Housing Needs in New Suburbs of Indian Metropolii: Case Study Of
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SPECIAL ARTICLES Housing Needs in New Suburbs of Indian Metropolii Case Study of Kothrud, Pune Hemalata C Dandekar Sashikant B Sawant This article, a survey of three localities in a rapidly expanding suburb of Pune, differentiated classwise, illustrates the segmented utilisation of livelihood opportunities, services and facilities by the residents of the region. More importantly, the article attributes the suburb's robust growth to its timeliness in meeting the emerging housing needs of the upwardly mobile middle class living in the heart of the Pune city and also suggests, that its relatiiely low infrastructural cost may be an incentive attracting the retired members of middle class households of Murnbai. AS Indiancities continueto expandat a tion, since legislation had been passed to between 1971 and 1991 (illustratedin seemingly inexorablepace in terms of prohibit the establishment of new indus- FiguresIband1c) xl:asconcentratedalong populationgrowthandphysicalsettlement tries in Bombay, industrial estates were fourgrowthcorridorsstretchingalong road on the land,it is useful to obtaininsight established around Pune in Hadapsar, connectorsout of the city (Bombay-Pune onthemechanisms through whichvarious Bhosari, resulting in growth of industries highway,Pune-Satararoad,Pune-Sholapur socialstratainthisrapidlygrowingurban and related housing around the city. By road,andPune-Nagarroad).It was also communityare meetingtheirneeds for 1971 Pune had expanded both spatially occurringalongKarveand Paudroad to housing,physicalinfrastructureandagood (Figure 1) and had achieved metropolis the south-eastfollowing the availability qualityof life. Thispaperreportson some status with a population of 1.14 million of primeagriculturelandwhich was flat, of thefindingsfroma studyexecutedby people. In the following decade metro- accessible,and availablefor privatesale theauthorsinKothrud,a rapidlyexpand- politanPune addedmore thanhalf a million andpurchase.Othersurroundingareasin ing suburbof Pune, which sheds some people to reacha populationof 1.69 million the city peripherywere unavailablefor light on this process. in 1981, and by 1991 it was a city of 2.49 privatesale and urbansettlement as they million people. The 1991 Census esta- areearmarkedformilitaryanddefence use. PUNE'S GROWTH:A BACKGROUND blished Pune as the eighth largest and one Initiallyinour research designwe wanted Located in Maharashtra,one of the of the fastest growing metropolises in to obtainspecific empiricalinformation leading states in India with respecttR India. Pune thus offers a good case study regardinglocationand trendsof housing industrialisationandurbanisation,thecity of how, as cities in India continue to grow, constructionin the city and to correlate of Puneprovides an excellentlocation in variouspopulationsassimilate and acquire this informationwith that of investment whichto studytheconsequencesof rapid the necessities of urban habitat. bythePMC in physicalinfrastructuresuch urbanisation.Its last 20 of assewer,water,electricityandroads.The years rapid KOTHRUD IN THE CONTEXT OF OVERALL foreshadowthe urbani- objectivebeing to see howdemand for and expansionmay GROWTHOF PUNE sationto be anticipatedin othersimilarly supplyof these amenities were interre- industrialisingcities in India. Situated In our initial efforts to obtain a picture lated. However we were unable to get along a growthcorridorstretching120 of Pune's overall growth, we found that disaggregated,wardwisedata on numbers miles (180 kms) to the mega city of city data regarding housing starts, city of housingstartsfrom the PMCor on any Bombay,Punegrewrelativelysl6wlyuntil infrastructureprovision in terms of sewer, aspectof infrastructureinvestment. As we 1941.After-partitionrefugeesfromPaki- water, roads and lighting, was not readily were able to obtain informationon the stan were settled in campsandcolonies available from the Pune Municipal Cor- registrationof co-operativehousingsoci- around Pune and increased defence- poration (PMC). The data in the corpo- eties for the city fromtheregistrarof co- relatedworkduringthesecondworldwar rationrecords which were made available operativeswe mappedthisinformationto helpedto swell thepopulationof the city to us were both imcomplete andin a forum provideus some indicationof the extent as seen in 1951. With the Panshetdam that did not allow for disaggregated and locationof formalisedhousing con- disasterof 1961,whenhousesin thewards wardwiseanalysis. Ourpreliminaryanaly- structionin the city.3Since much of the of Puneon the rightbankof Muthawere sis therefore utilised census information new construction of housing units is washedaway,peoplewereforcedtomove on population growth wardwise in the occurringin theorganisational framework outof the old coreof thecityandtowards city. This mappingof populationdatafrom of a co-operative,we thoughtthat the the government-formed colonies in the census required re-calculation to re- informatiopon co-operativeswouldpro- Erandavanaand Parvati. Subsequently, flect changing ward boundaries over the vide us some substitute comparative someof thesefamilies shifted to thenewly period under study.2 It revealed that the informationon shelter constructionin formingsuburbsin Kothrudand the south growth of Pune's population during a various wards of the city. Ourfindings alongthePune-Bangaloreroad.In addi- period of rapid suburban development (Figures2c and 2d) providea time series Economic and Political Weekly November 14, 1998 2919 FIU11REIa: POPULATIONDENSITY IN peripheryhave risen and that they are THEKOTHRUD SURVEY PITNFCi"' (I,)I twice or thricethe values formallyregis- Little information is tered with the This empirical readily sub-registrar.7 map- available in the public domain which \from Bombay pingandanalysisof datathat were avail- reveals details of the needs of residents able to us on housing.and settlement in of the such in activ- newly expanding parts city althoughreflecting changes only as Kothrud. Little is documented in any 2.3t3 in formalsector :5 ity housing,empirically detail on the ways that they meet their corroboratedthatthe Kothrudsuburbwas needs for and other social and indeed an area of intensified It housing activity. infrastructure.The PMC is the seemedclear that the lackof avail- physical given implementing agency for the Poona de- able overalldata, a moredetailed under- which are of the of con- velopment plans generated by standing process housing the town planningdepartment, a unit which solidationwas warrantedandmightreveal is fromthe PMC < 2() personsper .251persons1 to 4 the assimilation Based on our organisationally separate process. and is administratively under the state preliminaryanalysis of overall growth It is located in the central of Pune and that the government. patterns city given building, distinet from the municipal suburbof Kothrudhad been singledout which houses all the for attention in the media and in the corporation building divisions. Thus, the Guiness Book Records as one of the implementing plan- of ning departmentdoes not have adirect line mostrapidlyurbanising areas inAsia,we acre [per acre of information on the status of implemen- decidedto concentrateourstudyon this tation of their The suburb. plans. implementing agency, the PMC, currentlydoes not have r 101 to 250 persons .550 persons per Ourgeographicalanalysishadrevealed records for its and as is of computerised building u per acre *acre that, typical otherrapidlygrowing The records are cities in Indiathat haveroomto engineering departments. Old expand in that are both not (1) Wards,(2) Gultekadi,(3) Bibavewadi, in a of the new kept registers readily (4) Parwati,(5) Dhanakawadi,(6) Shiwajinagar, the periphery, greatdeal available to researchers and in a form growthinresidentialconstruction in Pune kept (7) Erandavana, (8) Kothrud, (9) Hingane, that would make it difficult to yield data (10) Mundhawa,(11)Ghorpadi,(12) BundGarden, has occurredaround main roads leading that would allow for disaggregated (13) Yerawada.(14) Dhanori,(15) Lohagaon, out of the Has this resultedin resi- city. wardwise of revenue from, and (16) WadgaonSheri,(17) Bopodi,(18) Aundh, dentialsuburbsfromwhich workers were analysis on, infrastructure (19) Pashan, (20) Hadapsar, (21) Kondhave, considerabledistancestowork, expenditures physical (22) Wanowri, (23) Kirkee Cantonment, commuting investments. The political considerations (24) Poona Cantonment: we wondered?And giventhatmost roads of elected chief are overloaded hours how municipal officials, engi- during peak neers and site implementers (who can mapping of housing regis- were these commuters their co-operatives managing obtain non-regulated income from the tered in the city of Poona from 1961 to to work?Suburban journey development discretionary power of their office) often 1991. As these figures illustrate, during is of interestas new at particular growth complicate free access to information. the 1981-91 period Kothrud area experi- theperipherycan bothaccommodate new Given this lack of available enced the in terms of readily quan- greatest pressure migrantsandallow thosein thecongested' titativeinformationon the natureand extent construction of new housing inner to moveout to moreconducive co-opera- city of the demand for infrastructure,and the tives.4 Correlating the registration of environments. we wondered,were Who, rate, and of its societies in Pune with the number in the where had these deployment speed provi- housing living suburbs, sion, we decided to obtain a more limited of tenements