Potential of reducing poverty through urban environmental management practices : a case study of a poor community in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India | |
| Author | Mohanty, Ashutosh |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.UE-02-17 |
| Subject(s) | Poverty--India--Orissa Urban ecology--India--Orissa |
| Note | A thesis submitted in pa1tial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The last two decades have witnessed a rapid growth of cities in the developing world. Side by side, it is observed that the magnitude of urban poverty has also increased. In south Asia in particular, this problem of urban growth and poverty is very acute. This sub-continent has five hundred million poor people, among whom 2.3 million live in urban areas. The city governments finding it extremely difficult to provide even the basic urban services like water supply, collection and disposal of waste and sanitation to this huge number of urban poor .A close look at the state of affairs on the delivery of these services and their management by city government makes it clear that the old way of providing these services is highly inadequate. This is the reason for which sound Urban Environmental Management (UEM) practices are gaining importance for the cities of the developing countries. There is also potential to involve the poor in the UEM practices so that there will be income-earning opportunities for them which in tern reducing poverty. With the above in view, this study has sought to explore the prospect of adopting appropriate UEM practices in a poor community Saliashai of Orissa in Bhubaneswar India. It is the largest slum in Orissa state. Located within the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), it is spread over 35 acres of unauthorized government land. Over the years, the geographical boundary of the slum has increased because of migration of rural poor to the slum in the search of jobs in the city. Cheap rent and easy access to informal jobs attract these people to the slums. Most of the people are of below poverty lines and lead a very wretched life. The inhabitants of the slum are deprived of all basic urban services and amenities that are supposed to be provided by the municipal body. The fieldwork of the study was conducted using a structured questionnaire, informal discussions and field observation. The main findings of the study are: (a) majority of the dwellers in this urban slum live in abject poverty in an extremely unhealthy environment all around, (b) due to non-availability of basic urban services of water supply, sanitation and waste disposals, these dwellers suffer from chronic health ailments for which they are to spend money from their scanty income. This breeds and leads to perpetuation of poverty in this slum. Developing some UEM practices that would involve the poor in generating economic activities to provide water, build sanitation facility, and manage waste can contribute to mitigation of this condition. The study draws on lessons from other cities to propose a set of recommendations which include: (i) Involving the poor in water supply provisions, (e.g., in water vending); (ii) Involving the poor in waste collection & recycling; (iii) Involving the poor for sanitation services,( e.g., in building and maintaining community toilets). For implementation of these recommendations BMC has to take a leading role to involve the community, NGOs, CBOs and donor community. |
| Year | 2003 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Amin, A. T. M. Nurul ; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Perera, L. A. S. Ranjith ;Sajor, Edsel E.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Regional Urban Development Office (RUDO) Of US Agency for International Development (USAID), New Delhi, India ;National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), India; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2003 |