EVERY 7TH HOUSE IN SLUM: CENSUS

PROSPERITY IN SQUALOR Three of four slum houses have cell phone; every third has two-wheeler

CHANDIGARH: Of the 143 notified towns in the state, half have slums, says the latest data.

CHANDIGARH: Every seventh household in Punjab lives in a slum. Of the 143 notified towns, half have slums. These slums are distributed over 18 districts. Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) and Barnala districts have not reported any slums.

These figures have been released by the directorate of census operations, Punjab.

State census director Seema Jain said it was for the first time that data on housing stock, amenities and assets based on house- listing operations was being released for slum areas.

In the 2001 census, slum data was released only for the population enumeration phase.

The data shows that in Punjab, 18% of slum houses are being used for non-residential purposes, such as shop, office, hotel, lodge, hospital, dispensary, factory, workshop, and place of worship. This percentage is higher than the all-India figure of 15%.

ELECTRICITY

Source of lighting is available to 97% of slum houses, marginally less than that of the total urban houses at 98%.

TAP WATER

Available to 70 % of slum houses compared to 76% in urban houses in the state. Position is much better in Jalandhar and Ludhiana corporations, where the percentage of houses having tap water is 97% and 94%, respectively. In Amritsar, it is 69%.

TOILET

Within premises is available to 89% of houses in slums. In other words, 11% of the slum houses do not have toilets as compared to 7% for total urban areas. In Jalandhar, 97% of slum houses have toilets within premises; only 3% are devoid of the facility. Similarly, 95% of slum houses in Ludhiana corporation and 92% in Amritsar have toilets.

LPG

Is the main fuel used for cooking in 68% of slum houses compared to 79% for total urban houses. In Ludhiana (76%) and in Jalandhar (74%), three-fourths of the slum houses use LPG for cooking. The figure for Amritsar is 67%.

TELEVISION

At least four of every five slum houses (82%) have television. The percentage is nearly on par with the urban houses at 87%. Among the three big cities, the percentage is almost the same in Jalandhar at 87% and Amritsar at 86% while in Ludhiana 81% of slum houses have television.

COMPUTER/LAPTOP

Among slum houses, 4% have computer/laptop with internet and 7% have computer/ laptop without internet. In Ludhiana, 6% slum houses have computer/laptop with internet and 8% without internet, followed by Jalandhar, where 5% slum houses have computer/ laptop with internet and 6% without internet. In Amritsar, 3% of slum houses have computer/laptop with internet and 5% without internet.

TELEPHONE/MOBILE

Three out of every four slum houses ( 75%) have telephone as compared to 86% in case of total urban houses. The percentage reflects the total number of houses having either only telephone, only mobile or both. The percentage is higher in Jalandhar and Ludhiana corporations at 82% and 81%, respectively. In Amritsar, 71% of slum houses have telephone.

SCOOTER/MOTORCYCLE

Every third slum house has a two-wheeler. In percentage terms, 3 5% slum houses have a twowheeler as compared to 51% in urban houses. In Ludhiana corporation, 42% and in Jalandhar, 40% slum houses have a twowheeler, while in Amritsar, 33% slum houses have a two-wheeler.

CAR/JEEP/ VAN

In Punjab, 7% of slum houses have a four-wheeler as against 18% for urban houses. One in every 10 slum houses in Ludhiana corporation (9%) has a four-wheeler. The corresponding percentage for Jalandhar and Amritsar is 7% and 5%, respectively.