Housing is one of the basic human needs and ranks after food and clothing in terms of priority. Housing constitutes one of the most important partparts of the social environment where an individual is nurtured, grows and matures as a human being, part of the society and as a citizen. Housing, in addition to making contribution to the quality of living also plays a significant role in improving the national economy and generation of employment. Housing has multiplier effect on the economy and industry of the country. Poor quality of housing or absence of appropriate shelter has considerable impact on the economy and productivity of human beings besides health and hygiene. Accordingly, housing has been placed high on the agenda of any national government committed to the cause of promoting human welfare. Considering the role and importance of housing in the national economy, productivity, industrial growth, employment and quality of life a number of policies dedicated to creating affordable housing have been framed at the national level. The agenda of these policies have been focused on the ultimate goal of providing affordable shelter to all by 2021.

Growth of Housing in Bathinda:
Housing is an activity, which is mainly driven by individuals to provide them with an appropriate shelter. With the rapid increase in population, number of houses has also recorded an increase. Besides individuals, different agencies have also contributed to the household stock of the Bathinda city. In order to facilitate the construction of houses Government of Punjab through Bathinda Development Authority (BDA), Improvement Trust, Housefed and Municipal Corporation, Bathinda has framed large number of schemes. These agencies have not only created built up houses but also have provided developed plots by framing different types of schemes in and around Bathinda city. Improvement Trust, Bathinda has so far promoted 12 Development schemes covering an area of approx. 298 acre offering 2500 residential plots and 870 commercial plots besides built up houses in the city. Municipal Corporation has contributed by framing about 17 Town Planning Schemes offering 3600 residential plots covering an area of approx. 1256 acre. In addition, Department of Housing & Urban Development has developed 5 Residential Urban Estates in Bathinda and has offered 3600 residential plots of various sizes for building houses and built up houses. In addition, private developers have also taken up 7 numbers of colonies with 3450 residential plots in an area of 426 acres licensed under the Punjab Apartment & Property Regulation Act, 1995.

Data regarding housing and slum areas is collected from census and mainly from Municipal Corporation Bathinda. The census data relating to housing has certain limitation as all houses are counted irrespective of tenure /materials etc. and household is defined as group of people sharing a kitchen. This many include multiple nuclear families –indicating latent demand.

The growth of residential houses and households has been found to be keeping pace with the growth of population in the Bathinda. As per the Census figures, number of occupied houses increased from 23,990 to 41,014 during the year 1981 to 2001. The maximum growth has been recorded during the decade 1991-2001 which has been placed at 42.21%.  The high growth rate of housing in Bathinda can be attributed to large migration from the neighboring rural area to urban area during this period. However, the growth was found to be lower during the last 1981-91 decade when it was recorded at 20.22% only. During this period the number of households has also increased at a rapid pace. During the last two decades, the number of household has increased from 25,247 in 1981 to 41,645 in 2001. The growth rate of households during the period 1981-91 was 20.79%, which is almost the same (20.22%) as of residential houses. Similarly the growth during the last decade was found to be 36.53%, which is also lower than the growth of residential houses. This shows the comfortable position of housing stock in the city. During this period it has been found that the household size has also recorded an increase as against a household size of 5.0 persons per family in the year 1981, the household size of 5.2 persons per family has been recorded in 1991 which remained the same in the year 2001. Table 17 indicates the growth pattern of houses and households during the last two decades.

Growth of Houses and Households in Bathinda City: 1981-2001:

Housing Characteristics:

Pattern of use of housing stock

Out of a total of 50707 houses listed in Census 2001, nearly 78% were used for residential purposes and additional 10% were used for mixed residential uses. Remaining houses were used for exclusively used for non-residential uses. Details of use of census houses are given in table below

Pattern of Use of Census houses Category wise in Bathinda City:    2001

Type of housing structure :

As per the census figures of 2001, major portion of city population i.e. 93% of the total households live in permanent and 4% in semi permanent structures only 3% of the total households i.e.1373 are living in temporary structures, out of which only 1% are non serviceable structures. Table below shows the distribution of residential houses by their type of structure in Bathinda city.

Distribution of Residential Houses by their Type of Structure in Bathinda City : 2001

Households by number of dwelling rooms:

The figures of 2001 census indicated that out of the total households of Bathinda city about 77 % are living in the houses having two rooms or more whereas about 21% are living in one room set and a few households are having no exclusive room. Thus maximum number of households is having at least minimum one dwelling room and this number when compared to all India Urban proportion of 35% households living in one room, shows that city has relatively better housing condition and houseless population is meager. Only 1% of the total households are in category of no exclusive room. Detail of households by number of rooms is given in table below:

Households by Number of Dwelling Rooms in Bathinda City:

Services of Housholds:

As per the census 2001 about 59% of the total households in Bathinda City had ‘tap’ as the source of the drinking water and 38% dependended on hand pump 95% of the households of the Bathinda city have access to electricity for lighting As indicated in census 2001 about 87% of the total households had bathroom facility within the house 38% and 29% of the total households had water closet and pit latrine respectively while 8% of the total households do not had latrine facility. Also in case of drainage for wastewater 41% of the total households had closed drainage while 49% are having open drainage. Besides this 10% of total households did not have drainage facility.

Slums in Bathinda:

Slums represent multiple human deprivations in urban settlements and majority of urban poor seems to reside in the slums and squatter settlements. With the industrialization, slums and slum population have multiplied, as cities have been unable to support the large number of migrants who cannot buy a house or a plot of land for their own shelter. This has been putting strain on urban resources as poor unskilled migrants with negligible income find it convenient to create a temporary shelter on government or private land without security of tenure. Generally these settlements do not have any basic civic amenities, and people live under unhygienic and unsanitary conditions. The Census of India (2001) defines slums as, “all areas notified as slums by the state/local government under any Act; and all areas recognized as slums by state/local government, which have not been formally notified as slum under any Act and a compact area of about 300 population or about 60-70 households or poorly-built congested tenements in unhygienic environment, usually with inadequate and lack of any proper sanitary and drinking water facilities.

General Characteristics of slums in Bathinda:

Bathinda has an urban population of 2, 17,256 comprising 41645 households. The slums population was 40602 comprising 7723 households, which is 18.68% of the total urban population. Average size of the households in slum was 5.13 as compared to 5.26 in non-slum areas . Bathinda slums have work participation Rate (WPR) for total (31.86%) and for male workers (48.46%). Table below shows the Socio-economic & Demographic Indicators of Slum & Non-Slum Areas in Bathinda city.

Socio-Economic & Demographic Indicators-Bathinda City

Distribution of slum population :

The city of Bathinda is the major town of Punjab state, both in terms of area and population. The industrialization of Bathinda city has resulted in the emergence of several slum colonies in the city. Emergence of slums is largely due to migration of poor population from rural areas and other smaller towns/villages of Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan etc. for employment purpose and to avail higher level of services in city. There is no formal housing for industrial workers, due to which some slums have come up in the town near the industrial areas. As per the data made available by municipal corporation Bathinda, there are 8 notified slums existing in the city, but other than, notified slums, there are some areas in the city, which can be categorized as slum areas as per the definition given by census of India. List of notified slum areas are given below:

1.Jogi Basti                                        2.   Janta Nagar
3.Subash Basti                                  4.   Harbans Naga
5.Chandser Basti                               6.   Sanjay Basti
7.Amarpura Basti                               8.   Alam Basti

It has been seen that above notified slums existing in the city are spread in all directions of city with major concentration on the west side of the Firozpur-Hissar Railway line. Railway line has been found to be the most favorable location for the slums and accordingly a large number of slums are located along the Railway line. Industrial Area has also been found to be a favorite place for proliferation of slums as most of them are near the Industrial area. Besides this other slum areas are scattered over the city in the existing residential development of the city.

Ownership pattern :

All the eight slums mentioned above of these slums are located on the private land. Looking at the location of the slums, it is seen that almost all of the slums are located in the residential areas. The existence of majority of slums on the private land can help in finding appropriate solution for the removal of the slums with the involvement of the owners of the land based on providing higher incentives and subsidies for creating appropriate shelter for the slum dwellers occupying such lands. Slum dwellers occupying the land can be treated as partners in the entire process by asking them to contribute part of the cost of the shelter. On their part, parastatal agencies can be asked to waive off all the charges and fees levied for construction, sanction of the building plans etc.