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Megacities Stagger India

Out-of-control urbanization threatens to drag down Indian economy for years

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted May 13, 2009 8:02 AM CDT

(Newser) – The explosive growth of India's cities is threatening to drag down the country's economy for decades to come, economists tell the Wall Street Journal. The global trend toward urbanization has gone into overdrive in India, but most cities aren't prepared to deal with the influx of migrants from the countryside, resulting in gridlock, decay, and ever-expanding slums.

Politicians have made infrastructure investment a campaign promise, but developers and dysfunctional governments often thwart plans even when funding exists. In Lucknow—where the population grows by 150,000 a year but no new sewage infrastructure projects have been completed in 6 decades—officials fear the city may become as synonymous with poverty and decay as Calcutta was decades ago. "Planning has totally failed here," says an urban-studies professor.

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A view of Dharavi, Asia's largest slum, in Mumbai, India. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)

High-rise buildings are seen in the foreground of Asia's largest slum Dharavi, in Mumbai, India. (AP Photo/Rajesh Nirgude)

A resident of Dharavi, one of the world's largest slums, waves a flag at a demonstration outside the office of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh)

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At least it's better than in the village. In the village, you work all day long in the field and don't even get two meals.
- Shanti Kashyap, a 32-year-old mother of four who moved to Lucknow from the countryside

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Megacities Stagger India