Exploring the provision and accessibility to urban basic services in the slums of a medium sized city of India

Abha Lakshmi Singh*¹ and Mohd Kaish²

^*1Department of Geography, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, Uttar Pradesh (India)

²Banasthali University, Banasthali, Rajasthan (India)

*Corresponding Author’s Email: abhalakshmisingh@yahoo.com;

Tel: 0571 - 2400789

Accepted 25 February, 2013

Abstract

Most of the slums in medium/small sized cities of India are not recognized by the government. Lack of government recognition cerates barriers to the legal status and provision of basic services. In this paper an attempt has been made to explore the provision and accessibility to urban basic services (i.e. water supply, toilets, garbage and sewage disposal, accessibility and electricity) and in the slums of Aligarh city so that plans could be prepared for providing a livable environment in the slums of Aligarh city. The study is based on primary sources of data which has been collected through indepth surveys of 47 slum spots with the help of questionnaire interviews. Field work was conducted during the years 2009 and 2010. The result shows that the slums were devoid of basic services but these services were available outside the slums. On the basis of accessibility of these services a map has been prepared for the purpose of planning for providing a livable environment in the slums.

Keywords: slums, basic services, provision, accessibility, environment

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