Chapter 2

Kolkata city and Slums

As per Census of India, population of Kolkata in 2011 is 4,580,544 of which male and female
are 2,506,029 and 2,074,515 respectively.

Table 2.1: Demographic Profile of Kolkata

Description

City Kolkata

Government Municipal Corporation

Urban Agglomeration Kolkata Metropolitan

Kolkata City Total Male Female

City Population(adults) 4,580,544 2,506,029 2,074,515

Children (0-6) 339,323 175,564 163,759

Literates 3,588,137 1,926,915 1,661,222

Average Literacy (%) 86.31 % 88.34 % 84.06 %

Sex ratio 908

Child Sex ratio 933

Source: The office of The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.

22
2.1 Kolkata - a brief history

During the early days of British rule in India, Kolkata (previously Calcutta) was

the capital of the country, but later the British rulers shifted the capital to Delhi, the

present capital of India. Kolkata is now the capital of the state of West Bengal. It is well

circulated that Job Chamok, a British tradesman is the founder of this city, and in August

24,1690, he found this place as a good landing place and setup an outpost of the East

India Company. However recently in an attempt to rewrite the history of the city under

the verdict of Honourable Calcutta High Court, the leading historians are of the opin­

ion that no such colonial settlers can be treated as the founder for establishing an old

prosperous settlement of Kolkata. The then villages of Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kalikata

provided the highland needed for massive business houses, residential quarters, villas

and other establishments needed for the administrative commercial activities. However,

at the same time it is true that the political and economic importance of Kolkata was

grown manifold with the association of the East India Company and the British Raj .The

three villages Sutanuti, Gobindapur and Kolkata were parts of an estate belonging to the

Mughal Empire, whose Zamindari rights were held by the Sabama Roy Chowdhury

family of Barisha- Behala. Gradually the East India Company increased their territory of

occupancy and ultimately in 1765, Shah Alam -1, the then Mughal Emperor granted

the right to the East India Company to collect land revenue and administer justice to the

Bengal province, including the present day Bihar and Orissa (Nair, 1990).

“Since the days of its inception, the city of Calcutta continues to expand its limit

slowly but steadily. At the dawn of the 18th century, 41 villages along with Sutanuti,

Kalikata and Gobindapur gave the first shape of Calcutta Municipal area” (Mitra, 1990).

“The town continued to grow steadily throughout 18th and 19th centuries and the first

50 years of the present century marked an unprecedented rate of expansion. In 1701 the

extension of the city was 1682 acres and in 1953 it went upto 23629 acres” (Mitra,

23
1990). At present the city proper, that is, the area under the Kolkata Municipal Corpo­

ration is now 187.33 square kilometres with a population of 3.3 million in 1981 which

steadily rose to 4.5 million in 2011 .Throughout the 19th century the city area expanded

in conformity with its rapidly increasing population, but first half of the 20th century, it

witnessed an unprecedented growth in both size and population. According to 1901

census, 68.15% of the total city population comprised immigrants, of them 52.2 % came

from interior district of Bengal, 14.8 % from other parts of India, and remaining 1.1%

from outside the country. “ Centuries ago, colonial and trading interests gave birth to the

city of Calcutta and this made it the focal point of intensive economic activities. The city

together with its vast hinterland attracted multiple industries which enhanced the scope

of employment” (Mitra, 1990). Kolkata had long been the second capital of the British

Empire and its primacy in the Eastern hemisphere obviously had a great impact on the

socio economic growth. Gradually the city of Calcutta became a centre ofjob and this

pulled job-seekers from nearby districts and states. In 1911, there were 6,24,000 work­

ers accounting for three fifth of the total city population. The extent of predominance of

immigrant earners in Kolkata’s occupational structure remains unchanged throughout

the first six decades of the 20th century. In 1961, the percentage of workers among

residents and migrant groups were 29.7% and 70.2% respectively (Mitra, 1990). A

majority of the immigrants came from the districts of Bengal, mostly from 24 Parganas,

Howrah, Midnapore, etc. The Bengali immigrants of Kolkata accounted for 3,41,000

persons in 1911 and their number steadily increased to 11,63,716 in 1951. As the bulk

of Bengali migrants came from neighbouring districts, they moved into the city with

their families, considerably enhancing the number of dependents among these popula­

tions.

24
 2.2 Religion

Hinduism is the major religion in Kolkata city with 76.51 % followers. Islam is second

most popular religion with approximately 20.60 % followers. In the city, Christianity is

followed by 0.88 %, Jainism by 0.47 %, Sikhism by 0.31 % and Buddhism by 0.31 %.

Table: 2.2: Population of Kolkata by different religious beliefs

Description Total Percentage

Hindu 3,440,290 76.51 %

Muslims 926,414 20.60 %

Not Stated 48,982 1.09%

Christian 39,758 0.88 %

Jain 21,178 0.47 %

Sikh 13,849 0.31 %

i

Buddhist 4,771 0.11 %

1

Others 1,452 0.03 %

2.3 Kolkata Slums:

The total slums in Kolkata city numbers 300,755 in which population of 1,490,811 resides.
This is around 32.55% of total population of Kolkata. This implies that almost one-third of
Kolkata’s population are living in slums as tabulated below.

25
Table 2.3 : Total Population and Slum Population of Kolkata by sex.

TOTAL MALE FEMALE SLUM MALE FEMALE

Kolkata POPULATION POPULATION

CITY
4,580,544 2,506,029 2,074,515 1,490,811 825,334 665,477

Source: The office of The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.

KOLKATA MUNICIPAL CORPORATION

PERCENTAGE OF SLUM POPULATION
TO TOTAL POPULATION 2001
(WARDS)

Figure 3: Map Showing Percentage of Slum Population to Total Population in different wards
of Kolkata Municipal Corporation. (Source: Office of the Registrar General & Census Com­

missioner, India, 2001.)

26
2.4 Slums - meaning and types

First appearing during the 1820s in London, the term ‘slum’ was used to identify

the poorest quality housing areas and living in the most unsanitary conditions. Terms

such as slum, shanty, squatter settlement and low-income community are now used

interchangeably. The term used in India for slums are chawls (Mumbai, Ahmadabad),

katras/jhuggi/jhopdi (Delhi), zopadpattis (Maharashtra, Gujarat) andbustee (Kolkata).

Outside India various terms like favela (Brazil), rookery (London), gecekondu (Tur­

key), villa (Argentina), skid row, barrio, ghetto are used to mean slum.

For the first time in Census 2001, slum areas were earmarked across the country,

particularly, in cities and towns having population of 50,000 or above. West Bengal is

among the top populous states in India with a population of 64,18,594, residing in 13,

91,756 (absolute number) households in slums.

Though the Registrar General of India has defined slum as, “A street, alley, etc

that is located in the crowded district of the city and is mainly inhabited by the poor

class”, the Central Statistics Organization (C.S.O) defines slums as an area “having 25

or more katcha structures, mostly of temporary nature, or 50 or more households resid­

ing mostly in katcha structures huddled together or inhabited by persons with practically

no private latrine and inadequate public latrine and water facilities”.

L. W. Riley et.al (2007) described slum as “A congested urban residential area that

is mainly characterized through the deteriorated unsanitary buildings, social disorgani­

zation and poverty.” More recently, Paul and Vasudevan (2010) have described slums

“as a compact settlement of around 20 households that are poorly build, mainly of tem­

porary nature, facing unhygienic conditions of drinking water and other facilities, and

are most crowded with inadequate sanitation”.

27
Figure 5: A view of Kolkata slum

Three types of slums have been defined in Census, namely, Notified, Recognized and Identi­
fied.

(i) All notified areas in a town or city notified as ‘Slum" by State, Union territories

Administration or Local Government under any Act including a ‘Slum Act" may
be considered as Notified slums

(ii) All areas recognised as ‘Slum’by State, Union territories Administration or Local

Government, Housing and Slum Boards, which may have not been formally noti­

fied as slum under any act may be considered as Recognized slums

(iii) A compact area of at least 300 population or about 60-70 households of poorly

built congested tenements, in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate in­

frastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities. Such ar­

eas should be identified personally by the Charge Officer and also inspected by an

officer nominated by Directorate of Census Operations. Such areas may be con-

28
 sidered as Identified slums.

2.5 Physical structure of housing in slums

The housing structures in slums are classified into three categories, viz., ‘pucca’, ‘semi-pucca’
and ‘katcha’ in the NSSO surveys. The 49th Round of National Sample Survey Organisation
(NSSO) survey highlights that at all-India level, the dwelling units were distributed equally, i.e
l/3rd (approximately) under each category, viz. pucca, semi pucca and katcha housing struc­
ture. Here ‘Pucca' means those with both roof and walls made of pucca materials such as
cement. Concrete, oven-burnt bricks and other such building reinforcement materials. ‘Katcha’
means those with both roof and walls made of katcha (non-pucca) materials, such as mud,
thatch, bamboo, tents, etc. ‘Semi-pucca' means those with either roof or walls, but not both,
made of pucca materials.

Figure 6 A ‘ Semi pucca’ house in slum with bamboo-thatched roof and brick wall

29
Figure 7 A club in the slum-area

Figure 8 The entrance to the studied slum-area

30
2.6 Attributes of Slums

A review of the various approaches used by national and local governments and

institutions involved in slum issues reveals the following attributes of slums:

1. Lack of basic services - lack of access to improved sanitation facilities and im­

proved water source, supplemented sometimes, by the absence of waste collec­

tion systems, electricity supply, surfaced roads and footpaths, street lighting and

drainage.

2. Sub-standard Dwelling- High number of substandard housing structures often built

with non-permanent materials unsuitable for housing, given local conditions of

location and climate, e.g. earthen floors, mud-and-wattle walls, thatched roofs,

etc. - often in violation of housing norms and standards locally applicable.

Figure 9 'Semi -pucca' dwelling hut in slum

31
 3. Over-crowding and High Density- Very low space per person, high occupancy

rate, co-habitation by different families and a large number of single-room units.

Often five and more persons share a one-room unit for cooking, sleeping and
living.

4. Unhealthy/Hazardous Conditions- Unhealthy living conditions due to lack of ba­

sic services - open sewers, lack of pathways, uncontrolled dumping of waste,

polluted environment, etc. Houses may be built on hazardous lands, unsuitable for

settlement, such as floodplains, drains, river beds, garbage dumps, and on areas

prone to landslide.

5. Insecure Tenure/Informal Settlements-Lack of formal document entitling the oc­

cupant to inhabit the land or structure - illegality of living; informal or unplanned

settlements cropping up on public lands or lands reserved for non-residential pur­

poses.

6. Poverty and Exclusion- Income poverty is sometimes considered a characteristic

of slum-dwellers, but not always. Slum conditions are physical and due to statu­

tory and regulatory factors that create barriers to human and social development.

7. Minimum Settlement Size- The municipal slum definition of Kolkata requires a

minimum of 700 square metres to be occupied by huts. Census of India 2001

requires at least 300 people or 60-70 households living in a settlement cluster.

2.7 Socio-economic and Household Characteristics of the Kolkata slums:

In more than 72 percent of slums in Kolkata, the majority of the houses were built

by pucca materials. In the present study, data on housing, amenities and household char-

32
 acteristics were gathered from 559 households in four different slums.

2.7.1 Solid Waste Disposal:

Data collected for analyzing social and environmental background reflect poor

living conditions of these households of the slum area. Leaving minimal population,

majority of them stay in an unhygienic surrounding, with lack of appropriate garbage

disposal or no waste disposal system. 96.1 % of the respondents agreed that frequency

of garbage disposal is not satisfactory as it appears from the table and figure below.

Figure 10 Garbage removal in slum

33
Table 2.4 Frequency and Percentage distribution of garbage removal and waste disposal in

surrounding areas of the slum households

Solid waste disposal in slums

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent

Valid Present 22 3.9 3.9 3.9

Absent 537 96.1 96.1 100.0

Total 559 100.0 100.0

Table2.5 Table showing presence /absence of drainage facilities in the slum areas

Drainage System

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent

Valid Present 30 5.4 5.4 5.4

Not 529 94.6 94.6 100.0

present

Total 559 100.0 100.0

2.7.2 Drainage :

Lack of proper drainage system results in rampant water logging in monsoons in these

areas. Table 3.5 shows there is almost no sewer drainage facility in the slums. Lack of solid

waste management and inadequate sewer drainage are the biggest factors for environmental

pollution and health risks in slums.

34
2.7.3 Number of rooms :

The houses in the studied slums are either katcha, semi-pucca or pucca with one

(61.5%), two (24.2%), three (5.4%) and more than three (2.1%) rooms , as table no:3.6

illustrates. The Katcha houses comprise of mud walls and roofs made of tiles and asbes­

tos and are devoid of any exclusive room (7%).

Figure 11 A child in slum house

Figure 12 Slum lane

35
Table 2.6 : Frequency and percentage distribution of number of rooms

Number of rooms in slum households

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent

Valid No exclusive 38 6.8 6.8 6.8

room

One room 344 61.5 61.5 68.3

Two rooms 135 24.2 24.2 92.5

Three rooms 30 5.4 5.4 97.9

More than 3 12 2.1 2.1 100.0

Total 559 100.0 100.0

Number of Rooms

Figure 13 : Graphical representation of number of rooms of each slum household.

36
 2.7.4 Ventilation :

The slum households also lack appropriate ventilation systems. Though 93% of

the respondents said that their shelters contains windows/ventilators and only 7% of

them denied to such facility, yet, most of the settlements were devoid of proper ventila­

tors or windows which enables effective air circulation. 7% of the respondents who

denied having any ventilation, mostly stayed in jhupris made of plastic and not of brick

or mud and thus, they were more of temporary structures.

Figure 14 Slum house ventilation

37
Table 2.7: Frequency and percentage distribution of presence of windows and ventilators

Windows and Ventilators

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent

Valid Present 520 93.0 93.0 93.0

Absent 39 7.0 7.0 100.0

Total 559 100.0 100.0

Out of 93% respondents who said to have ventilation in their houses, 79.1 % had only
one window, 11.6% had two windows and only 2.3% had more than 2 windows as shown in
the table 3.8 and followed by the graph.

Table 2.8: Frequency and percentage distribution of number of windows and ventilators present
in slum households

Number and Frequency of windows/ventilators present in households

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent

Valid 1 442 79.1 85.0 85.0

2 65 11.6 12.5 97.5

More than 2 13 2.3 2.5 100.0

Total 520 93.0 100.0

Absent 39 7.0

Total 559 100.0

38
 Quantity of windows /ventilators in each households

■i
ml
m More than 2
Missing System
Figure 15 : Graphical representation of the presence of windows/ventilators in slums.

2.7.5 Lighting :

A glance at the source of lighting suggests that most of the slum households have
electricity connections (85%), while some of them are still using kerosene (10%), or other
forms of oils (1.7%).Very few of them have solar lights (1.2%) while a small percentage
(1.4%) do not have proper means of lighting.

Table 2.9: Frequency and percentage distribution of source of lighting

Source of Lighting

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent

Valid Electricity 475 84.9 84.9 84.9

Kerosene 60 10.8 10.8 95.7

Solar energy 7 1.2 1.2 96.9

Other forms of lighting 9 1.7 1.7 98.6

No lighting system 8 1.4 1.4 100.0

Total 559 100.0 100.0

39
Figure 16: Graphical representation of the source of lighting in the slum households

Figure 17 A slum household with electricity

40
2.7.6 Drinking water:

Next we take a look into the different sources of drinking water in the slums. Most of
the households use tap water (82%) for consumption, while some use hand pumps (13%) to
collect drinking water. Among the other sources of drinking water are tube wells /bore wells
located nearby their houses mostly outside their premises. Drinking water is sometimes also
collected from pipes or supplied by tankers (1.3%).

Table 2.10: Frequency and percentage distribution of source of drinking water

Source of drinking water in slums

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent

Valid Tap 460 82.3 82.3 82.3

Hand Pump 72 12.9 12.9 95.2

Other sources 7 1.3 1.3 96.4

Tubewell/ 20 3.6 3.6 100.0

borehole

Total 559 100.0 100.0

41
Figure 18 Source of potable water in slum

Figure 19 A child drinking water from its source

42
2.7.7 Sanitation :

After housing and water, sanitation holds the key importance for healthy living. From the table
2.11 and table 2.12 we can have an idea of the bathing and latrine facilities available in the slums.

Table: 2.11 Availability of Bathing Facility within slum premises

Bathing Facility Frequency Percentage of

Households

1. Have facility 442 79.0

(a) Bathroom 372 66.5

(b) Enclosure without roof 70 12.5

2. Does not have facility 117 21.0

Total 559 100.0

Table 2.11 shows that though majority of the households have some kind of bathing facility
(almost 80%), the enclosure is sometimes without a roof. A large section of households (21%)
are even without a bathing facility where the dwellers are forced to bath and wash in the open.
Thus menstrual hygiene is a problem for many adolescent girls and women, who lack the

privacy to properly wash and dry menstrual rags. Using wet rags result in infection.

Figure 20 Open bathing space in slum house

43
Figure 21 A girl washing clothes in slum house

Availabilityof Bathing Facility within slum premises

■ Frequency ■ Percentage of Households

Total

2 Does not have facility

(b) Enclosure without roof

(a) Bathroom

1 Have facility

0 100 200 TOO 400 500 600

Figure 22 Availability of bathing Facility within slum premises

44
Figure 23 Toilet facility inside a house in slum

Figure 24 An open urinal in slum

45
Table 2.12 Availability of Latrine Facility in slum households

Types of Latrines Frequency Percentage of

Households

1. Latrine within the 330 59.0

premises

(a) Water closet 297 53.0

(b) Pit latrine 33 6.0

2. No latrine within 229 41.0

premises

(a) Public latrine 168 30.0

(b) Open 61 11.0

Total 559 100.0

Table 2.12 shows the availability of Latrine Facility in slum households .It is unfortunate to

note that though almost 60 percent of the slum households have latrine facilities with their

premises, a very high percentage (41%) still lack the latrine facilities. Most of the slum dwell­

ers (30%) are either forced to use the public latrine or have to go to the open areas (11%).

Hygiene awareness and knowledge of the links between poor hygiene and disease are lowest

among the slum dwellers. Poor sanitation contributes to high levels of water-borne diseases

like jaundice and diarrhoea among the children living in the slums.

46
 Total

(b)Open

(a)Public latrine

2 No latrine within
premises l Percentage of Households

(b) Pit latrine l Frequency

(a) Water closet

1 Latrine within the

premises

200 400 600

Figure 25 The availability of Latrine Facility in slums of Kolkata

2.8 Household expenditure pattern in Kolkata slums:

From the Kolkata Study Report April 2014, it has been revealed that the Expenditure

pattern of Kolkata slums is comparatively high on medical and food items than the West

Bengal urban population. The report on Government led exclusion of the urban poor. 2014

reveals that Kolkata slums spend 54.81 % of their expenditure on food and intoxicants against

8.71% by West Bengal urban. Kolkata slums spend 2.40% on housing whereas West Bengal

urban spends 20.34% on housing. Kolkata slums spend 6.26% on education whereas West

Bengal urban spends 5.49% on education. Kolkata slums spend 11.81% on healthcare facili­

ties which is very high whereas West Bengal urban spends 5.32%.

Data collected from the present field study are in tandem with the findings of this report.
It has been found that the slum dwellers spend a major part (54.9 %) of their expenditure on

47
food and intoxicants, which is considered to be very high, whereas they spend very less (only

5.51%) of their expenditure on housing. Expenses on health care are also relatively high (17.5%),

while reasons like marriage or repayment of loans are causes of other major expenses among

the slum dwellers of Kolkata.

Table 2.13 Expenditure pattern of Kolkata slum households.

Expenditure of slum Percentage of Cumulative

Households expenses Percentage

Housing 5.51 5.51

Food 54.93 60.44

Education 9.10 69.54

Health 17.45 86.99

Other reasons 13.01 100.0

Percentage of Household expenses

■ Housing

■ Food

■ Education

■ Health

■ Other reasons

Figure 26 Graphical Representation of the Expenditure pattern in Kolkata slums

48
Figure 27 A slum family

These findings show that State support may be needed for slum dwellers in health and

education at all levels. Staying in slum areas, their expenditure is very high towards the

food items and healthcare and low on rental. Hence, relocating to far places for rehabili­

tation and resettlement of slum dwellers may make their earning unsustainable .This is a

complex issue having many dimensions. When the state recognizes this, it should ensure

that access to basic amenities of drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, public health and

education is not compromised. Present level of investment in these needs to be aug­

mented and expedited.

49