XAVIER SCHOOL OF HUMAN SETTLEMENTS

REPORT SUBMISSION FOR

SETTLEMENT STRUCTURES & SYSTEM STUDIOS

UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPMENT OF
GUWAHATI

SUBMITTED BY:
ABHIPSA MALLICK
Roll No - UMG19001
MBA – UMG
BATCH OF 2019 - 21
 CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION 4
1.1 LOCATION IN INDIA MAP 4
1.3 FOCUS AREA OF THE REPORT 5

2. SETTLEMENT STRUCTURE 6
2.1 CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES 6
2.2 REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY 8

3. POPULATION 16
3.1 GROWTH RATE: 16
3.2 CENSUS 2011 17

4. GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE 19

4.1 GUWAHATI METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: 19

4.2 GUWAHATI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION 20

5. URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE 23
5.1 WATER SUPPLY: 23
5.2 SEWERAGE: 24
5.3 DRAINAGE: 25
5.4 TRANSPORTATION: 26
5.5 POWER: 27
5.6 HEALTH CARE: 30
5.7 EDUCATION: 31
5.8 RECREATION: 33
5.9 SAFETY: 35

6. ECONOMIC ISSUES 37
6.1 MAIN ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES: 37
6.2 EMPLOYMENT CHARACTERISTICS: 38
6.3 PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE INVOLVED IN INFORMAL ACTIVITY: 39

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 41
7.1 AIR QUALITY: 41
7.2 WATER QUALITY: 42
7.4 SOLID WASTE: 42
7.5 SWACHH BHARAT MISSION FINDINGS: 43

8. SOCIAL ISSUES 44
8.1 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES AS PER CENSUS: 44
8.3 HOUSING: 45

9. MAJOR DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES 46

SWACHH BHARAT MISSION: 46
AUDIMA: 47
PRADHAN MANTRI AWAS YOJNA: 47
AMRUT: 48

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NATIONAL URBAN LIVELIHOODS MISSION: 49
SOLAR CITY GUWAHATI: 49
NATIONAL SLUM DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: 50

BIBLIOGRAPHY 51

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 TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 Guwahati in India Map.…………………………………………………4
Figure 2.2.1 Map of Regional Connectivity.………………………………………8
Figure 2.2.2 LGBI Airport…………………………………………………………...9
Figure 2.2.3 Guwahati Station…………....………………………………………10
Figure 2.3.1 Built-up Area of Guwahati….………………………………………12
Figure 2.3.2 Growth Rate………………....………………………………………13
Figure 2.4.1 Land-Use map of Guwahati..………………………………………15
Figure 3.1.1 Growth Rate………………....………………………………………17
Figure 4.1.1 Structure of GMDA………….………………………………………20
Figure 4.2.1 Structure of GMC……………………………………………………21
Figure 4.2.2 Ward map of Guwahati…….………………………………………22
Figure 5.1.1 Map of Water Supply……….………………………………………23
Figure 5.2.1 Sewerage map of Guwahati….……………………………………24
Figure 5.3.1 Drainage map of Guwahati...………………………………………25
Figure 5.3.2 Flood Hazard Zone Guwahati..……………………………………26
Figure 5.5.1 Power distribution map……..………………………………………27
Figure 5.5.2 Power Requirement………...………………………………………28
Figure 5.6.1 Healthcare facility…………...………………………………………29
Figure 5.7.1 Educational facility in Guwahati...…………………………………30
Figure 5.8.1 Recreational Area in Guwahati….…………………………………32
Figure 5.8.2 Hill/Hillocks of Guwahati…....………………………………………32
Figure 5.9.1 Safety facility in Guwahati….………………………………………34
Figure 5.9.2 Risk map of Guwahati..…….………………………………………35
Figure 7.1.1 Air Quality..………………………..…………………………………40

TABLE OF TABLES

Table 2.2.1 Ferry Service Brahmaputra…………………………………………11
Table 2.3.1 Growth Rate…………………………………………………………..13
Table 3.1.1 Growth of Population………………………………………………...16
Table 3.2.1 Population…………………………………………………………….18
Table 3.2.2 Work Participation……………………………………………………18
Table 5.6.1 No. Of Hospitals and Nursing Homes……………………………..29
Table 5.6.2 No. Of hospital beds in GMA……………………………………….30
Table 5.7.1 Educational facility w.r.t Population………………………………..31
Table 5.7.2 Higher education……………………………………………………..31
Table 5.8.1 forest cover…………………………………………………………...33
Table 6.2.1 Employment Characteristic…………………………………………37
Table 6.2.2 Employment Indicators………………………………………………38
Table 6.3.1 Economic Indicators…………………………………………………39
Table 8.1.1 Religious Communities……………………………………………...43
Table 8.3.2 Slums according to years…………………………………………...45

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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Location in India Map

Figure 1.1 Guwahati in India Map

1.2 Background:

Guwahati meaning "areca nut marketplace" in Assamese was earlier called, as "Gauhati" is
the largest city in the Indian state of Assam. It is also the largest urban area in the
Northeast part of India. Guwahati is the major riverine port in the northeast and is situated
in the southern bank of the river Brahmaputra. It is also known as the gateway to North-
East India.
(Renu Desai)

The ancient history of Guwahati talks about the beginning of the city and how it flourished
under all the phases. Ancient cities of Pragjyotishpura and Durjaya were the capitals of the
ancient region of Kamrupa. During that period, the states saw the building of various
temples, the most important and renowned are: Kamakhya and Umananda. With a high
number of temples in and around Kamrupa, it gained the title of "City of Temples".
According to mythology, Kamakhya temple is one of the Shakti Pitha, which makes it the
center of attraction in Guwahati, and thus increases the tourist's footfall in Assam.
Kamakhya is situated in Nilachal hill and is an important temple with tantric and Vajrayana
Buddhism.

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 According to Mahabharat, this region of Guwahati was one of the ancient cities of Asia
under the rule of Kings Narakasura and Bhgadatta. History also tells us that Mughals
invaded Assam almost 7 times.

Coming to the medieval period, Guwahati came under Borphukan, which was the civil-
military hub appointed by the Ahom, kings, the then rulers of Assam.

The modern history of Guwahati tells us that Assam was invaded by the Mughals 17 times.
But the Ahom rulers defeated the Mughals. The most important battles in this period were
the Battle of Itakhuli and the Battle of Saraighat.

After this phase, the city was under Burmese rule from 1817-1826. This followed the Anglo-
Burmese war and then the city came under the British Empire. Assam as in whole played a
very important role during the fight of independence.
(Wikipedia)

1.3 Focus Area of the Report

The report primarily talks about the city of Guwahati. I have formed a detailed study of the
city concerning various topics:

• Settlement structure
• Population
• Governance Structure
• Urban Infrastructure
• Economic issues
• Environmental issues
• Social issues
• Major development initiatives

So, all these topics are thoroughly studied and a critical analysis is provided. The
development of each sub-topic throughout the time and the proposed plan for further
development are studied and analyzed upon. The report is a complete handbook of my
knowledge of the city and the various aspects inculcated in it.

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2. SETTLEMENT STRUCTURE

2.1 Characteristic Features

Although being a medium sized city ranking around at 50th position (in terms of
population) in India, city's quality of life is relatively higher. A recent survey (2006) by a
preferred Indian magazine has graded Guwahati at 17th among all the foremost and
medium sized Indian cities. The city provides competitive residential and
working environments with stunning landscapes, pleasant climates, modern shopping
areas, residences and bungalows and significantly smart social
infrastructure. However infrastructure within the city needs in depth attention, which
might increase and revolutionize city's name, investment surroundings and overall
growth pattern. Major investments in infrastructure are being planned within
the town covering several aspects of utility and transport infrastructures
with monetary help from Assam Development Bank (ADB).

The average elevation of the plain area of Guwahati is 54.17 meter higher than the
mean water level. The low-lying areas in the type of swamps, marshes etc., have
elevations starting from 45 meters to 49 meters. There are variety of hills and
hillocks within the study area (fig a pair of.4). Of all the hills, the Buragosain Parbat in
the east has the best elevation marked at 426 meter and also the isolated hill known
as the Sarania lies within the northern central half (near town core) with an elevation of
173.4 meters on top of the mean water level. Between these 2 relief
entities there's variety of hills and hillocks, viz. the Nilachal hills (293m), Sila Pahar
(220m), Fatasil hill (292m), Khurguli hill (216m), Chunsali Pahar (215m), Narangi hill
(240m), Japorigog hill (277m), Amchang Pahar (202m), Narakasur hill (267m),
Sonaiguli hill (102m), and Jalukbari hill (168m).
(Shodhganga)

There are many low-lying areas and beels inside town. The Deepar Beel in the south-
western half forms the key one. in the extreme north- east corner of
the greater Guwahati area there lie many little beels just like the Raja Beel, Ghuguli
Beel, Hahsara Beel, Susuki Beel, Pata Beel and Pitni Beel. Within the east there lie the
Damal Beel, Silsako Beel and Tepar Beel and within the central half the beels like
Borsola and Sarusola are gift. The plain areas of larger Guwahati can be divided
into totally different characteristic plains like (1) The Beltola plain within the east
extends for fifteen metric linear unit from north - east to south west with a
median breadth of concerning four metric linear unit, (2) The Guwahati plain within
the Central half and (3) The Jalukbari-Azara plain within the west.

The greater Guwahati area being a region of North- east India and more so of
the Brahmaputra River valley falls underneath the influence of the region’s monsoonal
climates.
While the physiographic controls and orographic structures of the region have their
macro effects on the climate of area under study, local topographical factors
have additionally their impact on the micro variation in the climates of the area. The
area lies under the characteristic humid meso- thermal climatical condition of

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 North east India (Barthakur, 1986). A classification of this macro pattern of weather
conditions reveals the climatically regions like,
1. The region of cold-humid monsoon climate being characterized in
the frontier mountainous region having elevation over 2000 m,

2. The region of wet sub-tropical monsoon climate covering southern Arunachal,

western Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram,

3. The region having the influence of wet mesothermal monsoon climate

with serious monsoon showers within the Brahmaputra River valley, Meghalaya, the
Barak vale and Tripura.

4. The areas of meso-thermal subtropics monsoon climate occurring in and round

the stations like Cherrapunji and Mausinram that record the best rain in the world (more
than 1000cm annually).

On the western bank of Jorpukhuri (Jor means twin in Assamese), Jorpukhri (meaning twin
tanks) is the Ugra Tara Temple, dedicated to a form of the Hindu/Buddhist goddesses Tara
(Devi). Guwahati Zoo is one of its kinds in India. Major attraction is the one homed
rhinoceros. Guwahati is also located centrally to many of the regional tourist destinations
and the city provides basic communication services and tours to access these.
Few of these are—

Kaziranga National Park - 200 km east, famous for one homed rhinoceros.

Pobitara Wildlife Sanctuary - 60 km east.

Shillong—100 km south, a beautiful hill station and the capital city of

Meghalaya surrounded by the forests.

Tawang—200 km north, a famous Buddhist monastery in the snow-clad

Arunachal- Himalaya.

Manas/Manah National Park—150 km west, a beautiful wildlife sanctuary in the foothills of

Himalaya.

It is one of the 98 Indian cities under the Smart City project.

(Shodhganga, Physical Background)

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2.2 Regional Connectivity

Figure 1.2.1 Map of Regional Connectivity

Connectivity is a linchpin of regional economic cooperation and integration – and has

become a major priority of any area and its development. The regional economic growth is
directly proportion to the development of regional connectivity and how the area is well
connected to the other parts of the world.

Guwahati is the biggest urban area in the North Eastern region of India and hence has
developed road, rail and air connectivity with the rest of the country.
(Wikipedia)

AIR

Guwahati has an International airport, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport that
is located in Borjhar, about 20 kms west from the heart of the city. It is well connected with
all major domestic and international airlines. LGB International Airport is the 11th busiest
airport in India in total passenger traffic. 2018-2019 saw a footfall of about 5.7 million
passenger, which is 23% more than the last decade. The airport is managed by the Airports
Authority of India and also serves as a base for Indian Air Force.

The terminal building of the airport can handle a maximum of 850 arrival/departure
passengers in one hour. As of now the airport has been privatized and is under the lease
for 50 years to Adani Group.

Daily and weekly flights are available to various Indian cities like: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,

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 Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Kochi. Top international
destinations are: Singapore, Bangkok, Dhaka, Paro, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur and
Yangon.

Figure 2.2.2 LGBI Airport 1

The airport is well connected to the rest of the city; the Assam State Transport Corporation
(ASTC) operates the air-conditioned Volvo bus services from Paltan Bazar, Guwahati
Railway Station and the Rupnath Brahma ISBT. There are cabs at ones service as well
which is easily accessible. Ride aggregator services like Uber and Ola also provide services.

RAILWAYS

Guwahati railway station is centrally located in Paltan Bazaar. The city and the northeastern
regions fall under the Northeast Frontier Railway Zone of the Indian Railways. The head
quarter if NFR Zone is in Maligaon.

The station lies along the Barauni-Guwahati Line and Guwahati-Lumding section. It is also
rated as A1 category under Lumding railway division. There are three other railway stations
in the city, namely:
§ Kamakhya Junction- passenger and good services
§ New Guwahati Junction- good services
§ Azara Railway Station- good services

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Figure 2.2.3 Guwahati Station 1

The Kamakhya junction in Maligaon is primarily used to reduce traffic in Guwahati junction.
New major trains run only from Kamakhya junction. There are regular trains connecting to
and from other major cities; Rajdhani Express, Poorvottar Sampark Kranti Express,
Brahmaputra Mail, Kamrup Express, Northeast Express, Saraighat Express and Garib Rath
are some major examples.
(GMDA, 2009)

Fact:

§ An ISO Certified Station, for its clean and green environment throughout station
premises.
§ The first railway station to run entirely on solar power.

ROAD

Guwahati is primarily under the junction of National Highway 31, 37 and 40. NH 31 connects
the city with rest of the country in the west and NH 37 and 40 connect it with other
Northeastern states like Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, etc.

The length of the road within the city is 218 kms. Various other highways that connect
Guwahati are:

§ NH 27 – West Bengal, Bihar

§ NH 17 – Sevoke to Jalukbari
§ NH 15 – Tezpur, Jorhat, Dibrugarh in Upper Assam and Nagaland

Guwahati has a well-developed public transportation. The state owned Assam State Urban
Transport Corporation, a subsidiary of ASTC and private busses provide services in the city
and its periphery.

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WATER
(Assam, 2019)

With 15 National Waterways (NW), Assam has nearly 10% of cumulative navigable length of
all 111 NWs in India. The Inland Water Transport services started in 1958 in the state is
immensely popular despite the improvement in road and railway transportation.

The Inland Water Transport Department has it’s headquarter at Pandu port in Guwahati.
Basically, the waterways transport is used in transporting bulk goods and cargo and also for
tourism. Ferry services are available for people to travel to and fro from different parts along
the Brahmaputra to the designated Pandu port.

Official data shows that, Guwahati IWT ferried almost 45,54,592 passengers and 13,862
metric tonnes of goods in 2016. The figures keep increasing with time. The ferry services
provided are:

§ Guwahati - Kirakara
§ Guwahati - Moumari
§ Sunsali - Kurua Guwahati
§ Guwahati - Kurua
§ Guwahati - Rajaduar
§ Guwahati - Madhyamkhanda
§ Guwahati - North Guwahati
§ Guwahati - Kachamari
§ Pandu - Amingaon
§ Baralimari - Guwahati

Table 2.2.1 Ferry Service Brahmaputra 1

The water transport service starts from 8 am and ends at 6:45 pm.

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2.3 Growth Direction:

Guwahati lies between:

North- Brahmaputra river
South- Shillong Plateau
East- Amchang Wildlife Sanctuary
West- LGB airport

The tributary of Brahmaputra, Bharalu flows along with the heart of the city and a
permanent freshwater lake Dipor Bil flows along the south-west of the city. This lake is
predominating only during the monsoon. This lake then again flows drains into the
Brahmaputra.
(B, 2016)

Figure 2.3.1 Built-up Area of Guwahati 1

Dispur is the state capital and is situated in the circuit city region in Guwahati itself. Thus
Guwahati is the seat of the government of Assam. The urban form of the city radiates from
the central core with growth corridors extending from South, East, and West. The core area
of the city is the old city, which basically covers the areas under Pan Bazaar, Paltan
Bazaar, Fancy Bazaar, and Uzan Bazaar. These form the basic commercial sector of
Guwahati city. (Wikipedia)
The most important city corridor is formed along the Guwahati-Shillong road towards the
south (15km), which also forms the central commercial zone of the city. This area is also
densely populated with residences in the inner part. The capital of Assam, i.e., Dispur is
also located along this corridor. The southern city center of Guwahati, Ganeshguri has also
grown due to this corridor with the residential area growing towards the south of this region.
This growth has happened during the past few decades only.

The west side corridor (30km) contains the rail-road network which connects Guwahati to
other parts of India. It also links the residential and historically important part of the city. It
then separates to Saraighat Bridge which is a link to the Northern part of Guwahati and also
LGB International Airport continuing on the west.

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 The east corridor (15km) connects Noonmati and Narengi and has been the recent area of
residential development.

During the Ahom rules, Guwahati's municipality covered an area of 6.4km, which was
around present Panbazaar, Fancy Bazaar, and Uzan Bazaar. This was the condition for
almost about 100 years. After that, the municipal area rose to 14.24 km and this happened
in 1948. Suddenly in 1974, the area again rose to 216.09km after shifting the capital of
Assam from Shillong to Guwahati.

The general climatic condition of Guwahati is humid subtropical, just a little different from a
tropical savanna climate. The average temperature of the city is calculated to be about 22-
degree Celsius.

Figure 2.3.2 Growth Rate 1

Guwahati has a low level of urbanization in compared to the other cities. 14.1 percent of the
state's population was living in urban areas in 2011, which is an increase from 12.9 percent
in 2011. Guwahati is the most urbanized in the state of Assam, the maximum urbanized
population is from in and around Guwahati.
(Renu Desai, City Profile: Guwahati, 2014)

Table 2.3.1 Growth Rate

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2.4 Landuse:

The term Landuse’ is related to the human action or economic functions related to a
selected piece of land per Clawson, 1965, land use refers to man's
activities ashore that are directly associated with the land (ARSAC. 2004). The land use
pattern of a city changes with time and reflects the degree of urbanization that has
taken place. Guwahati has full-fledged rapid urbanization within
the last 3 decades resulting in unscientific use of land and haphazard growth.

The tremendous growth of population in recent years has conjointly further a lot
of drawback to the y’s surroundings. The total area of Guwahati Municipal Corporation
is 216.79 sq. kilometers and therefore the program for bigger Guwahati covers a
section of 261.77 sq. kilometer or roughly 262 km square' nowadays the town
spreads regarding ten km within the North - South direction and twenty seven
kilometer within the East - West direction (Hazarika, 2001).
(Shodhganga, Land Use Pattern)

On the other hand the Assam Remote Sensing Application Centre has identified an
area of 354 sq. metric linear units in 2002, for greater Guwahati, on the basis of
satellite information.

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Figure 2.4.1 Land-Use map of Guwahati 1

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3. POPULATION
3.1 Growth Rate:

The population of Guwahati was 8,394 in 1891, which crossed the one-lakh limit in 1961.
The population of Guwahati Municipal Corporation Area in 2001 was 809,895. The
following table provides the growth of population in Guwahati and its constituent areas.

Growth of Population in Guwahati from 1921 to 2001:

YEAR GMCA DECADAL GMA DECADAL

GROWTH (%) GROWTH (%)
1921 16,480
1931 21,797
1941 29,594
1951 43,615 97,389
1961 100,707 130.90 199,482 104.83
1971 123,783 22.91 293,219 46.99
1981* 268,945 117.27 435,280 48.45
1991 584,342 117.27 646,169 48.45
2001 809,895 38.60 890,773 37.85
Table 3.1.1 Growth of Population 1

*No census was conducted in Guwahati in 1981. The 1981 population figures have been
extrapolated on the basis of the 1971-1991 CAGR.

Guwahati witnessed a really high rate of growth in the period from 1971 to 1991; 8.1 per
cent p.a., that is probably going on account of the city turning into Assam’s capital in 1972,
migration from rural Assam and different states of the North-East region of India, and
additionally the cross-border five migration from East Pakistan after the latter’s formation in
1972.
(2011)

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Figure 3.1.1 Growth Rate

Since then, GMC area has registered slowing down of population growth rate, from 3.3 per
cent p.a. in 1991-2001 period and 1.8 per cent p.a. in 2001-11 period. In fact, in the last
decade the GMC area has full-fledged a growth rate that's even less than that of Assam’s
urban population growth rate of 2.5 per cent p.a. The GMA areas have registered a
population growth that's even lower than that of GMC rate in 2001-11. This implies that the
migration rate to the city has stalled in the decade of 2001-11 because of either decline in
migrants from different Northeast states and rural Assam or decline from cross-border
migration or both. Thus, contrary to the expectation, the population of Guwahati city and its
metropolitan region has stabilized since 2001 thanks to economic and geo-political reasons.

3.2 Census 2011

Guwahati is the capital city of Assam, which is among the states with low level of
urbanisation. 14.1 per cent of the state’s population was living in urban areas in 2011,
which is an increase from 12.9 per cent in 2001 and 11.1 per cent in 1991. The urbanisation
rate (rate of urban population growth) for Assam for the decade of 1991-2001 was 3.3 per
cent p.a, which was higher than that of India (of 2.8 per cent p.a.). But, in the last decade,
that is, 2001-11, the urbanisation rate slowed down to 2.5 per cent p.a., which is lower than
that of India (of 2.8 per cent p.a.).
(2011)

According to the 2011 census, Guwahati municipal area and Guwahati Metropolitan Area
(GMA) had a population of 963,429 and 968,549, respectively (Table 1). The municipal
area is under the jurisdiction of the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) whose limits
were last extended in 1991 to cover an area of 216.79 sq.km. The GMA covers about 262
sq.km. and is under the jurisdiction of the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority
(GMDA).
Area in sq km: 219.06

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No.of households: 230,769

Guwahati Municipal Area - 963,429

Guwahati Metropolitan Area - 968,549

Total Population Male Female

Population 962,334 498,450 463,884
Population (age 90,636 46,749 43,887
0-6)
Literates 797,613 425,837 371,776
ST Population 43,391 22,085 21,306
SC Population 55,896 28,725 27,171
Table 3.2.1 Population

Work Participation according to the sector of job:

SECTOR MALE FEMALE

Primary 12.5% 16.3%

Secondary 24.1% 0.9%

Tertiary 63.4% 82.8%

Table 3.2.2 Work Participation

Literacy Rate: 91.4%

Slum Population: 2.69%
Density of Population: 4370

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 4. GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

4.1 Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority:

The Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) was established in 1992 as
per Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority Act 1985 (amended). It replaced the
erstwhile Guwahati Development Authority established in 1962 under the city and
Country-planning Act, 1959 (amended). in order to make sure planned development of
the Metropolitan area , GMDA has adopted the master
plan and zoning laws prepared by the city and Country planning Department, Govt. of
Assam, in 1992 and is currently in the process of preparing a brand new master
plan and zoning rules.

As per section 126 of the GMDA Act, with the constitution of this Authority, the relevant
section of the GMC Act, 1969 (Assam Act-1 of 1973), Assam city and Country planning
Act, 1959 (Assam Act-I of 1960), Assam Municipal Act, 1956 (Assam Act-IV of 1957)
and Assam panchayat Act 1972 stop to work within the territorial limit of Guwahati
Metropolitan space.
(Guwahati Metropolitian Development Authority)

Vision:

§ Enforcement and execution of the Guwahati Master Plan

§ Formulation and execution of schemes for the planned development of Guwahati

Metropolitan Area

§ Co-ordination and supervision of the execution of such plans and schemes with the
object of securing proper living and sanitary conditions

§ Conservation and promotion of the public health, safety and general welfare of the
people living in the GMA

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Figure 4.1.1 Structure of GMDA 1

GMDA's jurisdiction extends over an area of 262 sq.km. covering the entire Guwhati
Municipal Corporation area, entire North Guwahati Town Committee area and some
revenue villages of Silasundari Ghopa Mouza, Pub Barsar Mouza, Dakhin Rani Mouza,
Ramcharani Mouza, Beltola Mouza.

Mission:

§ Planning: Preparation of Master Plan and Zoning Regulation.

§ Development: Preparation and execution of development schemes. To carry out
or cause to be carried out such works as are contemplated in the Master Plan.
§ Regulation and Control: To regulate and control the development though
statutory plans and other measures.
§ Co-ordination: To co-ordinate development activities of other public agencies
operating within Guwahati Metropolitan Area.

4.2 Guwahati Municipal Corporation

Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) is the urban local body responsible for governing,
developing and managing Guwahati. It administers an area of 216.79 km² of Guwahati
city. The entire GMC area is divided into 31 municipal wards and each municipal ward is
further divided into 2, 3 or 4 Area Sabhas. Presently, there are 90 Area Sabhas. GMC
works under Guwahati Development Department, Assam.
(Government of Assam)

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Figure 4.2.1 Structure of GMC 1

Mission:

§ GMC administers through various branches/sections/cells located at its different
offices situated mainly at various places of Guwahati city. The municipal services
provided by GMC are
§ Property assessment/reassessment/mutation

§ Development and maintenance of roads/drains

§ Issue and renewal of trade license

§ Development and maintenance of municipal markets

§ Construction and maintenance of Public Toilets/e-Toilets

§ Building permission

§ Development and allotment of parking slots

§ Development and maintenance of parks and ponds

§ Hoarding and advertisement

§ Issue of Birth/Death certificates

§ Installation and maintenance of Street Lights

§ Cesspool emptier

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§ Construction and maintenance of crematorium

§ Implementation of different central/state Government programmes schemes and

projects

§ Water supply with metered/non-metered connection. etc

§ For property tax and trade licence purposes, the corporation area is divided into six
revenue zones.

§ For Conservancy and Public works, the corporation area is divided into six
engineering divisions

§ There are over 2 lakh-assessed holdings and about 30,000 water connections to
different commercial and residential households.

Figure 4.2.2 Ward map of Guwahati
(Government of Assam)

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 5. URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE
(GMDA, Physican Infrastructure, 2009)

5.1 Water Supply:

Figure 5.1.1 Map of Water Supply

Guwahati Municipal Corporation has three water supply treatment plants at Panbazar,
Satpukhuri and Kamakhya. Water is pumped from river Brahmaputra to these plants and
after processing in the plant water is pumped to different reservoirs located at hilltops and
then distributed to the consumers by gravity main. Some areas are supplied through
direct pumping also. Beside these plants there are 9 (nine) deep tube wells at different
locations. Installed capacity and present running capacity of each plant are as indicated
below. (Chanda, 2018)

GMC water works wing has 31,000 water supply connections across Guwahati providing
water to a population of 3 lakhs.
This water supply system was commissioned in 1964. The system covers areas like Pan
Bazar, Fancy Bazar, Bharalumukh, Shantipur, Aathgaon, Kumarpara, Chatribari, Paltan
Bazar, Rehabari, Ulubari, Rajgarh, Lachit Nagar, Pub Sarania, Gandhi Basti, Islampur, B
Baruah Road, Solapara, Fatasil Ambari, Kalapahar, some parts of Lal Ganesh, Uzan Bazar,
Dighalipukhuri, Lamb Road, Chenikuthi, Kharguli, Nabagraha, Azadpur, Nizarapar
(Chandmari), Milanpur, Krishna Nagar, some parts of Government Press Road, some parts
of Anuradha Cinema area, Kamakhya town area, Maligaon and Pandu.

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There are around 25 water reservoirs located in these areas distributing water to 31,000
households.
The four new GMDA water supply projects also claim that all the above mentioned areas
will be covered under the new projects raising a question about what will happen to the
existing GMC water supply network.

5.2 Sewerage:

Figure 5.2.1 Sewerage map of Guwahati

Guwahati is battling several water contamination related woes thereby polluting the lifeline
of Assam - the Brahmaputra River - on a regular basis. This is mainly due to lack of a
scientific sewage treatment plant in the city.
The Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) had suggested building a sewage treatment
plant in the city way back in 2008, which has seen no progress so far.
The city has a network of natural drainage system that carries the sewage of the entire city
which ultimately falls untreated at two points – Bharalumukh and Chandrapur – on the
Brahmaputra River. One such natural drain is the Bahini River that originates in
Meghalaya's Khasi Hills, enters Guwahati on its south-eastern side and flows through
densely populated areas like Basistha, Rukminigaon, Mathura Nagar, Dispur, Ganeshguri
and along the RG Baruah Road and then meets a major water channel near the state zoo
becoming the Bharalu River and joining the Red River (Brahmaputra) at Bharalumukh.
Another major water stream originates from Deepor Beel and passing along the National
Highway falls into the Silsako Beel and then ultimately falls into the Brahmaputra at the

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 Chandrapur area.
(Sengupta, 2017)

5.3 Drainage:

Figure 5.3.1 Drainage map of Guwahati

With the exception of little area of the city where town and Country planning, Government of
Assam have enforced drainage schemes, nowhere among the Guwahati Metropolitan area
any planned drainage system is existing. The Guwahati Municipal Corporation area has got
some roadside tiny drains, that aren't economical enough to supply relief to the
neighborhood.

With the studies mentioned above with little implementation and with encroachments
alongside drains, inadequate section of the exit channels, over-flooding of the local drains,
de-silting of hills, inadequate section of the exit channel, existence of low-lying ditches
within the local drains pattern having inadequate banks lead to frequent over flooding of the
neighboring areas because of inefficient carrying capability. This endangers the health and
property of the area. This is often more so within the corporation area wherever density of
population is high and areas where buildings are constructed in low-lying areas blocking the
natural drainage courses. The drainage scenario is such that several areas of the city stay
water logged throughout the rainy months.

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Figure 5.3.2 Flood Hazard Zone Guwahati

5.4 Transportation:

Roads

Guwahati is at the junction of National highway thirty one, National highway 37 and
National highway 40. National highway 31 connects Guwahati with rest of the country in
the west, whereas different National and State Highways connect Guwahati city with north-
eastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal
Pradesh.

Airways

Guwahati aerodrome is the largest and also the busiest airport in this region, that connects
Guwahati to major cities within the country likewise as to other major cities in Assam and
also the northeastern region. Guwahati airport is converted into an international airport.

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 Waterways

Guwahati once was well connected to Calcutta by a daily steamer service through river
Brahmaputra. This route has been nearly closed once partition of the country.

Railways

A broad gauge railway line connects Guwahati with major parts of India. Another railway
line connects Guwahati to Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and to different places of northeastern
states.

5.5 Power:

Assam Power Distribution Company restricted (APDCL) is remitted to provide electricity to

all customers of the state of Assam. The company has made all out endeavor to enhance
power supply position of the state and is currently supplying power to the extent of 95th to
100% during Off- peak hours and to 90 to 95 that during Peak (evening) hours. However,
the corporate expresses its regret to its honored customers for infrequent power shortage
situation faced thanks to reasons beyond the cheap control of the corporate. It’s a fact that
there has been a steep increase of demand for power during the last 3-4 years within the
state. In Guwahati alone in the past 5 years, there has been a threefold increase in demand
for power. Till a couple of years back, solely 16 PF rural households were electrified, that
has currently increased to concerning 50%; however as per the National Electricity Policy,
steps are undertaken to electrify each unit of Assam by the year 2019. As such, there has
been a great increase in demand for power within the rural additionally as urban areas in
recent times.

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Figure 5.5.1 Power distribution map

There is a niche of nearly 48 MVA (as per UDPFI guide lines for urban development)
between the power demand and the availability at this time in Guwahati city. The overall
demand is 1100 MVA by 2012 as per ASEB. It’s projected to make 3 extra Main Receiving
Grid Stations (132/11 kV) of capability 150 MVA, where power are going to be obtained
from Assam State Electricity Board and different power plants of central sector. The
tentative locations of grid stations are shown in Map 6.4. Power will additional be
transmitted to numerous sector substations (33/11 kV). Considering maximum capability of
each such station as 20 MVA, 23 such sub-stations would be needed with 4 and 19
numbers coming up in 1st and last three phases respectively. Therefore, a complete of 23
sub-stations is needed to be built in or around the city to fulfill the power demand of the city
by 2025.

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Figure 5.5.2 Power Requirement

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5.6 Health Care:

Figure 5.6.1 Healthcare facility

Presently, there are four Government hospitals with 2427 beds including the one of
CRPF. There are 23 hospitals with 1724 beds and 24 nursing homes with 696 beds run
by non-governmental and private organizations.

SL.NO HOSPITALS/NURSING NUMBER NUMBER OF

HOMES BEDS
1 Government Hospital 4 2427
2 Non-Government/ 23 1724
Private Hospitals
3 Non-Government/ 24 696
Private Nursing Homes
TOTAL 51 4847
Table 5.6.1 No.of Hospitals and Nursing Homes

The present availability of hospital beds is 4.9 beds per 1,000 populations, which is
reasonably good but for its geographical disparity.

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 Existing No.Of Hospital Beds in GMA District-wise

PLANNING POPULATION EXISTING NO.OF BEDS PER 1000

DISTRICT (2004) BEDS POPULATION
A 459,687 3661 8
B 264,631 614 2.3
C 222,364 572 2.6
D 34,079 0 0.0
TOTAL 980,761 4847 4.9
Table 5.6.2 No. Of hospital beds in GMA

5.7 Education:

Figure 5.7.1 Educational facility in Guwahati

There are at the moment 388 primary schools and 101 secondary and higher secondary
schools including degree colleges with classes XI and XII catering to a population of around
8.9 lakh.

To provide primary, secondary and better middle school facilities to cent percent school-
going kids, the following standards are adopted.

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SL.NO EDUCATIONAL LEVEL POPULATION/ STRENGTH PLOT

FACALITY UNIT AREA
(APPROX.) (HA)
1 Pre-Primary/ Housing Area 2,500 250 0.08
Nursery School
2 Primary School Housing Area 3,000 – 5,000 500 0.40
3 Senior Neighborhood 7,500 1,000 1.60
Secondary
4 Integrated Community 90,000 – 1,000 3.90
School with 1,00,000
Hostel
5 School for Community 45,000 400 0.50
Handicapped
Table 5.7.1 Educational facility w.r.t Population

To cater to the school-level facilities, 70 neighborhood centres – every to incorporate 2
senior secondary colleges and 2 primary colleges – are planned within the existing GMA.
additional required pre-primary and primary schools as per standards given above would be
provided in the detail plans of the residential developments. The integrated schools and
also the colleges for disabled are provided within the Facility Centres in new developments
distributed throughout the city. in case of new towns, within the detail plans, the colleges at
higher than standards would be provided.

Higher Education

SL.NO EDUCATIONAL LEVEL POP./ UNIT STRENGTH PLOT

FACILITY AREA AREA
(HA)
1 General College Community 80,000 1,000 – 4.00
1,500
2 Technical _ 3,00,000 500 4.00
Education
Centre
Polytechnic 400 2.40
ITI 100 1.60
Table 5.7.2 Higher education

There are at the present 18 education establishments, including Cotton College, Guwahati
Medical College and Hospital, Assam Engineering College besides Guwahati University
and also the Indian Institute of Technology. In addition there are 3 Polytechnics in
Guwahati.

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 5.8 Recreation:

Figure 5.8.1 Recreational Area in Guwahati

Although Guwahati city has large eco-sensitive areas like hills and water bodies, however
very few developed parks and playgrounds are out there. Based on existing land use
survey, presently only 114 HA area is under developed parks and playgrounds.

Figure 5.8.2 Hill/Hillocks of Guwahati

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In the CMP-2025, 5,299 HA space is earmarked for recreational activity at city level. Out of
this five, 299 HA area is indicated as recreational use and is part of Composite land use in
District Facility Centres and Community Facility Centres.

Table 5.8.1 forest cover

Major a part of five, 299 HA area is around eco-sensitive zone and similar areas. These are
Regional/City recreational areas. 2 picnic areas are projected to be situated in this. It
conjointly includes city level park (60 ha) and city level sports centre (97 ha). A Special
Children’s Park at city level is projected to be developed in the City-level Park.

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 5.9 Safety:

Figure 5.9.1 Safety facility in Guwahati

Police

Presently, there are 16 Police Stations and 11 Police Outposts in Guwahati. there's one
existing jail, on around eight hectares of land, that lies within the central area of the
Guwahati.
The Police Stations are provided as a part of the facility Centers. One police office shall be
provided within the proposed University space in District B. the city jail is projected to be
resettled in North Guwahati.

The existing Jail space is projected to be developed as a multi-use complex

Fire

Fire Services are required for safeguarding people from fire hazards, building collapses,
and different unforeseen emergencies. At present, there are six nos. of fire Stations in GMA
including North Guwahati station out of that, four are regular hearth Stations i.e. Guwahati
station (in between Panbazar and Paltanbazar), Dispur, Chandmari and Pandu, and 2 are
Adhoc fire Stations at Santipur and North Guwahati. Out of the six fire Stations, only 2 (two)
stations like Guwahati station and Dispur station are accommodated in their own premises
and therefore the Pandu fire Station is being created at its location. the opposite fire
Stations are accommodated in rented premises.

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Disaster Management Centre

Figure 5.9.2 Risk map of Guwahati

Guwahati is susceptible to natural hazards including floods and earthquakes. In step with
the Indian seismic Zone Map, Guwahati is placed in the seismic Zone V. A Disaster
Management Centre has been projected in GMA on 4 ha of land in pub Boragaon area in
planning Unit five with appropriate open area (2 ha) for soft parking, temporary shelter etc.
This centre would accommodate a fireplace Station and Trauma Centre for coordination at
the time of emergencies. The Trauma Centre should get on 1 hectare of land and have a
minimum of a hundred beds. This may be linked with lower order Trauma Centres to be
provided in designated hospitals.

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 6. ECONOMIC ISSUES

6.1 Main Economic Activities:

Pandu, set on the banks of the Brahmaputra River at the western a part of the city, is an
ancient populated area that acted as the chief military base for the Ahoms against external
invasions. Thanks to in depth fortification ('Gorh') encompassing Pandu, it acts as a natural
stream harbour and is formally referred to as Gar-Pandu. Pandu port falls under Dhubri-
Sadiya National Waterway-2 and is a vital terminal cum transit point for goods and freight
as well as traveller and tourist vessels. Construction of each low-level and high-level barrier
of fixed terminal, capable of handling container vessels, has been completed and has
further increased revenue generation for the city.
Manufacturing sector in Guwahati contributes a considerable share to the economy of the
city. Petroleum manufacturing is a vital economic activity in the city. The Guwahati refinery
is the most significant manufacturing business in the city. Set at Noonmati, the industrial
plant was established by the Indian Oil Corporation limited as the initial public sector
refinery of India moreover as the refinery of Indian Oil since 1962. it had been engineered
with an initial crude processing capacity of 0.75 million metric tons per annum (MMTPA) at
the time of its commission, that was gradually inflated to 1.0 MMTPA. It produces numerous
products and provides them to the other northeast states and also on the far side to Siliguri
through the Guwahati-Siliguri pipeline. The varied product made by the industrial plant
embody Liquefied petroleum Gas (LPG), hydrocarbon Oil, rotary engine Fuel (aviation use),
Motor Spirit, High-Speed Motor Diesel, light fuel, and Raw petroleum Coke. There’s
additionally an LPG works in the town. (Wikipedia)
Tea manufacturing and process is another vital activity of Guwahati. Assam is one amongst
the best tea-producing areas in the world, contributing 80th of India's export and 55th of the
country's total tea production. So high is that the production of tea in Assam that it's the
largest trade of the state. The headquarters of the Assam Branch Indian Tea Association
(ABITA) is found at Guwahati. The Guwahati Tea Auction Centre (GTAC), set adjacent to
the capital advanced at Dispur, is that the world's largest agency tea auction centre and
also the second largest in terms of total tea auctioned. The inaugural sale came about on
25 September 1970 and also the initial lot of tea was auctioned at the price of Rs. 42.50,
which, during those days, was an enormous achievement.
Many centralized, non-public and international banks have set up their branches within the
city with the reserve bank Of India having one of its own at Pan Bazaar.

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6.2 Employment Characteristics:

ACTIVITY WORKERS %AGE

PRIMARY 7,545 2.63

MANUFACTURE (HI) 5,028 1.75

MANUFACTURE 37,159 12.96

CONSTRUCTION 17,597 6.14

TRADE 88,651 30.92

TRANSPORTATION 31,340 10.93

OTHERS 99,367 34.66

Table 6.2.1 Employment Characteristic

(2011)
Urban Assam’s economy is dominated by tertiary sector. In 2011-12, 72.9 per cent male
and eighty per cent female employees were employed in this sector as compared to 59.1
per cent and 55.1 per cent, respectively, in urban India. Urban Assam offers low
employment in agriculture, indicated by simply 4.0 per cent male and 7.4 per cent female
employees employed in this sector in 2011-12 once these figures for urban India are 5.6
per cent and 10.9 per cent, respectively. Assam has not attracted industries and therefore
has very low employment within the secondary sector; 23.2 per cent male and 12.6 per cent
female employees were employed in this sector in 2011-12. In urban India, 35.3 per cent
male and 34.0 per cent female employees were employed within the secondary sector
within the same year.

Secondary sector consists of producing and construction. 9.0 per cent among male staff
and 0.9 per cent among female staff in urban Assam were used in construction whereas in
urban India these figures were 10.7 per cent and 4.0 per cent respectively in 2011-12. this
suggests that urban Assam isn't lagging behind India too much in construction sector
employment. This implies that manufacturing sector has not developed in urban Assam,
keeping employment in this sector, and therefore within the overall secondary sector, low in
urban Assam.

Like in India, there was improvement from 2004-05 to 2011-12 in secondary sector
employment in urban Assam, by about 2 percentage points in case} of male employees and
4 percentage points in case of female. because of absence of manufacturing sector
employment and non-possibility of continuous in agriculture sector, an overwhelming

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 proportion of employees, each male and female, in urban Assam are focused in tertiary
sector. There was solely about 1.5-percentage point decline in male workers’ employment
in tertiary sector and four-percentage point decline in female workers’ employment in
tertiary sector.

7 The tertiary sector employment is in both self-employment as well as regular employment

type of work. 55.0 per cent male workers were self-employed and 35.2 per cent of them
were regular employed in urban Assam in 2011-12. In urban India, 41.7 per cent and 43.4
per cent male workers were in self and regular employment, respectively.

Since agriculture employment isn't massive among urban males, it's evident that the self-
employment is in tertiary sector in urban Assam. Since manufacturing employment isn't
massive among urban males, regular employment is additionally mainly in tertiary sector in
urban state. Regular employment among the female employees was 44.4 per cent in urban
Assam in 2011- 12, which is higher proportion than among males (35.2%). All this
employment is likely to be within the tertiary sector wherever 80 per cent of the women
employees are in urban state. Proportion of self-employed female employees is 46.7 per
cent, that is not up to the proportion among the male employees (55.0%). it's possible that
several women are within the low-end services like domestic work, etc. that fetches regular
work.

Table 6.2.2 Employment Indicators

6.3 Percentage Of People Involved In Informal Activity:

There is a lot of lower casual work convenience in urban Assam, among male and female
employees each, as compared to urban India. This must get on account of low
manufacturing sector work. There’s a really high decline in casual employees among the
females in urban Assam from 2004-05 to 2011-12 (from 19.1% to 7.8%). Among the male
employees also casual work has declined in urban Assam, while that in urban India
identical has magnified among male employees throughout the same period. A dramatic
modification is close to doubling of self employment among female employees and a ten
percentage point increase within the share of self employment among male employees in
urban Assam, most of which will be within the tertiary sector indicating a state of affairs of

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under-employment.

ECONOMIC MALE FEMALE TOTAL

INDICATOR
Work participation 60 15.9 41.3
Rate (%)
Status of
Employment (%)
Self employed 50.1 34.4 47.5
Regular employed 26.6 51 30.6
Casual labour 23.3 14.6 21.9
Unemployed 8.0 25.0 11.3
Table 6.3.1 Economic Indicators

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 7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

7.1 Air Quality:

National Air-quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP), financed by the Central Pollution

Control Board aims to assess the ambient air quality in the state. Under this programme
at present only one monitoring station has been established at Bamunimaidam, Guwahati.
A few numbers of monitoring stations under this programme has been proposed to be
established very soon.
Air quality within industrial, commercial, residential and silence zones are being monitored
from time to time within the state.

The northeastern Indian city Guwahati has one of the highest Black Carbon pollution
levels in the world. It is because of the fast urbanization and poor surroundings quality
control in Guwahati that is giving rise to such high BC levels. Guwahati is one of India's
most speedily growing cities since the last 10-12 years. For a speedily urbanizing city like
Guwahati with a million and half population, sadly, it does not have the infrastructure to
sustain this growth. For instance, there are simply 2 major roads - GS road and the GNB
road - connecting totally different parts of the town, and really poor public transportation
system. The result's people prefer travelling in their personal vehicles, which supplies rise
to severe traffic jam and raised BC emissions from idleness vehicles. With more and more
individuals lately purchasing personal vehicles, the energy consumption (fossil fuel) and
BC emissions have multiplied enormously.
The other reason that has effects on Guwahati is unplanned and open burning of solid
waste disposal right within the city itself. People do not understand the number of BC and
toxic pollutants that are emitted from burning of waste disposal. Guwahati has one of the
highest BC pollution levels in the world that is alarming.

Fig 7.1.1 Air Quality

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AQI = 94 (Moderate)

7.2 Water Quality:

All pollution control activities ultimately aim at maintenance and restoration of the quality
of the natural resources. Thus information of the ambient quality of resources is a
necessity for designing and execution of pollution control management ways. The Board
maintains a network for watching of the ambient quality of the rich and varied water
resources of the state. There are three major schemes for ambient water quality
observation with the Board.

They are MINARS Programme: under monitoring of Indian National Aquatic Resources
programme supported by the Central Pollution control board this Board has already
intense its activities for monitoring and analyzing the surface water quality of certain elite
rivers within the State. During this programme, a total no of ten watching stations within
the Brahmaputra and its tributaries and one in the Barak river are monitored by the Board
frequently at monthly intervals since the year 1987. The programme is still continuing with
increasing range of observation stations from eleven to twenty nine (twenty nine) from
August, 2002 which includes ten ground water samples collected from selected parts of
state.

Water Pollution: 81.77 (High)

Drinking Water: 58 (Moderate)

Other Monitoring:
The State of Assam is filled with little lakes and tanks. The water quality of these lakes and
tanks are being monitored time to time.

Also ground water monitoring of certain sensitive areas of the State have been
administered by this Board in time to time and such activities are still ongoing whenever it's
found necessary. The district wise ground water quality of some chosen areas of the
districts have additionally been monitored under the project known as zoning Atlas for Siting
of Industries and is still happening.

Also, effluent discharged by all major industries including dangerous ones within the State
is monitored in monthly basis whereas different smaller industries are monitored
periodically or as and when necessary.

7.4 Solid Waste:

According to the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, all the ULBs are liable for the Solid
Waste Management activities inside their respective jurisdiction. in the Guwahati Municipal
area under GDD, Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) looks after the Solid Waste
Management activities within its jurisdiction. Solid Waste Management activities of GMC
comprises of the following activities:

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 PRIMARY COLLECTION:
The collection of door-to-door solid waste from the households and commercial
establishments comes under Primary collection. GMC is divided into 31 wards and there is
one nongovernmental organization each assigned for the task of Primary collection and
Street Sweeping within the respective ward. The NGOs deposit the waste so collected to
the nearby secondary collection bins. The JTOs and sanitary Supervisors of the ward
monitor the work of Primary collection. The NGOs are responsible for the collection of
monthly User Charges from the households and commercial establishments as per the
notification of User Charges issued by the Corporation from time to time. The NGOs use
tricycles, thelas, hydraulic mounted trailer auto tippers, etc. for the collection of household
and commercial establishment’s wastes. Guwahati city generates 550 TPD (approx.) solid
wastes.
Per capita solid waste generation: 400-500 gms/da 60% recyclable, 40% non-recyclable

Noise Pollution:
Average: 77.29dB – 89.69 dB

Green Spaces:
Dissatisfaction- 58.15 (Moderate)

7.5 Swachh Bharat Mission Findings:

The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) was launched by Government of India on 2nd October
2014. The Mission is implemented by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and
covers all statutory cities and towns and achieves the objective of providing sanitation and
household toilet facilities across India, and drive to 100% Open Defecation Free
households by 2nd October, 2019.

Assam is on the verge of a developing state but there is lack of adequate fund for
implementing different components of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). A significant
population of Assam still does not have access to sanitary latrine system causing major
environmental and health risk.

The incidences of water and sanitation related diseases like diarrhea, malaria etc. is
common in all the areas where insanitary/open defecation is still prevalent. Implementation
of proper infrastructure and maintenance of these sanitation facilities through intensive
demand creation is critical to address the existing sanitation and hygiene issues because of
financial constraints.

The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), Assam in Co-operation with all Urban Local Bodies
(ULBs) has identified Insanitary/Kutcha Latrines prevailing under the administration of ULBs

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across Assam. On the basis of survey report received from ULBs, the Mission has
Sanctioned 68338 Units of Household Latrines & 2280 Community Toilets/Public toilets. It
is however relevant to state that “No Latrine” cases rarely exist in Assam.

On the basis of all facts & figures, State Mission Directorate envisages to declare Assam,
100% Open Defecation Free households by 2nd October, 2017.

8. SOCIAL ISSUES

8.1 Religious Communities as per Census:

(2011)
Hinduism is majority religion in Guwahati city with 84.74 % followers. Islam is second most
popular religion in city of Guwahati with approximately 12.45 % following it. In Guwahati
city, Christinity is followed by 0.93 %, Jainism by 0.96 %, Sikhism by 0.36 % and Buddhism
by 0.36 %. Around 0.02 % stated 'Other Religion', approximately 0.40 % stated 'No
Particular Religion'.

Description Total Percentage

Hindu 815,499 84.74 %

Muslims 119,825 12.45 %

Jain 9,193 0.96 %

Christian 8,913 0.93 %

Not Stated 3,813 0.40 %

Sikh 3,449 0.36 %

Buddhist 1,495 0.16 %

Others 147 0.02 %

Table 8.1.1 Religious Communities

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8.3 Housing:

(GMDA, Master Plan for Guwahati Metropolitian Area - 2025, 2009)

Area Name Total/ Total number Total number Total number

Rural/ of of of occupied
Urban census vacant census
houses census houses
houses
Guwahati (M Urban 3,43,204 33,518 3,09,686
Corp.)

Residence Residence Shop/ School/ Hotel/

-cum- Office College Lodge/
other use etc. Guest
house
etc.
2,27,719 3,793 45,691 1,424 1,868

Hospital/ Factory/ Place Other

Dispensary etc. Workshop/ of non-residential
Workshed etc. worship use

1,144 3,250 2,788 18,451

In 2001, Guwahati Metropolitan Area contains 183,491 housing units out of which 178,838
units are exclusively residential and 4,753 are put to residence-cum-other uses. Out of the
total housing, 48.4% households live in owned residences, 46.4% in rented and 5.2% in
other accommodations. Out of the total 178,838 residences in 2001, 98,889 (55.3%) are of
good condition; 68,383 (38.3%) of liveable condition and 11,466 (6.4%) in dilapidated
condition. 57% of the population lives in one- or two-roomed accommodation; 29.6% in
three- or four-roomed accommodation and 12.4% in 5-roomed and above.

SLUM:
Slum Types in Guwahati:
Type 1: Slums on vacant land near the railway tracks.
As per GMC’s 2009 slum survey, 23 percent of slums are on railway land in Guwahati.

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Type 2: Slums inside the railway colonies

These are on the railway land in the vacant areas in the railway colonies. Ex: Gotanagar
and Bamunimaidan.

Type 3: Large parcels of railway land that are not located near any railway track.
Ex: Shakuntala Colony and Kailashnagar in the Pandu area.
Type 4: Land occupied by Harijans and other Safai Karmis.

Year No. Slum Population HH

2006 26 1,60,000
2009 90 1,67,769
2012 217 1,39,296 26069
Table 8.3.2 Slums according to years

In 2012, out of 217 slums, 99 are notifies (87457 persons and 15701 HH).

9. MAJOR DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

(Guwahati Metropolitian Development Authority)

Swachh Bharat Mission:

The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) was launched by Government of India

on second October 2014. The Mission is enforced by the Ministry of Urban
Development (MoUD) and covers all statutory cities and towns and achieves the
target of providing sanitation and household toilet facilities across India, and drive
to 100 percent Open excretion free households by second October 2019.

Assam is on the verge of a developing state but there is lack of adequate fund for
implementing completely different elements of Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). a
bigpopulation of Assam still doesn't have access to hygienic toilet
facility system inflictingmajor environmental and health risk.

The incidences of water and sanitation related diseases like diarrhoea, protozoal
infectionetc. is common in all the areas wherever insanitary/open excretion continues to
beprevalent. Implementation of correct infrastructure and maintenance of
those sanitation facilities through intensive demand creation is crucial to deal with the
prevailing sanitation and hygiene problems because of monetary constraints.
The Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), Assam in Co-operation with all
Urban native Bodies (ULBs) has identified Insanitary/Kutcha Latrines
prevailing beneath the administration of ULBs across state. On the basis of survey
report received from ULBs, the Mission has Sanctioned 68338 Units

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 of household Latrines & 2280 Community Toilets/Public toilets. It is but relevant to state
that “No Latrine” cases seldom exist in Assam.

On the basis of all facts & figures, State Mission board envisages declaring Assam, 100
percent Open excretion free households by 2nd October 2017

AUDIMA:

The state Urban Infrastructure Investment Program (AUIIP), funded by Asian

Development Bank (ADB), could be a key urban infrastructure initiative of the
govt. of Assam. It aims to enhance the urban setting and quality of life within the cities
of Guwahati and Dibrugarh. ADB approved the multi tranche funding facility (MFF)
on 30 September two011 for the state Urban Infrastructure Investment Program (AUIIP)
for an amount of $200 million comprising of 2 shares - share one is US$ fifty one million
& Tranche 2 is US$ 149 million.

With an objective of providing a lot of operational autonomy in capital punishment urban

infrastructure projects, the govt. of Assam ingrained a Special Purpose Vehicle
(SPV) known as ‘Assam Urban Infrastructure Development & Management Agency’
(AUIDMA) as a registered society vide Govt. notification no. GDD.224/2012/Pt-V/49
dated Dispur, eighteenth Feb 2017 for implementation of the ADB motor-
assisted Assam Urban Infrastructure Investment Program (AUIIP). it's visualized that
the agency would, in future, undertake comes /schemes as entrusted by
the government, with funding from divergent sources. The Chief military officer (CEO)
of the AUIDMA might also act because the Project Director of AUIIP. The governing
body (GB) of AUIDMA is chaired by the Chief Secretary to Govt. of Assam, and
meets twice a year. there's additionally an executive Committee (EC) for AUIDMA
chaired by the senior most Secretary of the Guwahati Development Department that
meets quarterly.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna:

This scheme has been launched on 25th June 2015 by the hon'ble Prime Minister Sri
Narendra Modi. It aims to construct about 2 crore houses in the country from 2015 to
2022. People who will be benefited through this scheme include: homeless citizens, poor
urban people and citizens belonging to EWS and LIG categories.
The demand survey for the preparation of the HFAPoA (Housing for All Plan of Action) for
Guwahati City was carried out by Guwahati Municipal Corporation and a total of 56656
numbers of beneficiaries has been identified in GMC area. The demand survey was
carried out by the NGOs empanelled to GMC for solid waste management in association
with the Councillors and the Area Sabha Members. The HFAPoA was prepared and
submitted to MoHUPA, Govt. of India.

Mission:

The mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum
dwellers through following program verticals:
§ Slum rehabilitation of Slum Dwellers with participation of private developers using

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land as a resource

§ Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section through credit linked subsidy

§ Affordable Housing in Partnership with Public & Private sectors

§ Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction

AMRUT:

The scheme was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister in June 2015 under Ministry of
Urban Development with the focus of the urban renewal projects is to establish
infrastructure that could ensure adequate robust sewerage networks and water supply for
urban transformation. The scheme is dependent with public private partnership model
(PPP) model.

Purpose:

§ Ensure that every household has access to a tap with assured supply of water and
a sewerage connection
§ Increase the amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained
open spaces (e.g. parks)
§ Reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-
motorized transport (e.g. walking and cycling).
§ All these outcomes are valued by citizens, particularly women, and indicators and
standards have been prescribed by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in
the form of Service Level Benchmarks (SLBs).

Thrust Areas:

§ Water supply

§ Sewerage facilities and Septage management

§ Storm water drains to reduce flooding

§ Pedestrian, non-motorized and public transport facilities, parking spaces

§ Enhancing amenity value of cities by creating and upgrading green spaces, parks
and recreation centers, especially for children.

Since GMDA, Jal Board are involved in number of water supply projects hence no project
is submitted for water supply. On the basis of mandatory component Parks & Open
Spaces SLIP has been proposed.

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 Assam has four (04) AMRUT cities. Following is the plan for Guwahati.

National Urban Livelihoods Mission:

Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM)

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation launched national Urban
Livelihoods Mission on 23rd September 2013 by replacing the ongoing SJSRY. It was
launched with the aim of elevating the conditions of the urban poor. With this aim the
following Components have been conceptualized:

§ Social Mobilization and Institution Development (SM & ID)

§ Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH)

§ Support to Urban Street Vendor (SUSV)

Employment thorough Training and Placement (EST&P)

§ Self Employment Programme (SEP)

§ Management Information System (MIS)

Solar City Guwahati:

The program aims at minimizing 10% in projected demand of conventional energy at the
end of the five years, which can be achieved through a combination of energy efficiency
measures, and enhancing supply from renewable energy sources.

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AEDA is the State Nodal Agency for the Solar City Program.

National Slum Development Program:

The components of this program include:

• Provision of physical amenities like water supply, storm water drains, community
bath, widening and paving of existing lanes, sewers, community latrines, street lights,
etc.
• Community Infrastructure: - Provision of Community centres to be used for pre-
school education, non-formal education, adult education, recreational activities etc.
• Community Primary Health Care Centre Buildings to be provided
• Social Amenities like pre-school education, non-formal education, adult education,
maternity, child health and Primary health care including immunization etc.
• Provision of Shelter: The Scheme to have a component of shelter up-gradation or
construction of new houses as may be required.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Guwahati. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guwahati .

Shodhganga. (n.d.). Location and Situation. 24-26.

Renu Desai, D. M. City Profile: Guwahati. CEPT University.

Shodhganga. (n.d.). Physical Background. 30-35.

GMDA. (2009, July). Master Plan for Guwahati Metropolitian Area - 2025. 14.

Assam, G. o. (2019). Assam Inland Water Transport Development Society.

Renu Desai, D. M. (2014). City Profile: Guwahati. CEPT.

Shodhganga. Land Use Pattern.

2011, C. o. District Census Handbook. Directorate of census operations.

Government of Assam. (n.d.). Retrieved August 2019, from Guwahati Municipal

Corporation.

B, R. Y. (2016, February). A study of Urbanization and Ecoystem Services of Guwahati City

from Forest Footprint Perspective. Journal of Ecosystem and Ecography .

GMDA. (2009). Master Plan for Guwahati Metropolitan Area. Guwahati: Govt Of Assam.

Chanda, R. (2018, July 07). Guwahati Plus. Retrieved August 2019, from GPlus:
https://www.guwahatiplus.com/article-detail/24-7-water-supply-in-guwahati-remains-
uncertain

Sengupta, A. (2017, December 26). Guwahati Plus. Retrieved August 2019, from GPlus:
https://www.guwahatiplus.com/article-detail/lack-of-sewage-treatment-plants-in-city-prime-
reason-for-brahmaputra-contamination

GMDA. (2009). Master Plan for Guwahati Metropolitian Area - 2025. Guwahati: Govt of
Assam.

(n.d.). Retrieved July 2019, from Guwahati Metropolitian Development Authority:

https://gmda.assam.gov.in/

CUEWP City Profile Guwahati – PDF

Guwahati AQI – PDF

Guwahati TMICC (Ministry of Urban Development) – PDF

India Smart City Mission

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