STUDY ON PROBLEMS OF SLUMS IN KHULNA

STUDY ON PROBLEMS OF SLUMS IN KHULNA
Being one of the poorest countries of the world Bangladesh is overwhelmed with the problems of slums and squatter settlements. The rapid increase in urban population has made a tremendous claim on the already over utilized civic facilities and has already created a state of disequilibrium in the urban environment. The growth of urban population in this country is very fast and the present housing stock is not enough to support all the people. This results the widespread growth of slums and squatter settlements in the urban areas that occupies land and also affects the adjacent residential areas. The living conditions as well as the environment in slums are miserable because of the absence of different basic services necessary for decent living in the urban area.

Here, water supply, sanitation, drainage, solid waste management and health facilities provided by Khulna City Corporation (KCC) are the selected services for this study purpose. The present study is an attempt to reveal the condition or the accessibility of the selected basic services of the slum dwellers. For this it has considered Rupsha slum of Khulna city. This study also finds out problems of the slum dwellers for the access to these selected basic services with addition to their level of satisfaction. The study observed that slum dwellers of the study area have very limited access to these services and they are living in an unhygienic environment for a long time. These services are not sufficient for the slum dwellers. But, KCC being a local authority is responsible to provide adequate services to the urbanities and also provide maintenance of such services. The sufferings from several diseases are very common in the slums and these are mainly due to inadequacy of the basic services. This study tries to elaborate the procedure for improving urban services delivery for environmental management. Finally it has given some recommendation to improve the quality of services for the sustainable development of the living condition of the slum dwellers. Moreover proper steps should be taken to minimize the problem faced by the slum dwellers both by the GOs and NGOs.