About 40 mn people live in slums: Official "Our cities are
characterized by widespread poverty, poor urban infrastructure
and environmental degradation with less than 60 per cent of the
households having sanitation facilities," Urban Development
Secretary M Ramachandran said. "There are about 40 million
people estimated to live in slums," he added. India has the
second largest urban system in the world with 310 million people
and 5,161 cities and towns. Given the current trends, India's
urban population is estimated to reach 575 million by 2030.
Ramachandran was addressing a seminar on "Developing harmonious
and sustainable cities in India for a better urban future".
Advocating for the development of urban infrastructure,
Ramachandran said lack of development in cities is affecting the
economic growth. "Poor urban development and weak infrastructure
are constraining potential local and national economic growth,"
he said and added, "We realise the need for strong focus and
accelerated investment in infrastruct