Urban areas in the country are on the verge of bursting at the seams with official data indicating rapid population explosion, which could touch 53 crore in 2021 as against 32 crore approximately in the ongoing census.
In the ongoing census, the urban population is likely to cross 32 crore when the tabulations are made next year from 28.61 crore in 2001 and given the pace and intensity of urbanisation in the country, the figure could go up to 53 crore in the 10 ten years by the year 2021, officials in the ministry of urban development said.
The percentile growth of population in rural and urban areas during the decade (2001-2011) is 17.9 and 31.2% respectively, they said.
"The trends of urbanisation is encouraging. India would gradually reach the global average in the next decade. The pace has become very rapid now," a senior official said.
The growth of urban population has put severe pressure on civic structure such as water supply, sewerage, drainage, public transport as also availability of housing in all major cities, the officials said.
The 11th Five Year Plan has estimated Rs53,666 crore for water supply, Rs53,168 crore for sewage and treatment, Rs20,173 crore for drainage and Rs2,212 crore for solid waste management in urban areas.
