People have been migrating to better and bigger cities since the dawn of history. Hordes of them keep pushing their way into urban centres, putting more stress on the already-stressed out public services, that leads to inexorable growth of cities. Can the cities cope with all this? Will the allure of city life ever diminish? These are the questions one asks when one looks at the conditions of mega-cities and the problems they face.
Brightly-flashing city lights equipped with facilities attract people like bees to honey. Larger cities offer more opportunities and that is why so many dreamers, leaders, luminaries and job-seekers leave their lodgings and get lured by the fast life, amid the cloud-skimming rooftops and bustling streets to rummage around for the fame and fortune they have been dreaming about.
A vast number of people who have migrated reach their destination with high hopes and the great desire to earn and become rich, but their dreams come crashing down when they look at the real world. They have to tolerate crowded sidewalks, cramped apartments and the offensive taxi drivers, feeling like aliens in the speedy life they are not accustomed to.
Most of the newcomers are poor families who find it impossible to earn a living in the countryside. With no other choice, they often head straight for the worst kind of urban slum — foul squatters’ settlements plagued by open sewers, noxious cooking fumes and piles of fermenting garbage.
This massive movement of people from rural areas has led to a great number of unemployment. Most of them are uneducated — they are defenceless to the wiles of city dwellers and street-wise people whom they meet and put their confidence in. These people take advantage of their ingenuousness and use them callously. Many mega-cities are past the limits of their ability to accommodate the influx of humanity. Infrastructure in various places is not only inadequate, but is also deteriorating. Among other challenges, the most important one is to get rid of vast quantities of human waste. The pollution surrounding these mega-cities like a blanket has become intolerable. With all the pollutants present in the atmosphere, the human immune system has weakened, leaving city dwellers susceptible to more diseases. This has led to the breaking of epidemics. Most of the people who have got these diseases are not aware of it; and even if they are, then they do not have enough money to pay the exorbitant fee for their treatment.
At night, the streets are swarmed with people who have no boarding. They have to seek shelter on roadsides and pavements. Often, one finds beggars ranging from the ages of seven to 70, roaming the streets. Crime rate has increased tremendously. Every house built is more like a prison and less like a home, with grilled windows and barbed wires on high walls. There is no sense of the security there once was. Women and children are being trafficked to different countries, specially from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Eastern Europe and India. Defenceless women, as well as young girls, are being forced into prostitution.
No doubt, there are a lot of things which need to be rectified, but the people and the government’s cooperation is required. The government needs to supply the people living in rural areas with facilities such as electricity. Even though there are primary schools for basic education in rural areas, people want better educational facilities as the awareness about education has now spread. Schemes to improve sanitation would probably further improve living conditions, but people need to be educated about personal hygiene as well. This would not only reduce epidemics, but would also lower the expense on cure.
People have been migrating to better and bigger cities since the dawn of history. Hordes of them keep pushing their way into urban centres, putting more stress on the already-stressed out public services, that leads to inexorable growth of cities. Can the cities cope with all this? Will the allure of city life ever diminish? These are the questions one asks when one looks at the conditions of mega-cities and the problems they face.
