New
Delhi: The finding of a recent study by a US think tank that Delhi, not
Mumbai or Kolkata, is the largest metropolis in the country in terms of
population may probably explain why the city’s infrastructure often
seems inadequate.
According to O.P. Sharma, a co-author of
the report published by Population Reference Bureau (PRB), and a former
deputy director of India’s census operations, Delhi’s population has
been underestimated by the government and this “adversely affects
planning, policies, and the eventual development”.
Crowded
city: The bustling Nehru Place electronics market. The Capital has more
inhabitants than previously thought, a new study says
PRB
has arrived at its conclusion by using data from the population census
of 1991 and 2001, and a different definition of the concept of an urban
agglomeration than that used by the Indian census.
An urban
agglomeration comprises one or more towns, and parts of villages
contiguous to the town or towns. In Delhi’s case, parts of Haryana,
including Gurgaon and Faridabad, and Uttar Pradesh, including Ghaziabad
and Noida, would have to be included in the larger definition of the
Delhi urban agglomeration.
While India recognizes the concept
of an urban agglomeration, current norms governing population census
say that “state boundaries” cannot be crossed, said Sharma.
“This
rule has no effect upon the population size of the Kolkata urban
agglomeration and the Greater Mumbai urban agglomeration, which are
located far from their state borders. But it does affect Delhi,” he
added.
“If we apply the globally accepted definition of an
urban agglomeration, then Delhi is, as of now, India’s biggest city,”
said Sharma.
According to the 2001 census, the Delhi urban
agglomeration had a population of 12.9 million, the Greater Mumbai
urban agglomeration, 16.4 million, and the Kolkata urban agglomeration,
13.2 million.
Sharma said that if these numbers were
recalculated on the basis of the other definition of urban
agglomeration, Delhi’s population in 2001 would have been 16.2 million.
And,
assuming that the growth in population since 2001 has happened at the
same rate at which it happened every year between 1991 and 2001, the
Capital’s population today would be higher than Mumbai’s.
“In
2007, the ‘redefined’ Delhi urban agglomeration has (a population of)
21.5 million people against 19.3 million in Greater Mumbai,” he said.
Sharma
added that Delhi’s problem was unique because it shared boundaries with
two states, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Apart from Bangalore, which
shares a boundary with Tamil Nadu, almost no other Indian state capital
abuts other states.
At least part of the urban population in
Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Noida consume Delhi’s resources,
including roads, power, water and parking on a daily basis. Sharma’s
contention is that the insular definition of the Delhi urban
agglomeration prevents planners from accounting for this.
However,
the National Capital Region (NCR) Planning Board, created in 1985 to
prepare and coordinate regional plans within NCR, refutes his. The
board was set up to plan for the larger area of Delhi and its
environs—including those that are in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and
Rajasthan.
“We go by census figures. But our planning (to
understand the pressure on Delhi’s resources) is not inadequate. While
planning, we take care of the population coming in from the
neighbouring towns,” said J.N. Barman, joint director (regional
planning), NCR Planning Board.
India’s former urban
development secretary Anil Baijal, currently an adviser to
infrastructure finance firm IDFC Ltd, said that population estimates in
the past have “consistently been awry”, and that there is a need to
look beyond the numbers.
“The truth is every (city’s) master
plan has somewhat underestimated projected population for the period
they (the master plans) were valid for. And even to the extent that
they were correct, we haven’t provided resources, mostly because of a
lack of resources or the affordability...,” he added.
Rahul Chandran contributed to this story.
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