Problems of slums and sanitation in the rapidly growing urban centres of the state.

In Odisha, rapid urbanization has led to the emergence of informal settlements or slums in major hubs like Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Rourkela, and Berhampur. As the state undergoes industrial consolidation, the rural-urban migration has outpaced urban planning, resulting in a structural deficit in Public Health and sanitation infrastructure.

1. Core Problems of Urban Slums

The slum population in Odisha (approximately 1.7 million across 114 towns) faces severe environmental degradation and social injustice:

  • Overcrowding and Space Deficit: High urban density leads to families living in non-durable, substandard housing with more than three persons per room, severely impacting privacy and mental health.
  • Insecure Tenure: Constant fear of eviction discouraged residents from investing in their homes until the Jaga Mission introduced Land Rights Certificates.
  • Informal Development: Slums often mushroom on marginal lands—along railway tracks, drains, or riverbanks—making them highly vulnerable to urban flooding and climate-related disasters.

2. Sanitation and Public Health Challenges

The WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) indicators in these rapidly growing urban centres reveal a digital and service divide:

  • Inadequate Toilets: Many households still lack private latrines, leading to a dependence on shared public toilets or open defecation, which fuels water-borne diseases like cholera and diarrhea.
  • Drainage and Waste Management: Unplanned slums often have open drains that clog with solid waste, creating stagnant water pools—breeding grounds for mosquito-borne diseases like malaria and dengue.
  • Piped Water Access: While the Drink from Tap Mission is expanding, many unrecognized slums still depend on community standposts or unsafe groundwater, leading to health marginalization.

3. The Impact of Urban Sprawl

The unplanned expansion of towns like Jharsuguda and Angul has created a governance gap:

  • Infrastructure Lag: Infrastructure development (sewerage and piped water) fails to keep up with the geographic area of the sprawl, leaving peri-urban residents in a sanitation trap.
  • Environmental Stress: Rapid concrete growth replaces natural blue-green infrastructure, worsening the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and reducing the city's natural resilience.

4. State Intervention: The Jaga Mission Model

Odisha’s Jaga Mission (World Habitat Award winner) has initiated a paradigm shift to turn slums into Biju Adarsh Colonies:

  • Tenure Security: Granting heritable land rights to provide social dignity.
  • Participatory Upgradation: Involving Slum Dweller Associations (SDAs) in planning and building paved roads, streetlights, and household toilets.
  • MUKTA Scheme: Providing wage employment to the urban poor for infrastructure work, promoting economic consolidation during crises like the pandemic.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while rapid urbanization is a catalyst for modernity, it must not happen at the cost of dignity and health. The problems of slums and sanitation are structural challenges that require inclusive urban planning. For Viksit Odisha, the state must continue to bridge the service gap, ensuring that social justice reaches the last mile of every urban settlement.