Analysis of quality of life of slum dwellers of Lucknow city

This paper is an attempt to analyze the condition of slum dwellers in Lucknow city based on five indicators. Rapid urbanization, accompanied by sustained population growth due to large-scale migration from rural to urban centers, leads to mushrooming slum settlements in all cities and towns in India. The urban population in India has grown from 78.9 million in 1961 to 377 million in 2011 and is estimated to be doubled in the next 25 years. There will inevitably be more people living in cities. They are increasingly facing the negative consequences of rapid urbanization, such as polarization of population in large cities, unemployment, acute shortages of housing and basic civic amenities, crime, degradation of the environment, traffic congestion, slum and squatter settlements, pollution, poverty, and social unrest. This paper examines the quality of life (QOL) of different slums in Lucknow city. The study is based on primary as well as secondary data. Primary data are collected through an interview schedule and a field survey of 180 households of randomly selected slums. This paper reveals that 95.90% of families live in thatched houses; more than 99.50% of people are still illiterate, less than 48% of the population accesses government medical facilities, more than 56% of people go for open defecation, only 34% of households use tap water and 84% of areas have very poor sewage disposal facilities. This evaluation shows a wretched picture of slums and requires better policies from the government.