Short  Description  Of  Projects

ENVIRONMENT  & LIVING STANDARDS OF THE PEOPLE LIVING IN GANGAPURAM AREA

Submitted By:                    

                                        Aarti Singh 98002

                                                  Sanyam Dangayach 98332

                                                   Shilpi Banka 98353

Course Instructor:            Dr. Amit Ray

Project Guide:                  Prof. M R Madhav

PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT

After deciding of Gangapuram as  main area of focus, we intended to collect information about the environmental problems of the Gangapuram area as well as social values and living standards of the people of Gangapuram.  Once we had conducted our preliminary survey in the area, it came to our knowledge that there weren't any major hazards to the environment directly but the living conditions and behavioral tendencies of the people of the area were causing general degradation of environment. Thus our project purpose finally evolved to be the study of environmental problems due to living conditions of the people in these settlements and feasible solutions to improve them.

CONCLUSION

The Gangapuram slum area settled as a result of shifting of River Ganga from its original course due to meandering. It is thus situated on the flood plain area of the river an area, which rightfully belongs to the river. It is therefore, but natural that the river waters inundate the area during the monsoons. Now however, with the construction of the barrage and the reservoir, this problem is expected to be over.

The people of Gangapuram are no doubt, living in subhuman conditions. But the crux of the problem is that Gangapuram is an illegal and unauthorized settlement. Due to this reason, the Government is unwilling to extend any municipal or medical facilities to this area. Also, there are no Non Governmental Organizations working in the area. Poverty is widespread.

The Government may consider relocating and rehabilitating the entire colony and its inhabitants. But previous experiences tell that State sponsored slum development and slum relocation often disrupts the smooth social fabric. Before initiating any such activity, the local leaders need to be consulted and the slum to be affected has to be thoroughly studied.

Therefore, the only option available to these people for improving their living conditions is to form self-help groups and to work collectively for the betterment of the

area. If the solutions suggested in the project are implemented, then it will go a long way

in improving the living standards of the people here.

However, the implementation also has to be carefully worked out. Generally in a society, it is seen that the women are more open to new ideas than men. Therefore, for initiating any developmental measures, the women need to be educated about the usefulness of them. Then gradually, a consensus needs to be built amongst the people living there about the implement ability and workability of the developmental measures.