Urbanization Process

Introduction

Although the urbanization process is widely acknowledged to be associated with increasing levels of national production and higher levels of per capita GDP, poverty remains a persistent feature of urban life in the developing countries, both in terms of income and immigrants’ living conditions. Economic growth in cities has been found to be insufficient to achieve poverty alleviation of those countries. Government action has focused on welfare and habitat improvements under various poverty alleviation programs but has been unable to make linkages between these improvements and increases in productivity and income for the urban poor. Slum is the product of modern industrial civilization. One of the distressing manifestations of urbanization is the sporadic growth of slums. It is a social evil, which grows along with urbanization. (Sharma, 2010)

There are some problems that seem beyond solution. This is because the causes of the problems are either not known, not well understood, or are so paradoxical and contradictory, so hopelessly intertwined with one another that they cannot be effectively identified and addressed. The problem of slums is one of these seemingly insoluble problems. They are a global problem and a growing one, as exponential population expansion in many countries forces a disproportionate number of people into increasingly untenable living conditions. The urban areas developing rapidly in the third world countries because of massive rural-urban migration and due to internal growth are different from their developed counterparts. This huge urban growth, taking place at lower levels of development creates its own implications like acute housing shortage, congestion, and proliferation of slums.

Bangladesh is one of the most populated countries of the world. The total population of Bangladesh is 142 million with a growth rate 1.43 per cent (BER, 2007). In a survey carried out by the United Nations-2011, Dhaka is identified as a mega city and it would be 9th populous city of the world. Dhaka is now experiencing a period of cramped population growth and migrants are mainly responsible for this high growth rate. In 2007 the population of Dhaka city is more than 10 million and a report expects it to swell 16 million by the year 2010 and 25 million by the year 2025 (Democracy Watch, 2002). The city is, however, increasingly characterized by large slums, poor housing, excessively high land prices, traffic congestion, water shortages, poor sanitation and drainage, irregular electric supply, unplanned construction, increasing air pollution and poor urban governance which results in growing problems of law and order.

In Dhaka significantly the numbers of slums are increasing everyday due to heavy influx of migrants from rural areas. In these slum areas all sorts of services are inadequate and general environmental scenario is hazardous. This influx of people in capital city has forced many low-income groups to live in slums. About 60 per cent of the populations in Dhaka city are migrants where more than 65 per cent of the people live in slum areas. The poor people of the city mainly live in slums scattered throughout the city, with most of the slums located on privately owned land creating considerable institutional challenges in terms of basic service provision.

The physical condition of slums is characterized by high density living, improper utilization of public goods, lack of basic amenities, unhygienic and polluted environment, poor literacy rate, unemployment, crime, social, moral and psychological degradation and poor health. Housing structures tend to be of poor quality, and access to basic infrastructure services is low.Slums mainly provide informal labor market, characterized by low wage, insecurity and uncertainty of working hour. Almost all the newcomers to the city join the informal sectors. The main sectors are garment industry, rickshaw pulling, street vending, construction works and small business. They are living in such houses where ventilation, drinking water, electricity and sewerage facilities are absent and they create new problems like unemployment, underemployment, high incidence of crime, proliferation of shanty towns, sub-standard housing, transportation, pollution and service supply problems. Some government organizations and NGOs have been working for decades to improve the slum dwellers’ standard of living, but as a whole the results are minimal.

 Rationale of the Study

Recent years have seen a dramatic growth in the number of slums as urban populations have increased in the Third World. According to a recent UN-Habitat report, 327 million people live in slums in Commonwealth countries almost one in six Commonwealth citizens. In a quarter of Commonwealth countries (11 African, 2 Asian and 1 Pacific), more than two out of three urban dwellers live in slums, and many of these countries are urbanizing rapidly.

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with more than 1000 people per sq km. One quarter of the population lives in urban areas, where population density is 200 times greater than the national figure and population growth is twice the national average. By 2030, half the population (some 90 million people) will be living in urban areas, most of them below the poverty line.

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is one of the fastest growing mega-cities in the world. Extreme poverty in rural areas is the main factor in driving the mass migration to urban centres. Yet, poverty is also the reality in urban areas, as a growing population places further strains on the limited infrastructure and services.

People residing in slums face many problems like improper sanitation, unhygienic environmental conditions, social, economic, health, educational and cultural problems and many more. The basic problems inherent in slums are Health hazards.  Lack of basic amenities like safe drinking water, proper housing, drainage and excreta disposal services, make slum population vulnerable to infections. These further compromise the nutrition requirements of those living in slums.

Slum population has been increasing in Bangladesh over the last three decades along with the growth and expansion of cities and towns. But slum facilities are very much unsatisfactory for them due to lack of proper water supply and sanitation system. Therefore, the major portion of excreta is deposited into water bodies and open places, as such polluting water sources, groundwater and the general environment. As a result, majority of population in Bangladesh suffer from different kinds of water and excreta-borne diseases that aggravate in their poverty situations.

Majority slum people use tube well water for drinking while significant amount of open defecation is also found. These may cause ground water contamination depending on the soil characteristics and distance between the water sources and latrines. The drainage system is the most neglected sector in the slums. The open disposal of human excreta pollutes the nearby water bodies, canals and drains causing severe water pollution.

Besides, solid waste management and drainage system are totally unsatisfactory in the slum area. Many motivational work and idea marketing from government and NGO side help to improve their awareness level.  Currently, UNICEF and WHO estimate that 1.1 billion people lack access to improved water supplies and 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation. But the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) aim to reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by the year 2015. However, slum dwellers in Bangladesh are behind from the Millennium Development Goals .

Water supply and sanitation facilities in terms of quality and quantity are utmost necessary  for assessing the living environment of the slum. In many areas the sanitation coverage is  much below the national coverage figure, only 13.5% in metropolitan slums . Moreover,  the presence of thousands of slums and squatters within Dhaka city is an ever-present threat  of public health. Many of these have been set up over open water bodies or besides railways  tracks. They have no proper arrangement of water supply and sanitation system that create an  adverse effect on city’s environment. In this absence of sanitary latrines, inevitably human a in slum most of the people are illiterate. Because of this reason they don’t know the way to improve their life. Even they do not bring their children to school. Many children in the slums start work at a very early age with no prospect of getting any education. They make money by rag picking (trawling through rubbish dumps to retrieve anything that can be sold), selling newspapers in traffic jams, peddling drugs or begging. They are at risk of exploitation as well as all the health problems that accompany their lifestyles. Incest and abuse can occur and child marriages are still encouraged in some areas.

The slum environment is the perfect breeding ground for a wide range of social problems. High unemployment often causes men to stay around the home growing increasingly frustrated with their pathetic situation and the worsening poverty.

Anecdotally, the homeless population in Dhaka is known to face extortion, erratic unemployment, exposure to violence, and sexual harassment and to engage in high-risk behaviors.

 Objectives of the study

The core objective of this study is to know the pattern of the livelihood of slum dwellers. Besides this there are some more objectives. Such as-

• To know about the demographic profile of the respondents.
• To know about occupational pattern of slum peoples.
• To know various types of criminal activities in slums.
• To know the trend of having food and clothing.
• To know the nature of the problems of the slum dwellers.

To know about the recreation pattern of  the slum dwellers

 Operational definitions of the terms used        

Slum:

The slums are defined as a rundown area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor a densely populated temporary resident house built lawfully or unlawfully having no water supply, sanitation facilities or electricity supply.

 Pattern:

Patterns indicate the different types of occupation of slum dwellers.

Livelihood:

Livelihood means sustenance or course of life. Another definition is the way you manage to live by earning money from a job or activity. There the term “livelihood” used for the understanding of slum peoples each and everything that is needed to support life.

Sanitation

Sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and feces. Inadequate sanitation is a major cause of disease world-wide and improving sanitation is known to have a significant beneficial impact on health both in households and across communities. The word ‘sanitation’ also refers to the maintenance of hygienic conditions, through services such as garbage collection and wastewater disposal.

Sewerage system

Sewerage system, network of pipes, pumps, and force mains for the collection of wastewater, or sewage, from a community. Modern sewerage systems fall under two categories: domestic and industrial sewers and storm sewers. Sometimes a combined system provides only one network of pipes, mains, and outfall sewers for all types of sewage and runoff. The preferred system, however, provides one network of sewers for domestic and industrial waste, which is generally treated before discharge, and a separate network for storm runoff, which may be diverted to temporary detention basins or piped directly to a point of disposal in a stream or river.

Theories related to study

In his book “Poverty and Femines” Prof. Sen concentrates his focus on the general ideas quotes, Rowntree, who in this study had defined “Primary Poverty” in respect of families whose total earnings were insufficient to obtain the minimum necessities efficiency.

According Prof. Sen emphasized that some discussions lead to the opinion that the prevalence of poverty in the country is not only a form of the suffering of the poor but a relative luxuriousness of the nation as a whole. He identifies the starvation is the most telling aspect of poverty.

He carves out the problem of minimum nutritional requirement of the poor people. Though it is easy to solve the problem of ‘minimum nutritional requirement’ which is not a very high cost basket of essential food requirements, however the difficulty lies in the peoples food habits.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Literature Review:

A literature review is a description of the literature relevant to a particular field or topic. Reviewing the accumulated knowledge about a question is an essential early step in the research process. To define literature review, G.I Mouly says, “The review of the literature is an exacting task, calling for a deep insight and clear perspective of the overall field”.

Hossain (2005) in ‘Poverty, Household Strategies and Coping with Urban Life: Examining ‘Livelihood Framework’ in Dhaka City, Bangladesh’ concluded  that Slum people invariably 7 live below the poverty line and have little access to employment in formal sectors. They have failed to secure a sustainable livelihood in the city despite living for a long period of time. The poor communities are vulnerable in terms of their physical and social capital. They have little access to the city’s social and political structure, which also shows their vulnerable situation. Urban government has little initiative to create opportunities for the poor sections of city’s population. The poor communities cope with urban life through ‘household strategies’ such as: putting more family members into the work force, through petty trading, avoiding many basic goods, which represent luxuries to them, increasing their household size by inducting more relatives, withdrawing their children from education, constructing their own shelter, using kinship as social capital, and establishing patron-client relationships with local leaders.

In his study, he mentioned that most of the people of slum are living in below the poverty line. But he did not mention about the main causes of this. He said, about government’s failure in slum but why it did he did not noted it.

Kumar (2000) in ‘Social Structural and Cultural Practices in Slums in Dhaka, Bangladesh’ articulated the social structure of slum dwellers. She discussed in her study about the occupational pattern of the slum dwellers beside inquiring into their norms and values and educational level.

But in her study, she did not mentioned about the lackings of the fulfillment of fundamental needs of slum people. She noted only about the low rate of educational level but she did not mentioned due to lack of education how slum people are  involving in different types of criminal activities.

‘Gender and Governance Training Program of Democracy Watch’ (2010) in  the “Reproductive Decision Making Role among Slum Dwellers of Dhaka City” concluded about the health facilities and the decision making power of women in slum dwellers.

This study only discussed about health facilities of slum dwellers but it did not mentioned about the why they are health problems in slum.

J. BangladeshAgricultureUniversity,(2009) in “Assessing the Livelihood of Slum Dwellers in DhakaCity” mentioned about the reason why poor people are coming to Dhaka and creating slum. This study also articulated that, the income and occupational pattern of slum dwellers and their miserable problems.

But in this study, they only mentioned about low income of slum people but they did not mentioned about because of low income what problems they have to face.

David Pratt (2006),  in “A Childhood in Hell the Slum Dwellers of Dhaka City” reveals different types of occupation in slum people. And he also mentioned about the increasing rate of slum dwellers and their miserable problems.

In this study, he mentioned about poverty and living condition of slum dwellers but did not mentioned that, due to poverty and low living how they becomes involve with criminal and other anti social activities.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

 Conceptual Framework

In Dhaka significantly the numbers of slums are increasing everyday due to heavy influx of migrants from rural areas. In these slum areas all sorts of services are inadequate and general environmental scenario is hazardous. This influx of people in capital city has forced many low-income groups to live in slums. About 60 per cent of the populations in Dhaka city are migrants where more than 65 per cent of the people live in slum areas.

A slum, as defined by the United Nation agency UN-HABITATE, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from a massive 47 percent to 37 percent in the developing world between 1990 and 2005. However, due to rising population, and the rise especially in urban populations, the number of slum dwellers is rising. One billion people worldwide live in slums and the figure is projected to grow to 2 billion by 2030.

The term has traditionally referred to housing areas that were once relatively affluent but which deteriorated as the original dwellers moved on to newer and better parts of the city, but has come to include the vast informal settlements found in cities in the developing world.

Characteristics of slum

The characteristics and politics associated with slums vary from place to place. Slums are usually characterized by urban decay, high rates of poverty, illiteracy and unemployment or lack of personal/community land ownership. They are commonly seen as “breeding grounds” for social problems such as crime, drug addiction and alcoholism high rates of mental illness, and suicide. In many poor countries they exhibit high rates of disease due to unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and lack of basic health care. Many of the people who live in slums originally came from small rural towns or villages living an agrarian or subsistence farming lifestyle but due to various social, political and economic reasons migrate in to cities to live in the slums. In many cases poverty is worse in urban slums than it is in the rural towns and villages but cities generally provide people more opportunity such as education and business.

A UN Expert Group has created an operational definition of a slum as an area that combines to various extents the following characteristics: inadequate access to safe water; inadequate access to sanitation and other infrastructure; poor structural quality of housing; overcrowding; and insecure residential status. A more complete definition of these can be found in the 2003 UN report titled “Slums of the World: The face of urban poverty in the new millennium?”

Which are somewhat different than these UN characteristics of a slum. Low socio economic status of its residents is another common characteristic given for a slum. In many slums, especially in poor countries, many live in very narrow alleys that do not allow vehicles (including emergency vehicles) to pass. The lack of services such as routine garbage collection allows rubbish to accumulate in huge quantities. The lack of infrastructure is caused by the informal nature of settlement and no planning for the poor by government officials. Additionally, informal settlements often face the brunt of natural and man-made disasters,  such as landslides, as well as earthquakes and tropical storms. Fires are often a serious problem.

Many slum dwellers employ themselves in the informal economy. This can include street vending, drug dealing, domestic work, and prostitution. In some slums people even recycle trash of different kinds (from household garbage to electronics) for a living – selling either the odd usable goods or stripping broken goods for parts or raw materials.

 METHODOLOGY

Methods used in this Research

Both Qualitative and Quantitative methods have been used in this research. Since the emphasis of this research is to undergo an intensive examination of the pattern of the livelihood of slum dwellers in Dhaka, a case study and survey research methods have been used.

 Techniques and Tools of Data Collection

Quantitative data have been collected through face to face interview with the help of interview schedule .

On the other hand, Case Studies have been administered for collecting the qualitative data. For case study  check list has been used.

Selection of study area

Three slums were selected in Dhaka city on the basis of location, type of structure, density and size for this study.

According to the above criteria the selected slums are –

• Kamalapur slum,
• Maniknagar slum and
• Nobinagar slum.

Sampling:

The respondents were selected through Simple Random Sampling.

 Sample Size

For the Quantitative study, 70 households were selected to take interview. And, for the Qualitative study the researcher has conducted case studies on 5 households.

Sources of Data

Data has been gathered from two sources, such as-

a)   Primary Sources: The sources from which primary data have been gathered are the primary sources of data. The sources of primary data in this research are those 70 households that have been interviewed and those 5 households on those case studies were made.

b)   Secondary Sources: Secondary sources are the sources of secondary data. Secondary data have been gathered from different related literature, such as- books, journals, reports etc.

Analysis Plan

The data obtained from the survey method is processed with the use of simple mathematical tools as well as MS Excel for graphs and charts. At first the findings from the primary sources are presented. Then those findings are compared with secondary data. Finally, The researcher has given own explanation  on the basis of the findings and analysis.

Limitations of the study

Some limitations were encountered during the study period to complete research work according to the selected objectives. These limitations are described below:

It is also that the findings have been verified through secondary data. The study only covers 3 slum areas due to lack of resources, time and man power though there are almost 5,000 slums in Dhaka. Since most of the respondents’ are illiterate so they did not answer clearly about their livelihood and some of them do not want to say anything about their livelihood.

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

Table 1:   Percentage distribution of the respondents by sex

                         Source: survey work, 012                                           n=70

 The table-1 shows that 27.1 percent respondents are male and 72.9 percent respondents are  female. That means the study consists of more female members than the male members. Since the male members of the hoseholds remain busy outside to earn their livelihood so it’s bit of difficult to gather information from the male members of the households in slum. Moreover, since most of the women stay in slums all the day so they are more conversant of the living standard of the slum people than the male members.

 Table-2 : Percentage Distribution of the Respondents on the basis of their Age.

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

The age distribution  presented on the table- 2 shows that respondents in the 15-29 years group comprises 10 percent and those in the 30-45 years group comprises 50 percent. On the other hand, 30 percent of the respondent fall to the age group of 46-60 and 10 percent of the respondents are more than 60 years.

Chart 1 : Percentage distribution of the respondents by education.

Source: survey work, 2012                                           n=70

Education level is a very important indicator to get information about the living standards. Low level of education indicates the low standard of living. The study reveals that the education level of the slum people is very low. The  Chart -1  shows  that  56 percent  of the respondents  are  illiterate, 33 percent of the respondents  completed  primary  education  and  the rest 11 percent  respondents  completed secondary  education. So  we see  that  most  of  the  respondent are  illiterate  and  it indicates the low living standard of the slum people.

Table 3: Percentage distribution of respondents by religion

 Source: survey work, 2012                                           n=70

This  table -3  shows  that  in the study area most of the respondents are Muslim and the percent is 81.4. On the otherhand 10 percent are Hindu, and the rest 4.3 percent are Buddhist.

Table 4: Percentage distribution of respondents by marital status

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Marital Status is a very important to understand respondents’ demographic characteristics. It is clearly observed from the table- 4 that  72.9 percent respondent  are  married  and  27.1 percent  are  unmarried and 2 percent are divorced and 2 percent are widow.

Table 5: Percentage distribution of respondents by types of family

                         Source: survey work, 2012                                           n=70

The type of family is another indicator of demographic characteristic of the respondents. The table- 5 indicates the predominance of nuclear family in the study area. Among the respondents 74.3 percent belong to joint family whereas 25.7 percent belong to nuclear family. Since slums are located in the urban areas, the wave of modernity ahs reached in the study area. Moreover due to cahnges in socio-economic, cultural and demographic structures, there is a changing pattern of families.

Table 6: Percentage distribution of respondents by  number of family members

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Large size of family causes the low living standard of the household members. The table- 6 reveals that 71.4 percent of the respondents’ family members are within 4-6 in number while 7-9 members prevails in 20 percent of the family. And the rest 5.7 percent of the respondents have 3 members in their family.

Chart 2:  Percentage distribution of respondents by occupation

Field Survey, 2012                                                                            n=70

Living standard depends on different types of occupation. Occupational status of the household members is shown in Chart-2. In case of main occupation most of the household heads were engaged in informal services like petty business (Footpath vendor, hawker etc.) day labor, rickshaw pulling, labor in construction buildings, small job service etc, where as 28.5 per cent had rickshaw pulling and 18.57 percent are day labour, while 18.42 per cent spouse served as a housewife in the respective family and 4.28 percent are driver, and 12.87 percent are cleaner.

Chart 3:  Percentage distribution of respondents by  income

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Mothly income of the respondents directly influence their living standard. High monthly income causes the high standard of living while  low monthly income does the low standard of living. The chart – 3  shows  that  37.1 percent of the respondents’ monthly  income is less than 3000 TK. while 45.7 percent of the respondents’ is between 3000TK. and 6000 TK. It is observed from the table more that 11.4 percent respondents’ family income is between 6000TK. and 10000 TK. whereas the rest 5.7 percent is more than 10000.

Table 7: Percentage distribution of respondents by number of earning members

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Number of eraning members indicates the condition of solvency of the family. Here Table-7 shows that, 32.9 percent respondents says that  there  family  have  only  one  person  earn  money  and  rest  are  children  and  wife  depend  on  him  and  67.1 percent respondents says that they  have two earning member  of  family  he  and  his  wife.

Table 8: Percentage distribution of respondents by other sources of income

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

This table-8 shows that 37.1 percent respondents says they have other sources of income and 62.9 percent says they have no any other sources of income.

Table 9: Percentage distribution of respondents by other sources of income

                 Source: survey work,2012                                                                    n=70

Occupation of different earning members in households is one of the determining factors of household status.This  table -9  shows  that  21.4percent  respondents says that their  wife  works as  a  maid servant  and  earn money 5.75 respondents says that  there  children earn  money  by doing  various  activities ,and 9.8%  says that they  earn money by doing others  activities  like clinic (2.8%), car  serving(2.8%), mother works as  a  day  labour (1.4%).

Chart – 4 Percentage distribution of respondents by construction materials

                        Source: survey work, 2012                                           n=70

Construction materials of the house indicates the nature of the house. The chart – 4 shows that 60 perecnt of the respondents’ house is made of wood and bamboo, while the other 40 percent of the respondents’ house are made of semi-brick. It is evident from the table that most of the slum people does have the house made of made of tin. If the percentage of the semi-brick house was much than those of tin it would indicate a better quality of living standard of the slum people.

Table 10: Percentage distribution of respondents by number of rooms

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Number of rooms indicates the living space of the house. The house does have the much living room, the members of that house get more living space, thus they can feel more comfort to live. The table-10 shows that most of the respondents (75.5 percent)  do have 1 living rooms, while only 1.4 percent do have 3 living rooms.

Table 11: Percentage distribution of respondents by the problem of less space in room

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

There are many problems that people face living in slums. Among those problems regarding house is one of the most mentionable. The table- 11 shows that 77.1 percent of the respondents face problems living in slums while 22.9 percent do not face.

Table 12: Percentage distribution of respondents by difficulties of less space in room

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

* Multiple responses were found in a single category.

This table-12 shows that 50 percent respondents’ says room becomes crammed and 25.4 percent says less chance of sharing enjoyment with wife \husband and 1percent says children are often exposed to scene of parents physical relationships due to less space of room.

Chart – 5 Percentage distribution of respondents by  having sufficient  meals

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Here  this  chart – 5 shows  that  14.3 percent  respondents said  that   they  have  gotten sufficient food in  the breakfast ,lunch and dinner  and 85.7 percent  respondents says that  no.

Table 13: Percentage distribution of respondents by dress in case of male

                                              Male/ n=19

* Multiple responses were found in a single category.

This table-13 indicates that 84.21 percent male respondents wears lungi, panjabi/shirt and 15.78 percent wears shirt-pant and 26.31 percent wears only lungi.

Table 14: Percentage distribution of respondents by dress in case of female

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

* Multiple responses were found in a single category.

This table-14 shows that 60 percent women wears shari and 15.7 percent women wears salowar  kamiz. Since our traditional dress is shari so most of the women in slums are wearing shari.

Table 15: Percentage distribution of respondents by sources of water

                                            Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Scarcity of pure drinking water is a huge problem in slums. Though the table -15 shows that most of the respondents (94.3%) collect water from tubewell, they have to past a long time in the long line. The table shows more that only 4% of the respondents collect water from the water supplied by WASA.

Table 16: Percentage distribution of respondents by boiling water

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Boiled water can be a substitute for pure drinking water when tubewell water and the other sources of pure water is hard to get. But due to many reasons, it’s not a very easy task for the slum people to have boiled water. The table -16 depicts that only 10 percent of the respondents can drink boil water while the rest 90 percent can’t get.

Table 17: Percentage distribution of respondents by obstacles of collecting water

                       Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

* Multiple responses were found in a single category.

There are many reasons  for which slum people can not drink boiled water. The table -17 shows that 55.5 percent respondents’ can not boil water due to lack of wood and 31.7 percent says because of no gas line and 15.8 percent says there is no need to boil water.

Table 18: Percentage distribution of respondents by  the problems during collecting water

 Among many problems in slum, a  very important problem is to collect water. Here Table – 18 shows that all the respondents 100 percent says that they face  many  difficulties  to collect water.

Table 19: Percentage distribution of respondents by problems of collecting water

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

* Multiple responses were found in a single category.

Among many problems in collecting water, couple of problems are mentionable, such as scarcity of tubewell and past long time in the que. The table-19 shows that 78.6 percent respondent says that  they have no sufficient  tube-well   and 21.4 percent  respondent says that  they  have wait long time to collect  water and 7.14 percent says insufficient supple by WASA.

Table 20: Percentage distribution of respondents by defecation.

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Sanitation system is one of the most imporatnt part of the living standard. Table -20 shows that thouh 60% of the respondents use pacca latrine, still a major part of 40% respondents use katcha latrine which indicates that sanitation system of slum people is still unhealthy.

Table 21:  Percentage distribution of respondents by sewerage systems

 Swearage system is another important part of sanitation system. Swerage system must be cleaned properly to mainatin a healthy sanitation system. But it is hardly seen in the slums the table shows. This  Table-21  shows  that  1.4 percent  respondents  says   daily  they cleaned  their  sewerage  systems, 21.4 percent says  weekly ,and  77.1% says  they  cant  cleaned  their  sewerage  systems  in  a week. This poor garbage collection systems contributes to ill health and disease among slum dwellers.

Table 22: Percentage distribution of respondents by problem with waste and sewerage

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Waste disposal is a great problem for the slum people that is evident from the table.  Here, the table- 22 shows that respondents 90 % face  problem  with  the  waste  and  sewerage,  and  10%  do not face.

Table 23: Percentage distribution of respondents by problems with waste and sewerage

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

There are many problems that the respondents face regarding waste and sewerage. The table- 23 shows that 55.2 percent face problem with spread of stink, 24 percent  with spread of germs of disease, 20 percent  with inundate by low degree of rain.

 Table 24: Percentage distribution of respondents on basis of having treatment 

 This  table-24  shows  that  100%  respondents  says  they  go  for  treatment  when  they  are  sick.

 Table 25: Percentage distribution of respondents by treatment place  

 The table 25 depicts  that  92.95 percent respondents  says  they  going  to  public hospital and  7.1 percent  says  that  they  are getting homio  path  when  they are  sick. From the table it is evident that most of the slum people go to public hospital because they can not afford the cost of having treatment from private clinic.

Table 26: Percentage distribution of respondents by children’s schooling

 Children’s schooling is another important aspect of living standard. The table- 26 shows that 54.3 percent of the respondents send their children while the other 45.7 percent do not send. If the percentage of respondents sending their children is higher the living standard will be higher.

 Table 27: Percentage distribution of respondents by difficulties of children’s schooling

 There are  many problems for which respondents can not send their children to school. The table- 27 shows that  93.5 percent of the respondents can not send their children  because  of  lack  of  money, while the other 62.5 percent . Can not send due to their children’s involvement in earning money by selling paper/polythens/plastic materials

Table 28: Percentage distribution of respondents by recreation

 This table – 28 shows  that  65.75  respondents  says  that  they  recreated  by  television,  2.9 percent  says  they  going  to  cinema  hall  for  recreation,2.9 percent  says  they  reading  book, and  28.6 percent  says  that they  pass  their  time  by  gossiping.

Table 29:  Percentage distribution of respondents by criminal activities

 Among  many problems of slum the most concerning problem is criminal activities. This  table-29  shows  that  100 percent  respondents  said  that  they  notice  criminal  activities  in  their  slum.

Table 30: Percentage distribution of respondents by types of criminal activities

 There are many criminal activities that are noticed by the respondents in slums. The table- 30 shows that  5.7 percent  respondents  notice  stealing  ,55.7 percent  notice  hijacking  ,1.4 percent  notice  smuggling  ,11.4 percent   notice  drug addiction and  other  25.7 percent  notice  illicit  drug  business.

Table 31:  Percentage distribution of respondents by sexual harassment of female members

 Sexual harassment has now become a serious problem in our society specially in recent past. This problem is very acute in slums. Here  the table-31  shows  that  74.3 percent  respondents  says that  their family  member face  sexual  harrassment.

Table 32:  Percentage distribution of respondents by  types of harassment

* Multiple responses were found in a single category.

Female members in the slum are the victim of sexual harassment in different ways. The table -32 shows  that  70 percent  of the respondents’ female family members fall victim of slung words, 10 percent  are the victim of  kissing/touching  and  20 percent   experience  dirty gesture.

Table 33: Percentage distribution of respondents by  suggestion

                         Source: survey work,2012                                           n=70

Here  8.65  respondents  says  consciousness  should  be  create  to  improve  livelihood  of  slum dwellers,  50%  respondents  says  that  getting  proper  education  is  important  to  develop there  livelihood, 8.6%  respondents say earning  more  money  and   32.9%  respondents  says  that   if  government  solve  electricity  gas  and  water  supply  problem   ,there  life  standard  should  be  develop.

Analysis of the Findings

From the study, several generalizations can be made. It is evident that slum problem is very acute in the urban areas of Bangladesh especially in Dhaka city. Most of the people living in the slums lead a very destitute life. They have to experience many problems in slums.

The sample of the study area consists of 70 respondents of which  27.1 percent  respondents are male  and 72.9 percent respondents are  female in which 72.9 percent respondent  are  married  and  27.1 percent  are  unmarried and 2 percent are divorced and 2 percent are widow. A major portion of the respondents is illiterate (about 55.7 percent). In case of literacy, 32.9 percent of the respondents completed primary education  and  the rest 11.4 percent  respondents  completed secondary  education.

In case of main occupation it is noticed from the study that most of the household heads were engaged in informal services like petty business (Footpath vendor, hawker etc.) day labor, rickshaw pulling, labor in construction buildings, small job service etc, where 28.5 per cent had rickshaw pulling and 18.57 percent are day labour, while 18.42 per cent spouse served as a housewife in the respective family and 4.28 percent are driver ,and 12.87 percent are cleaner. Among the respondents about  37.1 percent  reported to have their monthly income range between less than 3000 TK. while 45.7 percent of the respondents’ is between 3000Ttk. and 6000 TK. It is observed from the table more that 11.4 percent  respondents’ family income is between 6000TK and 10000 TK. whereas the rest 5.7 percent  is more than 10000. It is revealed that their living standard is low due to the significant respondents income level is low.

Large size of family often works as a cause of the low living standard of the household members. The research reveals that 71.4 percent of the respondents’ family members are within 4-6 in number while 7-9 members prevails in 20 percent of the family. And the rest 5.7 percent of the respondents have 3 members in their family.

Occupation of different earning members in households is one of the determining factors of household status.This  research  shows  that  21.4 percent  respondents says that their  wife  works as  a  maid servant  and  earn money 5.75 respondents says that  there  children earn  money  by doing  various  activities ,and 10.05 respondent says that they  earn money by doing other  activities  like clinic, car  serving,and mother works as  a  day  labour.

Accomodation system expresses the status of the standard of living. In this research it indicates that most of the respondents (87.9 percent) house material is semi brick and rest of the respondents (12.1percent) house material is wood-bamboo. And  most of the respondents (75.5 percent)  do have 1 living rooms, while only 1.4 percent do have 3 living rooms. Because less space of house they have to face many problems. The research shows that 77.1 percent  of the respondents face problems living in slums while 22.9 percent do not face.

In the study area water is collected by people in many ways. Though most of the respondents  (94.3 percent) collect water from tube-well, and  only 4 percent  of the respondents collect water from the water supplied by WASA. To collect water they have to past a huge time in a long line. Among many problems in collecting water, couple of problems are mentionable, such as scarcity of tubewell and past long time in the que. The table 24 shows that 78.6 percent  respondent says that  they have no sufficient  tube-well   and 21.4  percent respondent says that  they  have wait long time to collect  water.

Sanitation system is one of the most imporatnt part of the living standard. It is seen from the study that though 60  percent of the respondents use pacca latrine, still a major part of 40  percent  respondents use katcha latrine which indicates that sanitation system of slum people is still unhealthy. There are many problems that the respondents face regarding waste and sewerage. The table- 27 shows that 55.2 percent face problem with spread of stink, 24  percent with spread of germs of disease, 20 percent  with inundated by low degree of rain.

There are many problems that the respondents face regarding waste and sewerage. The table- 27 shows that 55.2 percent face problem with spread of stink, 24 percent with spread of germs of disease, 20 percent  with inundated by low degree of rain.

The study reveals  that  65.75  respondents says  that  they  recreated  by  television,  2.9 percent  says  they  going  to  cinema  hall  for  recreation,2.9 percent  says  they  reading  book, and  28.6 percent  says  that they  pass  their  time  by  gossiping.

Another very important problem of slum is criminal activities. There are many criminal activities that are noticed by the respondents in slums. The study reveals that  that  5.7 percent  respondents  notice  stealing  ,55.7 percent notice  hijacking  ,1.4 percent notice  smuggling  ,11.4 percent  notice  drug addiction and  other  25.7 percent notice  illicit  drug  business.

The study has found some suggestions given by the slum people themselves to improve their living standards.  The study reveals that 8.65  respondenmts  thinks  consciousness  should  be  created  to  improve  livelihood  of  slum dwellers,  50 percent  respondents  says  that  getting  proper  education  is  important  to  develop their  livelihood,  32.9 percent  respondents  says  that   if  government  solve  electricity  gas  and  water  supply  problem.

Case Study

Case -1

Shefali Begum, 40 years old an illiterate woman lives with her husband, three children and her mother-in-law in a small room at Manik nagar slum. She works as a maid servant 3-4 houses . Her husband is a rickshaw puller. Her house hold income is around 7000 TK. which is not sufficient for her family. She says, she and her husband works whole  day to earn their livelihood. She says, after come back home she has to other house hold works.

She says, they have only one room for five family members. Because of less space they have to face many difficulties, such as- room became crammed. She also says, as her mother in law is also living with them so she can’t share physical relation with her husband. She says, if they have enough money then she will rent another room for her children and mother in law.

She says within a soft  voice  about their having food that sometimes it becomes difficult to organize two times meal in a day. She says because of less income and high price of expenditure they can not afford three times meal. She says, they collect s water from tube-well but the number of tube-well is not sufficient comparison to slum people. So they have to past long time in the water line. She says, she can’t  sleep  at night because of collecting water.  Because water doesn’t remain whole day, sometime it comes at late night. As I asked about , whether they boiled water, she laughed and says, ‘there is no gas in the slum. She cooks their food with wood which they have to buy with a high price. Cooking becomes difficult for this and talking  of  boiling water is far away’.

When I asked her about their defecation she said, they uses pacca latrine for their defecation. Which is cleaned within a 1week but their sewerage system never cleaned.   Due to this there spreads an foul odour.

 She says, one of my son is going to nearest primary school.  But her other childrens does not used go school. Because of   their  less income she can not bring them school. She also mentioned that slum where lives that is a place of crime. She observed many anti-social activities in slum like, stealing, drug addiction, illicit drug business etc. she says, police comes and catches those criminals but after 2-3 days they come back and started same activities  again. She also mentioned that it’s not a safe  place for female members of family. Sometimes they have to face various types of  harassments like, slung words, dirty gesture even touching.

When I asked her about recreation, she said, ‘I have no free time, working whole day after came back home also have to busy house hold chores. My life is just work, work and work. When I get some free time I used to gossip with my neighbor’. She says, she is as poor that she can’t buy a television for her children. Her children’s are so fond of watching television.

When I asked about suggestion to improve their slum she said loudly that, many NGO has come and asked us about this. We said our problems and suggestions . But nothing happens, they only gives us hope nothing is going to change. After a while She says, nowadays our major problem is water and gas problem. If that could  be solved than may we get some relief.

Case -2

Alauddin, 45 years old , lives with her wife and  two daughters in a small room at Kamla pur slum. He works as a driver of government transport and her wife is a house wife. He is the only earning member of his family. He earns around 9000 TK. monthly. He says, ‘my job is not permanent so i always worried about job’. He studied at class 8. He used to wear shirt and pant , some time he wears Panjabi.

His house is semi-brick. He says, due to high rent of room he can not afford another room for his children. Because of this my family has to face many problems. My daughters are used to go school. Because less space their education becomes hamper. And main problem is I can not share my feelings with my wife as my children’s are sleeping with us.

He says, because of my small family I can manage my three times meal but because high price of expenditure it become difficult to provide nutritious foods for my family. He says, we drink water from tube-well in slum. But it’s not sufficient for us because water does not remain all day. Some day it only remains 2-3hours a day. So, me and my family has faces problems for this. House hold chores and other essential activities are hampering for this. Not only that,  but also my family members have to past a long time in the line for collecting water. He says, In our slum there are no gas opportunity. So we have to cook our food with wood. Due to this reason we do not boiled our water. But I know that, it is harmful to me and my family, as water contains lot of germs. But what to do, have to manage

Alauddin says, they uses pacca sanitary latrine outside of home. He says, it’s not hygienic because many slum family uses the same latrine. Latrine is washed within 2 days. But our sewerage system never do washed. Due to this reason spreads germs of diseases. He says, ‘last year my elder daughter became sick because of this. And also spreads bad smell in whole slum. But  no one is concerned about this. Even we also used to this situation’.

He says, about recreation that, they have a television and he used to watch television when he becomes free. He mentioned that he observed many anti social activities in this slum. Some are related to stealing, hijacking, drug addiction and illicit drug business. All knows about their activities but no one take any steps to stop them. He says, this slum is hard to live with female members. They have to face many types of harassments. My daughter said me that, when she went to outside some boys are slung words to her.

He says, his main problem is his job is not a permanent. His boss can dismiss him at any time as he want. He also says, he has to spent lots of money for going to his job place. Because of this his income is not sufficient for his family. If he get a permanent job in a nearest place then  may he can improve his life. And water scarcity and gas problem made their life miserable. If the number of tube-well and supply of WASA is increased may life of slum dwellers become improved.

Case-3

Al-amin, 45years old, living with his wife and two daughters and three sons in Manik nagar slum. He says, he works as a rickshaw puller and his wife works in a hospital as a cleaner. His two elder sons are collecting polythene, paper, battle etc. He says, to earn their livelihood they have to do hard work all along day. After working whole day i and my family ca not maintain our family. He says, his house hold income is 7000TK.

He said, since many years he is living in this slum with his family. He and his family living in a small room, made of semi-brick. He says, because of  my large family and less space the room has become crammed. In summer most of the time me and my sons are sleeping in open spaces. If some relatives of mine visits mine then it becomes difficult to organize place for them. He says, if I have enough money then I would rent another room for my family.

When I asked about what difficulties they have to face to earn their livelihood, he says, ‘our main problem is we poor. No one comes to help us. Rich peoples are helping them who needs no help. They are not interested to help us and solve our problem’. After while a time he says, every day we have to struggle to make our life.

He mentioned that, as his family is large and income is low, they can not provide three times meal.  For them some time it becomes difficult to organize one time meal. He says, ‘I am feeling bad when I am watching my children’s face. They wants to eat some thing like- fish, meat, fruits, milk, but I can’t organize for them. Where only managing rice becomes difficult to us, there such nutritious food is standing so far away.’

He said, in their slum there is  no gas line. so they have to cook their food with wood. Which they have buy in a high price. He also mentioned that, they collects water from slum’s tube-well. But the number of tube-well is not sufficient comparison to slum people. So they have past a long time in a water line. Even water contains germs. As they have no gas line, they do not use boiled water.

He said, they uses common latrine in slum. Because of more using the latrine is not hygienic. It has been cleaned after two days. But our sewerage system does not clean timely. It  may clean with three-four months. Due to this reason, stinks and germs of diseases spread out.

As I asked about his childrens education, he says, “khaite paina abar lekha pora”. He ddoes not send his children for education. He said’ his two daughters are staying home and take care of home as his wife works outside. And his sons are collecting thins from here and there. He says, if they have enough money then he will send her children to school.

Because of less income he can not afford good treatment if they get sick. They go to the nearest dispensary for their treatment. But most of the time they don’t go to anywhere for treatment. He says, when he get some free time he used to watch television but in neighbor’s home.

He mentioned about crimes in slum. He says, this is the place where every types of crimes are occurs. Illicit drug business is the most occurring crime in here . Even this place is not safe for girl.  My daughters has complained me that, boys are using slung words to them. Sometimes I think about to go other place. But can’t cause other place is so expensive for me. He says, government does not take steps to improve their living.

He wants to have good house at good place with hygienic surrounding, to eat good food, and to send children at school. Also he wished to go back to her original place as she doesn’t like to stay in Dhaka.

Case -4

Jesmin Akter, 35 years old a illiterate woman lives with her two daughter and two sons in a Nabi nagar slum. She works as a cleaner in city corporation and her younger son work as a day laborer. Her two daughters are take care of her home. She says, her husband has got another marriage but she didn’t divorced him. Some time my childrens are going to meet him but he doesn’t do any contribution to our house hold income.

She says, she is living in a small room with her children. It has been made of tin and brick. Rent of room is as much that some time it becomes difficult to pay this. She also says, since 3 months she couldn’t paid her room rent.  She says, she and her son is working hard for making their livelihood. But their income is only 7000taka. Which is not sufficient for her family. She says, her childrens are now enough young that they needs another room but nothing to do. Because of less income and high rent of room it becomes difficult to bear only one room rent. She also mentioned that due to the large family number room becomes crammed.

She says, she was came to Dhaka within a dream that, may their all problem will be solved. But after coming, struggle of life became more difficult. She says, ‘in every step of life we have to face difficulties.’ She says, we used to eat three times meal in day but not at sufficient amount. Most of the time we only eats rice and potato. Because of high price we can’t afford nutritious food for family. According to her, in this slum there is no gas line. She is cooking their food with wood. This is the other major problem of her. This wood also costs more. She also mentioned that she collects water from supply water from WASA. But its not sufficient for the slum people. Often it does not remain for a day. That it becomes really difficult to continue their house hold activities. She says, as she stays most of the time outside for work her daughters are facing this problem most. She says she does not boiled water. After asking why she answered that, supply water is not necessary to boil.

 When asked regarding their latrine she said, they uses pacca latrine for their defecation which is cleaned once in a week but the sewerage system is never cleaned.   Due to this there spread germs of disease.

 She was asked about the education of her children. She says, she does not send her children to school. Because of   their  less income she can not bring them school. She also mentioned that as her large portion of income is being spend on daily expenditure so it becomes difficult for her to manage education costs.

She says about crimes in slum area that there is many types of anti social activities are happening. Nowadays drug addiction and illicit drug business has increased. She also added that slum is such place that which is not safe for female members. Often she and her daughters are facing slung words from boy.

Case -5

Hossain Mia, 25 years old man , lives with his wife and two sons in a small room at Manik nagar slum. He works as a rickshaw puller and his wife is a house wife. He informs that he is the only earning member of his family. He earns around 6000TK. monthly.

He was asked regarding whether they face any problems due to lees space. In this regard, he says that they have only one room for five family members. Because of less space they have to face many difficulties like room becomes crammed and less chance of sharing enjoyment with wife. She aspires that if they have enough money then they will rent another room for the children and mother in law.

When asked about food habit of his family he says, “Because of my small family I can manage my three times meal but because high price of expenditure it become difficult to provide nutritious foods for my family”. He informs that his family members drink water from tube-well in slum. But it’s difficult to collect water from tubewell because water does not remain all the day. Some day it only remains 2-3hours a day. So, he and his family members faces problems for this. He also makes this responsible for his household chores and other essential activities being hampered. Not only that,  but also his family members have to past a long time in the line for collecting water. When asked about that whether they drink boiled water  he says, “In our slum there are no gas opportunity. So we have to cook our food with wood. Due to this reason we do not boiled our water. But I know that, it is harmful to me and my family, as water contains lot of germs. But what to do, have to manage”.

When asked about food habit of his family he says, “Because of my small family I can manage my three times meal but because high price of expenditure it become difficult to provide nutritious foods for my family”. He informs that his family members drink water from tube-well in slum. But it’s difficult to collect water from tubewell because water does not remain all the day. Some day it only remains 2-3hours a day. So, he and his family members faces problems for this. He also makes this responsible for his household chores and other essential activities being hampered. Not only that, but also his family members have to past a long time in the line for collecting water. When asked about that whether they drink boiled water  he says, “In our slum there are no gas opportunity. So we have to cook our food with wood. Due to this reason we do not boiled our water. But I know that, it is harmful to me and my family, as water contains lot of germs. But what to do, have to manage”.

When asked about their sanitation system in slum, he informs that they uses pacca sanitary latrine outside of home. He says that  it’s not hygienic because many slum family uses the same latrine. Latrine is washed within 2 days. But their sewerage system never do washed, she says more. Due to this reason, there spreads stinks. He says it has became used to now.

He says about recreation that, they have a television and he used to watch television when he becomes free. He mentions that he observes many anti social activities in this slum. Some are related to stealing, hijacking, drug addiction and illicit drug business. He feels concern of the factor says that all knows about their activities but no one take any steps to stop them. He says more that this slum is hard to live with female member. But his wife has never faced any type of harassment. But he noticed such problems in slum.