseelan HUP-PFI. The

authors acknowledge the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the

responsibility of PFI and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States government. For more information about

PFI, please visit: www.popfound.org.

2. National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – III, 2005-6, available at http://www.nfhsindia.org/NFHS-3%20Data/VOL-

1/India_volume_I_corrected_17oct08.pdf (accessed 10 September 2011).

3. 2005-6, ‘Key Indicators for Urban Poor in India’, available at http://www.uhrc.in/name-CmodsDownload-index-req-getit-lid-

99.html (accessed 16 October 2011).

References

 Census of India, 2011. Size, growth rate and distribution of population. Available at: http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov

results/data_files/india/Final%20PPT%202011_chapter3.pdf, [Accessed on: 7 April 2011]

 Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Ministry of Environment and Forest, Government of India, 2009. Status of Water Supply,

Waste Water Generation and Treatment in Class I and Class II cities of India, online available at

Http://www.cpcb.nic.in/upload/NewItems/NewItem_153_Foreword.pdf [Accessed 16 October 2011]

 Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (2011), Govt. of New Delhi, 2011. List of JJ Clusters 2011. [online] Available at:

delhishelter.nic.in/jjc685_march2011.pdf [Accessed: 10 October 2011]

 Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Delhi, 2010. ‘Urban Slums in Delhi’. Available at:

http://delhi.gov.in/wps/wcm/connect/dfb6e00045a1125c80d4cfb4db7ec898/UrbanSlum_65thRound.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&lmo

d=-523581320&CACHEID=dfb6e00045a1125c80d4cfb4db7ec898

 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), 2011, Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India, 2011. Jaipur

City Development Plan, 2006. [online] Available at http://www.jnnurm.in (accessed 07 October 2011)

 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, 2011. City

Development Plan Delhi, 2006. [online] Available at: http://jnnurm.nic.in/citywise-cdp.html [Accessed: 10 October 2011] Lucknow, p13

 Mahila Housing SEWA Trust, 2009. Urban Slums in Gujarat and Rajasthan, Study of Basic Infrastructure in Seven Cities – 2009 [online]

Available at: http://www.sewahousing.org/download.php?f=urban%20slums.pdf&p=studies. [Accessed on: 11 November 2011]

 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Government of India, 2009. Health and Living Condition in 8 Indian Cities, 2009.

Available online at http://www.nfhsindia.org/urban_health_report_for_website_18sep09.pdf [Accessed on: 6 October 2011

 Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government. of India, 2009. Health and Living Condition in 8 Indian Cities. [online] Available

at: www.nfhsindia.org/urban_health_report_for_website_18sep09.pdf [Accessed on: 04 October 2011]

 Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, 2010. Report of the Committee on Slum Statistics/Census,

National Building Organization. [online] Available at: http://mhupa.gov.in/W_new/Slum_Report_NBO.pdf [Accessed 04 October

2011]

 Planning Commission, 2008. Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Chapter 6

 UN- HABITAT. 2006. Water Depamd and Management Strategy and Implementation Plan . UNH Report for Bhopal, Gwalior and

Jabalpur. Water for Asian Cities Programme. UN-Habitat, New Delhi.

 WaterAid. 2006. UN-HABITAT Report on Poverty Mapping: A Situation Analysis of Poverty Pockets in Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and

Jabalpur. UN-HABITAT, New Delhi.

For more information please contact:

Health of the Urban Poor (HUP)Program

Population Foundation of India

B-28, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi-110016, Tel: 91-11-43894166, Fax: 91-11-43894199

E-mail: info_hup@populationfoundation.in, Www.populationfoundation.in

This document is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The

contents are the responsibility of the Population Foundation of India and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government

Water Sanitation Scenario in Urban India

(Submitted to UN India Water Development Report 2012)

The 2011 provisional Census of India reports the

annual exponential growth rate of urban population

to the tune of 2.76 per cent. The absolute increase

in urban population is more than the rural

population in India. What is more surprising is

that the number of towns has increased from

5,161 in 2001 to 7,935 in 2011, an addition of

2,774 ‘new’ towns. These trends show that

India is becoming increasingly urbanised.

With the rise in urban areas, water and

sanitation access for the urban poor is an

issue of concern. The water supply is

iniquitous and sanitation situation

appalling. The discharge of untreated

sewage is the most critical water

polluting source for surface and

groundwater in India. Latest figures

show that estimated sewage

generation from Class I and Class II

cities is about 80 per cent of water

supply, and that only 31.5 per cent

of the generated sewage can be

treated per day on the basis of the

installed capacity. About 70 per cent

the untreated sewage from Class I cities and 92 per

cent from Class II cities is daily contaminating

surface and groundwater. Due to the disparity in

the provision of services, and an approach based

on exclusion rather than inclusion, the urban poor

are generally deprived from the essential facility and

services of water, sanitation and a clean environment.

3.1 Urban Population Growth

The urban population of India is now 377.1 million

(Census of India, 2011), which is 31.16 per cent of the

country’s total population. The decadal urban

Table 3.1: Population growth during 1991-2011

Population

India [Total]

1991

846.4

Addition

2001 2011 during

1991-2011

1028.7 1210.2 363.8

Rural

630.6 742.6 833.1 202.5

Urban

215.8 286.1 377.1 161.3

Share of Urban

Population (%) 25.49 27.81 31.16 44.34

Source: Provisional population totals, Census of India (2011).

population growth rate during 2001-11 is 31.8 per

cent, which is 1.8 times the overall and 2.6 times the

rural population growth, and the absolute

increase in urban population is more than the

rural population (see Table 3.1).

Historically, India is known as the country

of villages, but the population

composition of the country in last two

decades has changed significantly.

During 1991-2011, the overall

population of the country increased by

43 percent-the rural population

increased by 32 per cent while urban

population increased by 75 per cent.

The share of urban population was

25.49 per cent in 1991, which has

increased to 31.16 per cent in 2011. The

number of town (urban centers) has

increased from 5,161 to 7,935, an

addition of 2,774 town during 2001-

11.

3.2 Slums and the Urban Poor

There is a wide variation in the

estimation/reported slum

population by various government and other

agencies. The Census of India 2001 reported a

slum population of 42.6 million from 640 towns of

the country which was 14.88 per cent of the total

census population (it did not include towns with a

population below 50,000 and few town and cities

with populations of more than 50,000 where local

bodies did not recognise any slum area). Later, it

also included towns with populations between

20,000-50,000 and reported slum populations of

52.4 million from 1,743 cities/towns. The reported

slum population was less than the Town and

Country Planning Organization’s (TCPO)

estimated slum population of 61.8 million. The UN

population report estimated a 158.42 million slum

population in 2001 (Ministry of Housing and

Poverty Alleviation, 2010).

The Committee on Slum Statistics and Census

(constituted by the National Building

Organisation, Ministry of Housing and Poverty

Alleviation, Government of India in 2008)

estimated a 75.26 million slum population in 2001

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and projected that slum populations would reach

93.05 million by 2011 (which is about 25 per cent of

the provisional population of 2011). Further, UN-

HABITAT estimated the slum population at 169

million in 2004-5 (Ministry of Health and Family

Welfare, 2009). Although the 11th Five Year Plan

(2007-12) considered the census slum population

(42.6 million, 14.88 per cent) but it is also

mentioned in the document that ‘almost 30–40

percent of India’s urban population lives in slums’

(Planning Commission, 2008).

3.3 Urban Water Supply and Sewerage

According to the Census of India 2001, there were

498 Class I and 410 Class II cities in the country; the

estimated total population of these cities in 2008

was 257.75 million and total water supply was

48090.88 MLD. Average per capita water supply in

Class I and Class II cities was 179.02 and 120.79 l per

day (CPCB, 2009).

Water supply is not uniform across all states or cities.

The average per capita water supply for Class I cities

of Tamil Nadu is 79.9 l and for Maharashtra it is

310.09 l whereas the average per capita per day

water supply for Class II cities of the state is 106.74 l.

Among the Class II cities of Maharashtra, water

supply ranges between 34.5 LCPD in Malkapur to

464.94 LCPD in Anjangaon. Such variations are

common across all the cities and states of the

country.

One of the major reasons of wide variations in per

capita water supply is the mismanagement of the

water supply system. Levels of system losses

through "unaccounted-for water" or "non-revenue

water" are often as high as 50% in Indian cities and

represent large financial and environmental losses

to cities and their economies. A UN-HABITAT

supported study for 4 cities of Madhya Pradesh has

revealed that this Non-Revenue Water (NRW) ranged

between 31 % and 49 % in Bhopal, between 37% and

43% in Jabalpur, and between 36% and 66% in

Gwalior. Based on the study, city specific Water

Demand Management strategies were developed to

minimise the water losses and to increase the revenue

for the municipal corporations (UN- HABITAT, 2006)

Discharge of untreated sewage is the most critical

water polluting source for surface and groundwater

in India. Estimated sewage generation from Class I

and Class II cities is about 38,000 million l per day (80

per cent of the water supply) and only 31.5 per cent of

the generated sewage can be treated per day on the

basis of the installed capacity. Estimated sewage

generation by Class I cities is 35,558 MLD and sewage

treatment capacity is only 32 per cent of the total

generation. Estimated sewage generation from Class

II cities is about 2,697 MLD and the treatment capacity

in only 8 per cent of the generation. Thus, 70 per cent of

untreated sewage from Class I cities and 92 per cent

from Class II cities contaminates surface and

groundwater On a daily basis (see Table 3.2)

Table 3.2: Sewage treatment capacity of Class I and Class II cities of some States

S No.

States

Maharashtra

Uttar Pradesh

Delhi

Madhya Pradesh

Rajasthan

Odisha

Chhattisgarh

Bihar

Tamil Nadu

Andhra Pradesh

Uttarakhand

Source: CPCB (2009).

Population (2008 estimated) Sewage Treatment Capacity

million

(% of sewage generation)

Class I cities Class II Cities Class I Cities Class II Cities

40.25

25.03

25.76

33.82

14.85

10.79

17.45

96.11

15.99

33.35

09.04

25.15

05.66

57.83

11.03

16.85

32.54

20.14

34.48

1.24

0.06

3.4 Status of Drinking Water and Sanitation It is

reported that 95 per cent of urban households have

access to improved source of water (NFHS-III, 2005-6)

and access to improved source of water is not a

reflection of availability of safe drinking water. It is

also reported that about 78 per cent of India’s urban

population has access to safe drinking water (CBCB,

2009). Location is the deciding factor for source and

availability of drinking water. It is reported that 50.7

per cent of urban households have access to piped

water supply at home but access in non-slum and

slum areas is 62.2 and 18.5 per cent respectively.

Further, the disparity on the basis of tenure status is

more severe and, generally, households of the non-

notified slums are totally deprived from piped water

supply in a dwelling unit (see Figure 3.1).

Figure 3.1: Status of piped water supply and

sanitary facility for urban poor and non-poor

83.2

50.4

95.9

62.2

47.2

18.5

100

120

Piped Water

Sanitary Facility

According to NFHS-III, of the total urban households, 83.2 per cent have access to sanitary facility (either

flush or pit) but out of the total slum households only 47.2 per cent have access to sanitary facility while 95.9

per cent of the non-slum population has access to it.

Table 3.3: Waste and sanitation coverage details of selected states

S No

States

% Households with

access to piped

water supply at home

Urban Urban Urban

Poor Non poor Total

1 Maharashtra

47.8

87.5

81.3

2 Uttar Pradesh 11.5

40.9

32.2

3 Delhi

29.8

82.3

75.0

4 Bihar

2.8

17.1

11.9

5 Madhya Pradesh 22.9

60.2

47.1

6 Rajasthan

51.7

87.3

80.7

7 All States

18.5

60.2

50.7

% Households accessing

public tap/handpump

Urban Urban Urban

Poor Non poor Total

48.2

11.5

17.2

84.6

58.1

65.9

63.3

7.9

15.7

90.3

80.6

84.2

58.2

36.3

44.2

44.9

10.5

16.9

72.4

30.7

41.6

% Households using

sanitary facility (flush/pit)

Urban Urban Urban

Poor Non poor Total

50.1

94.9

87.9

53.5

96.4

83.8

65.6

98.6

94.0

29.5

98.0

72.9

22.9

93.7

71.2

44.6

94.6

85.4

47.2

95.9

83.2

Source: Compiled on the basis of key indicators for urban poor, available at http://uhrc.in/module.

3.4 Status of Drinking Water and Sanitation

It is reported that 95 per cent of urban households

have access to improved source of water (NFHS-III,

2005-6) and access to improved source of water is

not a reflection of availability of safe drinking water.

It is also reported that about 78 per cent of India’s

urban population has access to safe drinking water

(CBCB, 2009). Location is the deciding factor for

source and availability of drinking water. It is

reported that 50.7 per cent of urban households have

access to piped water supply at home but access in

non-slum and slum areas is 62.2 and 18.5 per cent

respectively. Further, the disparity on the basis of

tenure status is more severe and, generally,

households of the non-notified slums are totally

deprived from piped water supply in a dwelling unit

Figure 3.2: Percentage of households (slum and non-slum) with access to improved individual toilets

Delhi

Slum

Non-slum 74

Source: MoHFW (2009)

Meerut

Kolkata

Indore

Mumbai

Nagpur Hyderabad Chennai

Provision of services and coverage further depends on situation analysis study in partnership with

the tenure status of a settlement; it may be categorised WaterAid India in four major cities of Madhya

as a legal/illegal, notified/non-notified, listed/non- Pradesh (Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur)

listed, recognised/ unrecognised slum according to revealed that access to piped water for slum

the state’s slums act. Sanitation conditions in both communities range from 28 to 65 %, 31 to 66 %

recognised and unrecognised slums are appalling. For household depend on public stand posts and the rest

example, Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan with a on private sources. Further it showed that access to

million plus people, that is, 86.5 per cent of the house hold toilet in slum communities range from 48

population, as per the City Development Plan of Jaipur to 76 %, 6.1 to 8.0 % household use community toilets

City (JNNURM, 2011: 13), covered through the Public and 16 to 46 % house hold practice open defecation

Health Engineering Department water supply system (WaterAid, 2006)

while the remaining is covered by another system.

Further, it is also mentioned that 45 per cent of urban The National Capital Territory of Delhi is an example

poor families are dependent on community water of the provision of the services at per tenure status. It

sources, 39 per cent on private water sources and 16 per is reported that improved source of drinking water

cent have no definite source of water. Whereas, and improved individual sanitation facility is

according to the study conducted by the Mahila accessed by 92.6 and 63.9 per cent of households

Housing Sewa Trust (2009), 26 per cent of slum respectively and 75 per cent have piped water supply

households have access to in-house tap connections, 37 at home. But only 49 per cent of slum households

per cent are dependent on public taps, 17 per cent are have piped water at home. In Delhi, slums are

dependent on neighbours, 8 per cent are dependent on broadly divided into two categories: notified slums

private sellers, and about 25 per cent of slum a n d n o n - n o t i f i e d s l u m s . G e n e r a l l y , t h e

households have no definite source of water. The jhuggi/jhopari (JJ) clusters are in the category of non-

sewage facility covers 65 per cent of the city area, and notified/listed/identified slums. The Delhi Shelter

slums/kachchi bastis are neither covered by the Improvement Board reported 685 JJ clusters and 4.18

sewage network nor by septic tanks, and 48 per cent of lakh jhuggies (Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement

slum households have no sanitation facility and Board, 2011) and the 65th round of the National

defecate in the open (Rajasthan WATSAN Profile, Sample Survey (NSS) reported 4,390 slums with 5.77

prepared by HUP- Institute of Health Management lakh (0.577 million) households and 2.8 million

Research IIHMR, 2011).

population. Only 21.7 per cent of the JJ clusters are

covered with piped water supply (JNNURM, 2011)

A UN-HABITAT supported poverty mapping and individual tap connections are not allowed in the