Social Distancing Near Impossible For 6.5 Crore India’s Slum Dwellers

by GoNews Desk 3 years ago Views 1907

Social Distancing Near Impossible For 6.5 Crore In
According to the World Health Organisation, the most effective measure to prevent the coronavirus contagion from spreading is maintaining distance from each other.

The Central and state governments are making efforts to implement social distancing strictly.


However, in a country like India, social distancing is not possible to a large extent because crores of people here live in slums.

According to government data, around 6.5 crore people in the country reside in densely-populated slums. 

This number is so large that if they are considered a separate nation, then it will be the world’s 23rd largest country.

Due to the dense population, the infection spreads rapidly in slums and the situation can get out of control. 

This was even witnessed in Mumbai’s Dharavi, which is Asia’s largest slum. Over here, the contagion spread among up to 1,000 people in a very short span of time. 

According to Sensex 2011, the largest number of people (1,18,48,000) in the country live in slums in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, 64 lakh 18 thousand people in West Bengal, 62.39 lakh people in Uttar Pradesh, 58 lakh people in Tamil Nadu and 56.88 lakh thousand people in Madhya Pradesh live in slums.

In some states, the number of people living in slum dwellings is very little. Among them are states like Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam and Jharkhand.

The coronavirus is an urban ailment, which has now reached far-flung villages and towns of the country.

If the contagion reaches slums, then the population there will be hit by it swiftly because in slum dwellings, several houses rely on one tap for their water needs and also use community toilets.

Latest Videos

Latest Videos

Facebook Feed