CHAPTER – 6
CONCLUSION & SUGGESTIONS
CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY
Urbanisation can be regarded as a phenomenon which is accompanied by more
negative points than the positive ones. On account of rapid urbanisation, both
the developed as well as developing countries have been facing more or less the
same problems and turmoil in the process of urban development. The positive
role of the urbanisation has been overshadowed by the evident deterioration in
the physical environment and quality of life in urban areas caused by a widening
gap between demand and supply of essential services and infrastructure referring
to India, A.K. Sen has remarked, “Industrialisation has led to a sharp rise in
urban population, and thus, in turn has created shortfalls in housing, public
utilities and community facilities.” The speed with which the urban population is
growing, overflowing the boundaries and forming sprawling agglomerations of
building has created difficulties and the tasks of city government have become
formidable. Lust for urban life and quest for better living has accelerated the
pace of urbanisation and the municipal institutions have been finding it difficult
to meet the challenges posed by the urbanisation. In fact, people come from
rural areas to urban areas in search of better economic status; employment
opportunities, facilities of urban life like education, health, prosperous and
glorious future. They consider urban life more comfortable and easy going than
the rural life and moreover they feel that urban life is more progressive,
independent and free from shackles of orthodoxy. For most of the people, the
city is a place full of opportunities and avenues and a place of enlightened and
vigilant people. The city is a multi-layered unit of civilization – a fulcrum of
economic activities, a propeller of social revolution and steering wheel for the
political machine and centripetal force of cultural aspirations and development.
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So far as the phenomenon of urbanisation is concerned, it is not always that the
rural people migrate to urban areas in search of employment opportunities or for
better economic status, rather agricultural prosperity has also been contributing
in a significant way towards urbanisation, especially in Punjab. Now the affluent
farmers have been moving from rural to semi-urban or urban areas. After green
revolution, the process of urbanization has further got accelerated in Punjab. For
instance, urban growth rate in Punjab has been much more as compared to other
states. Similarly, industrialisation can also be stated as one of the most important
factor contributing towards the problem of urbanisation not only in India but in
all the developed countries. From that point of view it can be said that India and
urbanisation are two inseparable terms. During the span of 100 years (1801 to
1900) Britain transformed into an urbanised society due to intensive
industrialization. Obviously, in a country like India where the growing
magnitude of poverty and unemployment has been the major problem for the
government, industrialisation is the only alternative left with the government. To
run the industries huge manpower, workforce is needed which is adequately
available in the rural areas. Hence industrialisation results in urbanisation.
Above all, the overall infrastructural development in the country like, available
means of communication, transport, construction of roads, bridges and linkage
of remote areas through railway, road and air has been instrumental in bringing
urbanization, especially in developing countries. Thus, urbanisation has been
increasing at an accelerated rate. These days underdeveloped and developing
countries are urbanizing more rapidly than the industrial countries did in the
heydays of their growth.
From the above analysis, it is amply clear that the processes of urbanisation
continue unabated and neither can it be stopped nor reversed. The basic
inference is being felt by new way of life, new form, habitation and a new social
structure with divergent civic and social needs hitherto never experienced during
the entire history of mankind. The abrupt shift from agricultural and rural based
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economy to industrial and urban based economy has brought a plethora of new
problems of civic, social and economic nature. Thus, urbanisation, on the one
hand, has made the urban dwellers fully alive and conscious about the modern
amenities and benefits of civic life and, on the other; it has given birth to
problems of multi-dimensional nature and made the urban life miserable.
MAJOR ISSUES AND STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPMENT
1. Indiscriminate and excessive conversion of agriculture land into Urban
activities:
Meerut has a very rich and fertile agriculture land. Development agencies and
colonisers have gone in to the large scale conversion of agriculture land to
residential use in spite of the fact that a large part of land earmarked for
residential use is still either semi developed or vacant. Sporadic under
development of residential areas leads to speculative land market, unauthorised
construction and non contiguous development of the town. It is against the
concept of compact development of the town.
2. Unauthorised and Unplanned Residential Colonies
The city of Meerut has experienced the development of many unplanned and
unauthorised residential colonies in different parts leading to unhygienic
conditions, lack of infrastructure and open spaces and many a times law and
order problems in these areas.
Despite development of many residential areas by AVP and MDA, there has
been unauthorized construction in many parts of the city which is mainly
because of geographic location of MDA’s residential colonies, land acquisition
disputes and non-completion of development works. Low cost housing in the
unauthorized areas near the urban population attracts the weaker section of the
society. There were 69 unauthorized colonies till 31.3.2001 and later on, 43
more colonies were declared unauthorized. Out of above 112 unauthorized
colonies, only 10 colonies have been regularized. 28 unauthorized colonies
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were also regularized by MDA before that. It is obvious that there has been
extensive development of unauthorized colonies in the urban area which is a
challenge for the properly planned development. Development policies of the
city need a re-look by AVP and MDA.
3. Ribbon Development on Major Highways
All the cities of India are facing the problem of ribbon development. Transport
corridors tend to attract the urban activities. Quite often, these activities are
unplanned and unauthorised. It has been observed that Commercial, Residential
and Institutional activities have come up along the major roads. It leads to the
pressure on roads and unbalanced development in the other areas.
4. Encroachment of the Public Property
Encroachment of public land for various activities is a major issue common to
almost all the urban areas in the developing countries. Meerut is no exception to
this phenomenon. It is observed that encroachment of the road sides and open
spaces is the most common feature in Meerut City. Encroachment along the
drainage path of existing nalas has resulted in the degradation of city
environment. In appropriate regulation and lack of control by the development
agencies has created this kind of situation.
5. Ground Water Exploitation
Meerut is situated in the plane of Ganga and Yamuna river having good quality
of ground water for drinking purposes, irrigation and for other industrial / Bio-
usages.
Because of Plane Land, there is no source of water, streams etc. Ganga Upper
Canal is main water channel for irrigation purpose feeding quit a vast area of
Meerut region which remain the main source of water for irrigation purposes
throughout the year apart from that ground water exploitation through pumping
sets are common everywhere, resulting which the water table is becoming
deeper, about 20 years ago water table was available at a depth of 20-22 feet and
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now it is appx. 40-45 feet and bore well for drinking water is appx. 70-80 feets
deep.
The present system of ground water use for various purposes poses the threat to
the reliability and sustainability of the ground water sources in longer
perspective. Conservation and Judicious use of water is imperative for the future
generation.
6. Poor Sewerage
Sewerage is being disposed off without treatment in the nalas which pollute the
river Kali. All the waste water through small water channels- Nali connecting
the road side main Nala, finally connected to a big Nala which ultimately
connects with the three big Nalas – Abu Nala, Roorkee Road Nala and Hapur
Road Nala.
These three Nalas are main water channels which take all the waste water runoff
to Kalinadi met at different points to the main stream.
Proper cleaning of old Nalies and Nalas is impossible manually/mechanically
due to unauthorised construction over the Nalies and Nalas in the Builtup areas
of the city resulting water congestion occasionally and worse in the rainy
season. Less coverage both in terms of population and area results in the
opening of sewerage and drainage in the open nala, which aggravates the
problem during the rainy season. It leads to unhygienic condition and breeding
grounds for water borne diseases.
There is no proper arrangement of waste water disposal system in the newly
developed unplanned unauthorised residential colonies. The sewerage systems
cover only 25% of the city area. Somewhere rain water disposal is also attached
with the sewerage system. 23 KM trunk line and 132 KM branch sever line has
been laid Nagar Nigam in the city and 7 pump stations are working. The
colonies developed by UP Vikas nigam Parishad and MDA have the sever lines
but not functioning well. There is no sewage treatment plant in the built up area
having a population of 11 lakhs. UP Avas Vikas Parishad made a small sewage
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treatment plant in the Jagriti Vihar but still it is not functioning. It is very much
important to maintain proper sewage disposal and treatment plants in the city,
requiring three plants minimum for East-South area, Eastern area and Western
area geographically.
7. Poor System of Solid Waste Collection and Disposal
Unscientific method of solid wastage collection and disposal creates many
problems in the city. The main source of solid waste comes from households,
institutional commercial establishments and industrial operations and in few
tourist places, tourist may also be considered to some extent as a source. In
general, Solid waste contains putrescrible organic matter such as kitchen refuse,
comustible matter such as paper, textiles, on and grease and plastics and insert
materials such as metals, soil and ash. The waste generated from hospitals,
dumping of wastes and faeces in drains/canals have greater potential for causing
epidemics.
The present arrangement for collection and disposal of solid waste is inadequate
and in many areas inefficient. Presently Garbage is piled up on the sides of the
roads, from where it off-loaded into handcarts and later into garbage containers.
However the wastes are removed regularly only from very selected places like
Railway station and VIP areas etc. Nagar Nigam estimates about 600 Tonnes of
garbage is generated in the city every day. And Nagar Nigam is having capacity
to dispose only 450 tonnes in the outskirts. Nagar Nigam is purchasing the new
machineries to dispose 150 Tonnes garbage. Still there is no planning to
commercial use/general use (recycling process) of this disposal wastes.
8. Poor Traffic Management
Lack of on street parking lots, encroachment along roads, presence of informal
activities along the road margins, lack of Footpath, lack of public transport, lack
of pedestals facilities, poor condition of road crossings etc. lead to congestion
and socio-economic problems. It seems that Meerut does not have any traffic
management system to regulate the smooth flow of vehicles.
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Increase in population and growth of population give rise to problem of
congestion and poor traffic conditions as roads are narrow without proper path
for pedestrian movement and in adequate parking places are most acute problem
in the walled city, which further causing problems like increased journey time
due to increased traffic density coupled with inadequate road capacity and traffic
bottlenecks at various stretches. Observation made as per traffic survey
conducted at various important road and junctions in the walled city.
High Traffic Volume Intersection – Data collected through traffic volume
survey at various important roads and junctions in the walled city reveals that
Ghanta Ghar intersection carries the highest volume of traffic followed by
Budhana Gate and Valley Bazaar intersections.
It is observed from the below table that most of the stretches especially falling
on the Ghanta Ghar and Valley Bazaar road are catering to vehicular volume
without sufficient road width and absence of footpath and pedestrian movement
and inadequate parking places further adding to the traffic problem in this area.
Sl. No. Name of Intersection Peak Hour Traffic
Volume (PCU)
1 Budhana Gate 3127
2 Valley Bazaar 2789
3 Ghanta Ghar 4138
The capacities on various stretches in the walled city area have been observed to
be considerably reduced due to proliferation of commercial activity,
encroachment, absence of footpaths for pedestrian, and presence of informal
sector on Ghanta Ghar road. Lack of parking space resulting in on street parking
further worsening the traffic movement in the walled city and intermixing of
traffic of different mode further adding to the problem of congestion in the area.
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9. Lack of Organised Green Spaces
Though there are some historical places in the city which acts as the
multipurpose open spaces. They have not been maintained properly. Nauchandi
ground, Victoria Park, Surajkund, Zimkhana Ground, Bachcha Park, Bhainshali
Ground and Ramlila Ground have not been developed and maintained as open
green spaces.
10. Air & Noise Pollution
There are a lot of industrial units in the residential area of the metropolitan
Meerut city and near about of the city. The main causes for polluting the
air/environment of meerut city are vehicles and other industrial units like Sugar
factory, Alcohol, Paper, Chemical, Rubber producing units. Some units are
located in the high density areas, these units are scissors manufacturing units
and other Gold Jewellery manufacturing units.
In the outskirts of Meerut city, the air pollution is normal and is being in the
acceptance limits. But it is crossed the limits in the city areas especially at
Begum Bridge, here the air pollution is three times more than the normal.
Partapur, Mohiuddinpur, and Hapur Road are also the polluted areas; here the
pollution is more than normal. The western part and estern part of the city are
the most sensitive in reference to pollution expansion. Here it is very essential to
control the pollution generating industrial units and other polluting activities.
Depletion of ground water level, increase in water, air and noise pollution, lack
of open green spaces, poor drainage, congestion etc. are the major causes for the
detroiting environment of Meerut city.
SUGGESTED STRATEGIES & PLANS
After identification of major issues related to the city profile and future
requirements, it is important to suggest some strategy to deal with these issues.
All these issues require in depth understanding and technical knowledge.
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However, some general strategies may be suggested for the development of
Meerut City to make it comparatively better.
Compact & Phase wise Development
For the proper development of Meerut city, planning should be perceivable,
there should be a phase wise planning and the actual & proposed land use should
be similar, the proposal of development should be the way to maximum
utilisation of space for residence purpose means the structures should be
compacted, low density house development should be discourage. Administrator
should courage the group housing and discourages the separate housing.
Development agencies have to discourage unauthorised and unplanned spread of
Urban Activities. Residential colonies should be developed in contiguous areas
with all infrastructure facilities.
Planned Development of Low Cost Housing
There should be planned for development of low cost houses, development of
houses vertically not horizontally, the no. of house units should be more on the
same piece of land. We should try to discourage the demand of land, people
should be attracted for house not for land.
Development of Highway Corridors
The transportation is increasing day by day, so there should be increased the
width of Major Highways. It should be discouraged the development of
residential colonies on Highways. Commercial & Industrial settlement should be
developed along the Highway.
Development of Transport Facilities
Regional – level linkages (Railway and roads) to be strengthen. Development
activities along the major transport corridors need proper planning and control
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so as these corridors are not congested, No illegal construction should be
allowed along major roads.
Proper Traffic Management Plan
City needs a well laid down traffic management plan identifying the phased
development of major roads, ring roads, road crossings, railway overhead
bridges, public transport and parking facilities.
Ground Water Conservation, Rain Water Harvesting and Management
of water supply
As discussed earlier, the ground water table is going down day by day, there
should be banned the exploitation of ground water or it should be minimum.
Also there should be a strong action against the untreated water disposal directly
to ground. It is compulsory to establish the water treatment plant in each
industrial unit to treat the contaminated water. There should be banned on the
untreated disposal from slaughter house and other industrial units.
Alternative sources of drinking water supply needs to be developed. Govt.
Agencies and Public should be encouraged to practice conversation of water and
to develop ground water recharge system. Besides the very good rain fall and
very near to the Gange river, it is being faced the drinking water problem. The
rain water harvesting is the best & economical way to conserve & maintain the
water table in Meerut city.
Sewerage System & Collection of Solid waste
Drainage and sewerage system have to be separated. Sewerage treatment plant
should be constructed immediately to stop the flow of untreated sewerage in
Nala and River.
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Solid waste collection should be based on segregation of solid waste from
different sources. Mechanisation of garbage removal collection and disposal
should be encouraged.
Waste Water Disposal
All the waste water through small water channels- Nali connecting the road side
main Nala, finally connected to a big Nala which ultimately connects with the
three big Nalas – Abu Nala, Roorkee Road Nala and Hapur Road Nala.
These three Nalas are main water channels which take all the waste water runoff
to Kalinadi met at different points to the main stream.
Proper cleaning of old Nalies and Nalas is impossible manually/mechanically
due to unauthorised construction over the Nalies and Nalas in the Builtup areas
of the city resulting water congestion occasionally and worse in the rainy
season.
There is no proper arrangement of waste water disposal system in the newly
developed unplanned unauthorised residential colonies. The sewerage systems
cover only 25% of the city area. Somewhere rain water disposal is also attached
with the sewerage system. 23 KM trunk line and 132 KM branch sever line has
been laid Nagar Nigam in the city and 7 pump stations are working. The
colonies developed by UP Vikas nigam Parishad and MDA have the sever lines
but not functioning well. There is no sewage treatment plant in the built up area
having a population of 11 lakhs. UP Avas Vikas Parishad made a small sewage
treatment plant in the Jagriti Vihar but still it is not functioning. It is very much
important to maintain proper sewage disposal and treatment plants in the city,
requiring three plants minimum for East-South area, Eastern area and Western
area geographically.
Solid Waste Disposal
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The main source of solid waste comes from households, institutional
commercial establishments and industrial operations and in few tourist places,
tourist may also be considered to some extent as a source. In general, Solid
waste contains putrescrible organic matter such as kitchen refuse, comustible
matter such as paper, textiles, on and grease and plastics and insert materials
such as metals, soil and ash. The waste generated from hospitals, dumping of
wastes and faeces in drains/canals have greater potential for causing epidemics.
The present arrangement for collection and disposal of solid waste is inadequate
and in many areas inefficient. Presently Garbage is piled up on the sides of the
roads, from where it off-loaded into handcarts and later into garbage containers.
However the wastes are removed regularly only from very selected places like
Railway station and VIP areas etc. Nagar Nigam estimates about 600 Tonnes of
garbage is generated in the city every day. And Nagar Nigam is having capacity
to dispose only 450 tonnes in the outskirts. Nagar Nigam is purchasing the new
machineries to dispose 150 Tonnes garbage. Still there is no planning to
commercial use/general use (recycling process) of this disposal wastes.
Health-Education - Quality of Life
Environmental problems in most of the urban centres are evident. Environment-
related diseases or accidents remain among the major causes of illness, injury,
and premature death. This is common in the poorer centres of urban areas. Most
of these diseases are caused by pathogens in water, food, soil, or air. Burns
scalds, and accidental fires are common in overcrowded shelters, especially
where five or more persons live in a small room.
The city have two general categories of human environmental risk: those that
directly affect health, such as pollution, and those that may not be less
damaging, but operate indirectly by worsen the ecosystem that human life
depends on. The link between environment and health is evident. Poor
environment, housing and living conditions are the main reasons to the diseases
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and poor health. Improvements in sanitation, sewage treatment and quality of
food, will prevent diseases like cholera. The lack of these basic facilities is still
general in developing countries. Because of this, diseases like tuberculosis and
diarrhoea continuous to be common in the developing world.
There should be the policy to reduce the gap in between the residents of
Jaibheem Nager and the residents of Jian Nagar & Samrat Enclave. The literacy
rate of Jaibheem Nagar is near to zero, there should be emergency actions to
execute the Central Govt. Policies, State Govt. Policies or world Bank Policies
fot helping the BPL residents of JaiBheem Nagar and other parts of Meerut City.
The Health facilities must be near to those who are in requirement and also there
should be awareness in to poor people. Population growth rate must be
controlled.
Development of Open & green spaces
All historical open spaces should be developed in beautiful parks. Meerut city
has quite a large area of forest along Delhi Road. This forest land should be
preserved and developed.
Industrial houses, Educational Institutions, voluntary organisations and
community at large should be made aware of the fragile nature of city
environment and they should be encouraged to make the city environment
conducive for the development. We all have to realize that discipline in public
life is a precondition for any development. Civilized life can’t be lived in
undisciplined towns.
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