Quality of Life in The City of Munger, Bihar by Vandana

Quality of Life in the city of Munger, Bihar
PREFACE
Significance of studies pertaining to quality of life – particularly an applied

one –is undebatable, specially with regard to its correlation with development.
Quality of life in the city of Munger has been analysed here, with special
reference to degraded areas and functional setup of the city.
Urban growth and development are parasitic as these depend on the

surrounding countryside for food, vegetable and the supply of milk and
consumers to run the shopping units and services. Although the proverb ‘Rural
Poverty and Urban Misery’ is quite famous, but it is quite true in case of
Munger.It is part and parcel of the Anga Plain where ‘Angika ‘dialect is spoken.
The purview of the research encompasses almost all aspects of urban life, e.g.,
standard of living, food habit, dress material, ornaments used, type of recreation,
amusement used, arts adopt, theatre performed and cinema along the levels of
literacy, political life, caste conflict and marketing behavior etc. Recently it has
been observed that urban life is changing fast due to the ever increasing population,
culture assimilation of people and the introduction of telephone, mobile, computers
and internet. The objectives of this study are:
1. To trace out the spatial variation in the quality of urban life in the city
of Munger.
2. Examine the factors controlling urban life.
3. Types and patterns of city along with measuring the levels of life of
rich and the poor and especially in the slums and squatter areas.
The first chapter is devoted to introduction, i.e. Significance of

study of Urban life, objective of study, Problems to be investigated, Conceptual
development of the issue, review of literature on the subject, methods of study,
Source of data and hypothesis formulation.
Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 1

The second chapter is related to Geographical Background in Munger.

The third chapter is devoted to the infrastructural-social view of the quality of
life - the family levels, work area, service work conditions, financial issues,
socio-cultural levels, the value systems and race-tribe and caste level etc.
The Fourth chapter is related to functional areas and levels of quality of

life. The Fifth chapter is related to Types and Patterns of Quality of life and
living. The Sixth Chapter is related to Degraded Residential areas: Slums and
squatters. The seventh chapter is related to Sample Studies. The Eighth chapter
is related to Management and Re-orientation: Problems and Planning. The
Thesis’ last part provides Summary and Conclusions.
I am grateful to my research supervisor Prof. O. P. Singh, (Hon’ble Ex.

Vice-Chancellor, Kuman University, Nainitial) for his mature and memorable
guidance and never failing support till the completion of my research work.
I am also thankful to my Husband Sri Dhurv Mandal for his kind Co-
operation. I am thankful to brother Nachikea whose help can never be
forgotten.
I also express deep sense of gratitude to my respected father Sri

Brahmanand Mandal (Ex-Member ofParliament from Munger.) for his
inspirations and blessings.
I am also thankful to Prof. Shri D.C. Pandey, Hon’ble Head of the

Deparment of Geography, Kumaun University, Nainital, the Librarian, different
websites and the Department of Geography, Kuman University Nainital.
(Vandana)

CONTENTS
Preface
CHAPTERIZATION Page Nos
Chapter1…………………………………………………..……………04-39
Conceptual Framework and Methodology :An Introduction
Chapter-2………………………………………………………………40-61
Geographical Background
Chapter-3………………………………………………………………62-77
Infrastructural-Social view of the Life Quality
Chapter-4…………………………………………..………………….78-118
Functional Areas and the levels of quality of life
Chapter-5………….. ……………………………………………… 119-132
Types and Patterns of Quality of Life and Living
Chapter-6………………....…………………………………..……133-152
Degraded Residential Areas: Slums and squatters
Chapter-7……………………………………………………………153-159
Sample Studies
Chapter-8…………………………………………………………….160-165
Management and Re-orientation: Problems and Planning
Summary and Conclusions 166-168

Bibliography………………………………..………………………….169-174

Chapter-1
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY:
AN INTRODUCTION
− Significance of study
− Objectives of study
− Problems to be investigated
− Conceptual development of the issue
− Review of literature
− Methods of study
− Sources of Data
− Hypothesis Formulation
− References

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY:
AN INTRODUCTION
Introduction
‘Quality of life’ as any other concept in social science has been

defined in a number of ways. In order to know the level of living people in
a given geographical area one has to know the overall consumption types and
levels, housing, health, education, social status, employment, affluence, leisure
hour, social security and social stability etc. The rapid rate of urbanization
during the 20th and 21st centuries has created not only socio-economic
problems but also an unprecedented concern of the physical environment
degradation. Abyssal poverty, social desirability and lack of proper opportunity
in rural areas force men to migrate to urban areas. All these have made the
quality of life quite miserable.
Urban settlement is an area where the majority of people are engaged in

non-agricultural occupations within the command of municipal corporation or
municipality. Slums are the unhygienic localities in the urban centers where
congestion of houses, dump of garbage on the road side, open drains of refuge
water, service latrines, lack of street lights, broken metal led or unmetalled road
and the ding looking house dominate the scene, Ecology of the town gives the
environmental condition of people in the slums and other areas where they
reside. If the area is ill-ventilated and congested, the life is miserable and
struggling in nature. In such a situation mostly the poors are living in the slums
because the houses are relatively cheap in comparison with other areas.

Due to alarming growth of population in the last census (2001), the

Government of India has taken stock of the situation regarding quality of life
of people in the cities in which 34 variables have been considered, i.e. whether
the family owns a car, fan, T.V. set, radio set, electricity, motor cycle, bicycle
along with their literacy, food habit, ornaments motor cycle, bicycle along with
their literacy, food habit, ornaments dress material and others. We obtained data
on all these has been considered quite essential in order to know the ecological
condition and quality of life of people residing in a particular locality.
Quality of urban life is closely related with the social, cultural, economic,
and political life of people in the region under study. Due to hum-drum reality of
urban life it is difficult to identify one another because the frequent meeting is
not possible along with the variations in caste, income potential, difference in
our culture and the standard of living are the major causes of the variation in
quality standard of life. Quality of life helps living in knowing the living
standard of people and how the situations could be improved for the better
especially in the slum areas.
This study has been organized in different segments which is based

on analysis of maps prepared ward-wise and the data collected from
fieldwork in the slum areas of the city such as Tikarampur,(Chandikasthan)
Lallupokher Lal-darwaza Refugee-colony, Purabsarai, Kasimbazaar. The
intensity of slum is very high because the sitting condition is absolutely in
sanitary. The heaps of garbage lies here and there the living conditions of the
poor men and the labour class people are absolutely unfit for human living.
Moreover, with the decline of service facilities and increase of population

the slums are cropping up everywhere in the city. These days, slums have
created a panic for cities development. It has been a serious issue created a panic

for cities development. It has been a serious issue for the town planning bodies
not only in India but in Europe and North America as well. Sums are the
marginal areas of cities where the poor people are illiterate, drinking water
supply is miserably on lowest ebon and the vice of underworlds predominate the
scene.
The study of slum is meaningful for environmental modification and

amelioration the problems of urban for providing more amenities to the ailing
masses. This type of study finds ground mostly in European counties, where
the city centers are the problem area for city dwellers and people want clean air
to breath. In such a situation, this study has been directly related to highlight the
urban problems in a developing urban scenario of Munger.
Urban centers are places where the majority of population are

engaged in non-agricultural functions and the place having municipality or
notified are committee. Hence, urban life is purely artificial and nothing is
natural except land, water and vegetation cover. In this way, urbanism is a way
of life of people of urban areas. Modernity is the way of life and very few
laggards are behind the old fashion. Urbanism provides us society of mixed
nature having place of multiple functions.
The city life is not dichotomous to the rural living but they are
complementary to each other. The variations in urban life have been noticed in
terms of literacy, food habit, dress material, cultural advancement of area
besides he hum-drum reality of urban environment. Now in urban areas the
situation are deterioration to such a pass the people are living the city for pure
environment in rural area, because the urban area is dominated by obnoxious
gases, degrading morale of people , road holds up, suicide and the dominance of
slums and squatters.

Slums and squatter settlements
“Slums” are highly congested urban areas marked by deteriorated,

unsanitary buildings, poverty, and social disorganization.
“Squatters” settle on land, especially public or unoccupied land, without

right or title. Squatters include those who settle on public land under regulation
by the government, in order to get title to it.
Simply slums refer to the environmental aspects of the area where a

community resides, while squatters refer to the legality of the land ownership
and other infrastructure provision.
One out of every seven people now lives in a slum- that’s the UN’s best
estimate. More and more slum residents are organizing to improve their lot, as
their numbers swell in cities all over the world.
Employment Opportunities
Most people come to cities seeking jobs and that many of

these people end up living in-with rickety homes, mounds of refuse, and
inadequate water supplies-could become key sources of employment. At little
cost, municipal authorities could employ slum dwellers to build sewers, collect
trash, compost organic waste, or otherwise improve their communities. If
roganice waste is composted, it can be used to nourish urban agriculture, which
can provide both food and jobs. Cities could also revamp their policies on
transportation, land use, and small- scale credit to improve the ability of poor
people to make a living.

In Mumbai, both the municipality and poor neighborhoods have

gained as a result of the evolving partnership between local authorities and
the national slum dwellers federation. “Fifteen years ago, we were just
trying to get poor people to be part of the city,” said Sheela Patel, director
of the India-based society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres.
“Now there’s a realization that this is a key component of good
governance.” For example, she says, “When hawking is illegal, the
municipality loses 170 million rupees ($3.5 million) per month by not
giving the hawkers licenses.”
Slum is an area of the city that is poor and where the houses are dirty in
condition. It consist of shanties which are small houses built of woods, metal, and
cardboards. These days the tenements of slums dwellers are such that they are not
fit to live because they are very dirty or in dilapidated condition. Generally, the
slums are situated on the edge or in the fringe or on the extremity of the big cities.
If a rural migrant who becomes slum dweller when he comes to a town in

search of job, ultimately he becomes jobless and houseless, if he either does not
get a job or when he gets it, the job is not to his satisfaction or it is not in harmony
with the qualification they hold. Poverty or lack of job satisfaction under
employment and lack of proper accommodation drive them in to frustration when
the population of the town swells because of the rural migrants it causes
tremendous pressure of infrastructural system or network existing in the town.
There is the question of transport because of the pressure of population the
transport system is not able to cope with the existing network, there are bottlenecks
or congestion and snarls in the town .the result is that the genuine and permanent
habitant suffers tremendously. Not only transport problem becomes difficult to
deals with but housing problem also begins to rear its ugly head. The question of
commodity the new arrivers in the cities and new addition to the population arises
and reminisce immediate solution .
Educational infrastructure is also overstrained. The number of educational

institution cannot educate and admit the children of the slum dwellers. The result is
that they do not go to the school and increase the number of illiterate persons .
When they grow up they want jobs for themselves and when they do not get they
become either criminals or anti- social elements. The girls of the slum dwellers
become sex workers in order to make their growth their meet .
The problem is now to eke out a living. It becomes difficult for them to support
themselves and sustain them self. The network of civic ammonites also comes
under tremendous strain . The increased population requires toilets and bathroom
facilities and when they do not them their Detroiters and medical facilities are
needed for them. Medical network show in efficient and in responsible that the
melodies & elements of the migrants are not treated well . Trade and commerce
also suffers.
The slum dwellers may suffer and they are devoid of their human right but there
is one silver living in the darkening cloud, slum and slum dwellers are of great
benefits and advantage to the powerful and dominant section of the population .
There are the factory owners who recruit cheap workers from the crowd of slum
dwellers. The retail shopkeepers also get cheap labour for their establishment.
The politician gains because the slum dwellers act as vote bank in their election.
They make promises to the slum dwellers that they will improve their condition
and therefore, the slum dwellers are enticed to vote collectively for them. The
Polish and the government officials gain because they get safe bribes from the
residents of slum that is why nobody is interested in solving the problem of slum
dwellers. The question of solution of transport problem has cropped up in the city
of Munger .
The city of Munger has an awkward location with special reference to the
transport route network because it lies far off from the railway track Kiul –

Bhagalpur loop line. Therefore, Munger-Jamalpur rail line only acts as a sub-urban
railway. Inside the city Purabsarai and Munger Junction are located besides bus
depot in Sastrinagar and bus stand near town hall . Fort gate , purabsarai and
Munger station & Lal darwaza are some of the important transport notes of the city
which acts as the Nerve centers because they provided the line to the city people in
terms of moving to the offices ar other sector of occupation .
The city of Munger has facility of labrours train ( Coolie train ) which serve the
comminuting population of the city as daily commuters to the railway work shop
and citrate factory in Munger on northern fringe of the city the facility of ferry
point serves people in crossing the river for onward movements towards north
Bihar . In urban areas the maintenance of roads are very poors and the sanitary and
lighting of roads are in very poor states due to lack of fund and stealing activities of
people not only for electricity but also for bulb point etc .
This is what RB Mandal says in his book Urban Geography that the problems of
slum and slum dwellers are not so acute in the city of Munger. Generally slums
exist on the brim and borders of big cities. It is these agglomerations that can
valididly be called slums.
Munger is not a big city. It is a very ordinary city as far as population is

concerned though historically it is very important city and its history goes back far
into the womb in the ancient world. The slum population in Munger is 13723 and
its consist not of rural migrant of two kinds of people some of them are in slum
because of their caste , the untouchable and schedule cast are not allowed to leave
in the heart of the city . They live in segregated places because of social
concentration but the chunk of slum dwellers comes from different positive factor.
Most of the people who lived in diara –land found their cattle and houses and
other belonging has been washed away by the floods.

They were victims of natural calamities and hence they come to town of
Munger to save themselves . They occupy ed any land and built small huts and
begin to live in them, hence their problem differs from the problem of the slum
dwellers of the big cities.
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
Quality of life in the city of Munger has been considered and analysed
here. Although the proverb ‘Rural Poverty and Urban Misery’ is quite famous,
but it is quite true in case of the city of Munger. It is part and parcel of the Anga
Plain where ‘Angika’ dialect is spoken.
The preview of the research encompasses almost all aspects of urban

life, e.g., standard of living, food habit, dress material, ornaments used,
type of recreation, amusement used, arts adopted, theatre preformed and
cinema along the levels of literacy, political life, casts conflict and
marketing behavior etc. Recently it has been observed that urban life is
changing fast due to the ever increasing population, culture assimilation of
people and the introduction of telephone, mobile, computers and internet.
The study of the quality of life in cities of India has assumed

considerable importance in the modern world. Indian Economy is receiving
accolades and encomium from the specialist and experts of the international
Economy. It is universally through that India is fast travelling on the road to
becoming economic superpower. This is a hearting and inspiring phenomenon.
The impact of economic progress and prosperity has different effect in different
areas-urban and rural. The progress should be sustainable, stable and certain. At the
same time it should be inclusive In the early stages the slogan of the architect of
the destiny was development with human face but now the goal has shifted the

objective of the coming 11th five year plan has shifted from the earlier goal and has
become now inclusive development
In 1993 -1994, top ten percentage of the people living in rural areas had average
annual income of Rs 61655 but top ten percent of people living in urban settlement
had an average annual income of Rs 137256 . This was the position in the year
1993 -1994 but when we come to modern times i. e come to the year 2006 we
encountered a miraculous change. The top ten percent of people living in rural
areas have an average annual income of Rs 194044. Whereas top 10 percent of
the people living in urban areas have an annual income of Rs 497583. In year
1993-1994 bottom ten percent of the people living in villages had an average
annual per capita income of RS 2807 but at the same time bottom ten percent of the
people living in towns was Rs 4747, but now a days the per capita of rural person
is Rs 8907 where as the per capita income of an Urban man is Rs 16292.
The significance of the study leads to the objectives and the goal of study.
The research along this line will reveal the income effect of the quality of life on
the urban man. In the Course of the study several problem crop up and each has to
be spotlighted and its genies evolution and resolution shall be highlighted and
taken into consideration many sidedness and multiplicity. Concept of
development shall also come under close security. Development has two aspects -
quantitative and qualitative.
As far as quantative development is concerned, it is a play of statistics.

Growth and development are different concepts. Grow implies and increase of a
particular thing. if the income of people increases or if goods and service are
abundant in the market or if No. of hospitals increases or if No. of education
institutions increase or if the consumption of the people increases or if the
investment impriority sector increases , then we have growth or development
expressed in terms of quality . According to the human development index of the

UNO we find at a different concept of development, The UNO points out the real
development is not development of things but of people, This means that we have
to investigate whether qualitative accumulation leads to qualitative transformation,
quantative increase means increase in wealth or material prosperity. The economist
use to consider GDP of the country or gross domestic product of the country, now
conception attitude and criteria have been transmuted. The economist now do not
have GDP in their focus but their attention is continuously arrested or riveted by
another concept –The concept of GDH or gross domestic happiness this has to be
studied. What effect the increase in numbers has upon the standard or norm or
form of the life and living of the people of the Munger?
As far as review of literature concerns, this study breaks an entirely new ground or
blazes a new trail. It is traversing a vergin field. No other study of Munger under
this subject had been undertaken so far, some of the study are their but they are
scrappy and inchoate. There is no comprehensive full blooded study of the
phenomenon under study. There is a book authored by Ramraghubir. The name of
book is the historical & cultural geography of Munger. In this book affected with
a lateral flow. It deals Munger of Ancient and middle ages and does not deal with
the present stage of affairs of Munger. There are government records which give us
fact and figures not related to the subject matter of the study. The information
contain is mythical and anecdotal.
The methods of the study will be both deductive and inductive. General
theory and proposition applied to the concrete case of inductive method implies
collection of relevant facts, asses the importance of facts and establishment causal
connection among the facts so as to arrive at a general scientific proposition. The
data collected from published sources and interaction with the people.
The following issues have been formulated:
1. Is the quality of life caused by income changes of the people ?

2. Is the quality of life linked with standard of living ?

3. Does the marketing management affect the shopping behavior of the people?
4. Are modern influences changing life style of people in the urban area?
5. Is it a fact that the efficiency of people is a function of urban conditions’
atmosphere and milieu?
6. Is it a fact that goods available in the city can increase productivity, cost
effectiveness,and proficiency of the people?
These tentative or provisional suppositions can be verified by appeal to the

actual facts. The question raised above shall be answered by the conglomeration
and direction of facts.
OBJECTIVIES OF STUDY
Objectivity is a goal of scientific investigation. Objectivity is a frame of

mind so that personal prejudices, preferences or predilections of the social
scientists do not contaminate the collection of analysis of data. The scientific
investigations should be free from prejudices of race, color, religion, sex or
ideological biases.
However objectivity continues to be an elusive goal at the practical

level. In fact one school of thought states that total objectivity is an illusion
which can never be achieved. Because all research is guided by certain
viewpoints and viewpoints involve subjectivity. Myrdal suggested that the basic
viewpoint should be made clear. Further he felt that subjectivity creeps in at
various stages in the course of a research. Merton believes that the very choice
topic is influenced by personal preferences and ideological biases of the
researcher.

Besides personal preferences, the ideological biases acquired in the

course of education and training has a bearing on the choice of the topic of
research. The impact of ideological biases on such a research can be very
far-reaching as seen from the study of Tepostalan village in Mexico.
Robert Redfield studied it with functionalist perspective and concluded that
there exists total harmony between various groups in the village while
Oscar Lewis studied this village at almost the same time from Marxist
perspective and found that the society was conflict ridden. Subjectivity can
also creep in at the time of formulation of hypotheses. Normally
hypotheses are deduced from existing body of theory. In all societies there are
certain prejudices which affect the research studies. In case of interview as a
technique the data may be influenced by context of the interview. The
interaction of the participants, and participant’s definition of the situation and if
adequate rapport does not extend between them there might be communication
barriers. Thus according to P.V. Young interview sometimes carries a
subjectivity. Finally it can also affect the field limitation as reported by Andre
Beteille study of Sripuram village in Tanjore where the Brahmins did not allow
him to visit the untouchable locality and ask their point of view.
The researcher should make his value preference clear in a research

monograph. Highly trained and skilled research workers should be employed.
Various methods of data collection should be used and the result obtained
from one should be cross-checked with those from the other. Field
limitations must be clearly stated in the research monograph.The main
objectives of the present work are:
1. To trace out the spatial variation in the quality of urban life in the
city of Munger.
2. Examine the factors controlling urban life.

3. Types and patterns of city life along with measuring the levels of
life of rich and the poor and especially in the slums and squatters
areas.
PROBLEMS TO BE INVESTIGATED
The main aspects are:
1. Variations in caste groups and associations

2. Variations in clan migration.
3. Differences in religion and culture.
4. Analysis of levels of literacy, dress material, food habit, marriage
customs, dance, theatre, yoga and musical performance.
5. The spatial variations of college, schools, industrial establishment along
with wholesaling and retailing.
6. Housing designs, settlement structures, intra-city central place hierarchy
and psychological traits of people has been be analyzed.
Condition of life in the cities, especially for the most vulnerable groups,
are either poorly documented or the data are difficult to access, and are
underanalysed and underused. There is an urgent need for improved indicators
for measuring the quality of individual lives.
The most serious problems in all sectors are experienced by the urban
poor. It is still difficult to assess the nature and seriousness of urban poverty and
suggest specific policy solutions. But it is not hard to conclude that more
attention to the problem is needed. Better basic services, education and health,

with emphasis on equal opportunities for girls and women, will improve the
competitive advantage of the urban poor.
CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ISSUE
Over the last few decades, cities in both developing and developed countries
have emerged as the major form of human settlement. By the turn of this
century, we will be witness to and ubiquitous scenario where more people lived
in towns and cities worldwide. By 1975 there were 1.5 billion, by the year 2000;
this will be three billion – more than the entire population on Earth in 1960.
Cities have, in effort become a barometer of humankind’s “progress” into the
21st century, whether this is an upward trend or downward. Concentration of
economic, social political and administrative organs of a nation or region in
cities has made it a magnet for rich as well as poor households.
Doomsayers have long predicated the downfall urban conglomerations or

‘megalopolis’ showcasing the explosive unbridled growth of cities in many
developing countries. Such ‘death of the megacity’ has been predicated as a
natural cycle of civilizations that grew and died as result of epidemics, conflicts
or ecological /natural disasters. This, in current mega habitations, is supposed to
be hastened by a combination of environmental , health and social factors.
A growing school of pragmatists on the other hand, have emphasized the

‘inevitability’ of urban conglomerations, painting to the essential gregarious
nature of humans and positives contributions of cities. For example, despite of
the environmental and social problems that it is facing, Bangkok’s contribution
to the national GDP has been estimated to be more than the combined output

of all other cities in Thailand. Better access to paying jobs, more varied diets,
better education and better health care have made cities a ‘destination of choice.’
Besides the technological advancement facilitated by the talent and proficiency
of its inhabitants, cities have also been a well spring for the arts and culture.
While aggregate figures might suggest economic and social progress and
development, it hides the essential dichotomy and disparities between ‘rich’ and
‘poor’ that exists in most cities. It has been estimated that the richest fifth of the
population in developing countries control more than 80 percent of the
resources and economic activity in terms of GNP, world trade, commercial
lending, domestic savings and domestic investment. On the other hand, the
lowest fifth of the population control less than 1.4% of the resources and
economics activity.
Thus when the rural migrant family arrives in the city, they discover
that the housing, jobs, incomes and amenities that had ‘pulled them to the
city are not available or are inaccessible. The authorities are not willing to
help them find the ‘dream’ they aspired for, or simply ignore them. As a
result, in cities of most developing countries, 30 to 75 percent of the
population work and live in squatter settlement making a living with the
few informal resources that is accessible to them.
In India, the proportion of the country’s people living below the

poverty line estimated on the basis of consumer expenditure distribution,
has been steadily declining to its 1990 level of approximately 26 percent,
over 60 million of whom live in urban areas. In the four largest cities of
Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, over half of the population is
estimated to be below the poverty line. Most of the households have some
kind of job, though poverty is largely the result of low productivity and
underemployment. Also, a very large portion of them work in the informal

sector, which accounts for 45 percent of the total labour force in urban
areas. The informal sector is, however, a vibrant sector which provides a
variety of goods and services being able to absorb the unemployed and in
many cases facilities setting up of small and medium enterprise.
But the problems and shortcomings are not simplistic and ‘single- cause’
in nature and many factors contribute and cumulate to create the deteriorating
situation and conditions in urban areas today. The problems in housing,
infrastructure, credit, land and other sectors in urban areas of Asia
are a result of shortcomings inherent in the government and its various agencies,
as well as the urban poor themselves. Within the government, shortcomings
such as inadequate financial resources, ineffective, institutional structures, weak
legislation or their implementation, lopsided policies and lack o adequate trained
man power tend to compound, shortcomings of the urban poor themselves : lack
of marketable assts, low skills and education levels, low income jobs, etc. in the
informal sector.
Such a scenario also has ripple effects o a variety of sectors

education, health, labour/job markets, and economics activities, both
directly and indirectly. Service provided by the government is
insufficient and inefficient, and do not reach or ‘trickle-down’ to most low-
income groups. This forces the low-income households to seek alternative
means to obtain services like housing, and other network and social
infrastructure. This is done by their own means and sources, often
duplicating the distribution and network mechanisms of the government.
As a result, two parallel sectors of economic and social sectors have

developed. A “formal sector” provided for and managed by the government
and an “informal sector” which lies outside the purview of the government

and primarily serves the low-income groups. But this concept of a

‘dichotomous economy has come under scrutiny, with counter-arguments
illustrating that such activities in fact form and informal sectors is hazy, and
there are many grey areas in between . For example , a shopkeeper may ‘sell’
electricity on a point –by-0 point basis to pavement traders in front of his shop
during the night (when his own shop is closed) or an itinerant seller may
sell water by the container to households who do not have piped water
connections. While this is a very simplistic explanation, it serves to
understand the situation of urban low-income groups.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A good review of such geographic and other significant studies about quality
of life has been attempted by prof. O.P.Singh in his paper “Philosophy of
Development, Quality of life and Philosophical Geography” ( 2004-2005:
Journal of Regional Science and Development, 4-5(1-2), Nainital ). Considering
the fact that the present study lays increased emphasis on degraded and
functional areas of the city having a specific living, a few such studies have been
Mentioned here.
Ziestman (1992) while dealing about land for the landless in Cape
city analyzed that migrants to the urban centers from rural area gets
attracted due to descent living but due to unemployed they are landless,
homeless, jobless and without any financial means to occupy the houses
legally. Their only alternatives are to erect house on vacant land and hence

illegal occupation is the only out come left, generally squatting creates
the prevailing cities life.
Vooged, H.(1992) while dealing with the quality of life and images,
he said that the quality of life is widely used term in practice , particularly
in relation to activities like city marketing, cultural, educational ,
recreational , housing an infrastructure facilities available to the residents
because it cannot be assessed on term people behavior only.
Thieme, G.H. (1992) while discussing about the quality of life and
mortality in Germany highlighted the indicators such as infant mortality of
life expectancy a different ages which can serve as adequate measure of
this important aspect of life, both in their world and in industrial societies.
Basant Singh (1992) while giving his opinion on ‘National Capital

Region and Eco-environmental Hazards of the opinion that foresight and
vision are rare qualities in public life. This observation it true in
case of national capital region (NCR) too, because of its long jump urbanization;
in which only take – off and landing points are considered. The large stretch of
land is ignored. Architecturally, it is not possible to give NCR as urban
textures. The whole region would emerge as an urban slum.
Saraswati Raju (1992) while assessing ‘Access of the Urban Poor to

Basic Amenities in Delhi, India’, said that in urban area of india 28 percent
people are poor. Not only the estimates are controversial, rather various
micro-aspects of poverty generated much debate. For discussion the basic
need identified are shelter, distribution of food-grains, water supply, health
care and anomalies the existing scenario has to be changed in terms of
management, relaxation and flexibility in formalities and an empery
toward the urban poor.

A chronological review of literature on slums in India shows that the

first socio-economic study on the working class was conducted by H.K.
Chaturvedi and Bhattacharyya in 1948. This study on the ‘Chang in
standard of living of jute mill workers in Jagadal between the year 1941
and 1945 shows that the standard of living the jute mill workers enjoyed in
1941 was far from what may called a minimum living standard. S., N. SEN
(1954) studied he spatial pattern and characteristics of slums and
squallier in Calcutta. Nambia (1961) conducted a similar study in Madras
city where he found a high birth rate, infant mortality and poor amenities a
common feature in the slum of the city. In the same year Trivedi shows the
concentration of a large number of people in a single tenement in the slums at
Ahmadabad. Overcrowding coupled with the lack of civic amenities was
the basic characteristic of the slums in the city. He found that the slums are
more visible in the industrial Northwest and around sources of water
supply.
Mohsin (1791) has provided a sociological account of the mental and

physical growth of slum children of Patna. In another study (1980) he
shows a high degree of illiteracy among the slum children is due to the lack
of educational facilities. He has also studied the socio-economic condition
of the slum facilities to which those children belong. Mani (1980) also
observes that lack of motivational forces for educational is one of the
important reasons of large number of dropouts of the children from the
school.
In 1994. Pushpa Agnihotri in her study on survey of slums in various

cities of Madhya Pradesh shows that, inner city slums have more
population than the peripheral slums. Those show are better off are found
to have one earning family member and they can live in a peripheral slum

being able to afforded the loss of working hours spent in commuting. Arup
Mitra (1994) perceives the problem of slums in terms of ‘employment problem’.
His study mainly examines the pattern of urbanization
particularly city growth in India, employment structure in the cities, impact
of rural –urban migration on urban informal sector, and inters linkages
between rural and urban poverty and etc.
In a path breaking study about the slums in Bombay metro pole,

Sujata Patel (1995) shows, that, “More than half of the city’s population of
10 million inhabitants live in the slums or are altogether homeless. They
must perforce struggle to find and then retain unoccupied spaces under
bridges, along railway tracks, on pavements or even or rooftops. They are
crowded together in tight clusters of one-room huts. With a land area
restricted to 600 odd squared kilometers. Grater Bombay supports a density
of 16500 persons per square kilometer. Very many Bombazines do not
have access to clean water or to basic disposal system. Only a minority of
city’s inhabitants enjoys incomes adequate to ensure a comfortable existence”.
A recent survey indicates that half or less than half of Bombay’s
slum swelters fall below the generally accepted poverty line (Swaninathan M,
1995)
This Research Paper is based on the UGC sponsored Major Research

Project titled, Migration: A Gender Analysis.
Health status is a key indicator of human well being. Environmental

pollution affects human health in many ways and contribution to a wide
variety of diseases. Increasing attention is being devoted both domestically
and globally to how environmental pollution affects human health. The
agenda for the Sept 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development

identified health as an integral component of sustainable development, and

called for a more efficient, equitable, accessible and appropriate health care
system for the populations that rely on them. Scientific method for the
assessment and management of related risks to human health and the
environment is imperative for a developing country like India where the
exposure levels and variability are relatively higher. This paper examines
the quality of life of the migrant households in slums of Coimbatore City,
Tripura Town and Chennai City in terms of select parameters. This study
reveals that migrant households live in unhygienic and congested places
devoid of basic necessities for a healthy life like housing, water supply,
drainage and sanitation. Women and children are the worst victims,
physically, mentally and emotionally they are affected. The rehabilitation
programmed of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board is totally inadequate
in relation to the mushroom growth of slums. Hence, a comprehensive
package incorporating measures to improve urban environment and health status
should be launched on a massive scale.
METHODS OF STUDY
The methods of the study of quality of life would be theoretical cum

regional-inductive. A systematic analysis - study regarding levels of standard
of living - is quite inevitable, where sample approach would be adopted only
for behavioral analysis of quality of life. It was been imperative for this
study to do continuous analysis otherwise real different ion may not
emerge. The methods of analysis would be mainly descriptive –cum-

analytical study. Cartographic –cum-statistical methods will be adopted in

mapping and analysis of data wherever needed.
A set of mutually consistent assumptions which underlie our approach to

things we want to explore is called a perspective. All systematized
enquiries need perspective. So it is required for here as well.
Munger District is located in the southern part Bihar and its

headquarters are located on the southern of river Ganges. The district
is spread over 1419.7Sq.km. Accounting for 3.3% of the area of Bihar. It lies
between 240 22’ N TO 250 30’ N Latitude and 850 30’ E to 870 3’E longitude.
From administrative and development point of view, Munger is divided into
three subdivisions namely Munger, Kharagpur, and Tarapur. There are nine
development blocks namely Munger, Bariarpur, Jamalpur, Dharahara,
Kharagpur , Tetia Bambar , Tarapur, Asarganj and Sangrmapur . There are
about 903 villages in the district. The Munger district on an average is 30 to 65
meters above sea level. The average annual rainfall is 1231 mm.
Munger city is located on Latitude 25023’16’’N and on Longitude 86029’ E

on the right (Southern) bank of river Ganga, in the south eastern part of the State
of Bihar. As per 2001 cencu the population of the city is 1,88,050 persons
extending an area about 18 Km2. Munger District, now a much smaller district
after being split into a number of districts, has an area of 1419.0 Km2. The
population of the district in 2001 was 11.38 lakhs. The district has for towns and
861 villages with an urbanization level of 27.94%. The total literacy of the
district is reported to be 59.47% (in 2001).

The logic behind taking a large sample is because of the number of

households surveyed. We surveyed approximately slums and squatter families
of the migrant workers / left behind population in Munger district.
The survey covers samples from Urban area of Munger. The survey
looks at, besides the economic conditions and Occupations/jobs,
• Patterns of the life quality

• Health of workers
• Slums and squatter areas
Methods of Analysis
The analysis has been done strictly based on the available data from
the survey. The answers derived from the survey questionnaires were
carefully tabulated ward-wise and as statistical analysis was done and
percentages and percentage distributions calculated. These have been
presented in the form of bar –graphs and pie-charts, and the salient points
highlighted.
For each Block, the following general statistics have been tabulated
and included:
• Average Family size

• Sex Ratio (both of adults and children)
• Literacy Levels (Male/Female and Adult/children)
In order to place the Literacy and Sex Ratio data in context, the
comparisons with State and National average have been shown and interpreted.

The analysis has been divided into the following sections based on
the types of data specified below:
• Economics conditions
Based on
a) The type of house (including number of rooms and availability of

toilet)
b) Source of Drinking water
c) Type and Number of Livestock
• Occupation/jobs
Based on
a) Land ownership
b) Information regarding current occupation as well as desired
occupation
• Migration patterns
Based on
a) Number of workers in each household (men, women and
children)
• Health of worker
Based on
a) Health-related complaints of the worker before leaving the end on
return, and the changes there of
b) Information about any addictions (alcohol/tobacco/drugs)
Similarities and differences in some trends across different blocks have

been briefly discussed.

Aberrations have been indicated, as have points and need further

investigation.
SOUCES OF DATA
Data had been collected both from published and unpublished

sources. The published data had been collected from government offices,
census hand book, and municipality and corporation offices besides
resource persons of the area. The unpublished data available from filed
work, map analysis and data available from office and town planning
department in the city of Munger had been used.
Social surveys
The basic procedure in survey is that people are asked a number of

questions on that aspect of behavior which the sociologist is interested in.
A number of people carefully selected so that their representation of their
population being studied are asked to answer exactly the same question so
that the replies to different categories of respondent may be examined for
difference. One type of Survey relies on contacting the respondents by
letter and asking them to complete the questionnaire themselves before returning
it. These are called Mail questionnaires. Sometimes
questionnaires are not completed by individual separately but by people in
a group under the direct supervision of the research worker. A variation of
the procedure can be that a trained interviewer asks the questions and
records the responses on a schedule from each respondent.
The alternate procedures have different advantage and

disadvantage. Mail questionnaires are relatively cheap can be used to
contact respondents who are scattered over a wide area. But at the same

time the proportion of people who return questionnaires sent through post
is usually rather small. The questions asked in main questionnaires have
also to be very carefully worded in order to avoid ambiguity since the
respondents cannot ask to have questions clarified for them. Using groups
to complete questionnaires means that the return rate is good and that
information is assembled quickly and fairly. Administrating the interview
schedules to the respondents individually is probably the most reliable
method. Several trained interviewers may be employed tom contact specific
individuals. The questionnaires and schedules can consist of both close-
ended and open-ended question. Also a special attention needs to be paid
to ensure that the questionnaires are filled in logical order.
Where aptitude questions are included, great care must be exercised

to ensure the proper words are used. In case of schedules emphasis and
interactions may also be standardized between different individuals and
from respondents to respondents. Finally proper sampling techniques must
be used to ensure that the sample under study represents the universe of
study. In order to enhance of data collected through questionnaires and
schedules, these questionnaires and schedules must be pretested through pilot
studies.
Interviewing
Social survey may depend either on questionnaires that are self-

administered on schedules completed by trained research workers
personally interviewing then is not a method of data collection distinct
from social survey but rather a technique which may vary from the brief
formal contact as when the interviewer is working for the firms public
opinion consultants or a market research organization and simply asks a

housewife a few highly specific question or limited range of topic to a

long interview in which the research worker allows the respondents to
develop point at leisure and take up others as he choose.
The brief formal interview in which the working of the question and
the order in which they are asked is fixed is called structured interview
while the freer discursive interview is called unstructured interview. The
object of using structured interview is to standardized the interview as much
as possible and thus to reduce the effect that the interviewer’s personal
approach or biases may have upon then result and even when structured
interviews, are used, proper training can do a lot to ensure further the
reliability and validity of research. The personality of the interviewer and
the social characteristics that the respondent attributes to him can be having
influence on the result. The effort of interviewer’s bias can be estimated by
comparing one interviewer’s result with order. The problem of interviewer’s
bias in an unstructured interview is much greater. Here the interviewer is
left to his common devices as far as the way he approaches a respondent is
concerned. There is no fixed list of question to work through. Instead the
interviewer may work from a guide that will remind him of the topics he
wishes to cover.
The training of the interviewer is crucial here not simply training in

the social skills of keeping the conversation going on a topic that the
respondent may not be very interested in but also in acquiring sensitivity to
those things his respondents tells him which are specially relevant to the
theoretical topics he is pursuing. This means that unstructured interviews
can be carried out by people trained in sociological theory. They are then
able to size upon stray comments made by the respondents which can be
developed and lead on to important theoretical insight.

Observation: Participant and non- participant
The rationale behind the use of observation in a research

is that one should become party to a set of social actions
sufficiently able to be able to assess directly the relationships
involved. The degree of involvement may vary considerable from being
merely a watcher on sidelines to be deeply involved in and being a part
of what is going on. The former type of observation techniques are called
non-participant while that latter is called participant observation. Sometimes
one way observations screen have been used to watch groups in actions
that they are unaware that they are being watched and the observer cannot
affect their actions by his presence. The researcher is visibly present and is
a part of the situation either a scientist or in another guise. Where one is merely
an observer it is equally assumed that he knows enough about what the actors
are doing to be able to understand their behavior.
Sampling
For practical and cost reasons, it is often impossible to collect

information about the entire population of people or things in which social
researchers are interested. In these cases, a sample of the total is selected
for study. Most statistical studies are based on samples and not on complete
enumerations of all the relevant data. The main criteria when sampling are
to ensure that a sample provides a faithful representation of the totality
from which it is selected, and to know as precisely as possible the
probability that a sample is reliable in this way. Randomization meets these
criteria, because it protects against bias in the selection process and also
provides a basis on which to apply statistical distribution theory that allows an
estimate to be made of the probability that conclusions drawn from the

sample are correct. A statistical sample is a miniature picture or cross-

section of the entire group or aggregate from which the sample is taken.
The entire group from which a sample is chosen is known as the
population, universe or supply.
Simple random sampling
The basic type of random sample is known as a simple random

sample, one in which each person or item has an equal chance of being
chosen. Often a population contains various distinct groups or strata that
differ on the attribute that is being researched.
Stratified random sampling
Stratified random sampling involves sampling of each stratum

separately. This increases precision, or reduces time, effort and cost of
allowing smaller sample sizes for a given level of precision. For example,
poverty is known to be most common among the elderly, the unemployed
and single parent families, so research on the effect of poverty might will
sample separately each of these three strata as part of a survey of poverty in
the population as a whole which would permit the total sample size to be
reduced because the investigation would know that the groups most affected
by poverty were guaranteed inclusion.
Cluster sampling
Cluster sampling is sometimes used when the population naturally

congregates into clusters. For example, managers are clustered in
organization, so a sample of managers could be obtained by taking a
random sample of organization and investigation the managers in each of
these. Interviewing or observing managers on this basic would be cheaper

and easier than using a simple random of managers scattered across

all organization in the country. This is usually less precise than a simple
random sample of the same size, but in practice the reduction in cost per
element more than compensated for the decrease in precision.
Multi-stage sampling
Sampling may be done as one process or in stages, known as multi-

stage sampling. Multi-stage designs are common when populations are
widely dispersed. Thus a survey of business managers might proceed by
selecting a sample of corporations first stage units, perhaps, choosing
these corporations with a probability proportionate to their size, and then
selecting a sample of managers within these corporations at the second
stage.
Alternatively, a sample of individual factories or offices buildings

within each corporation could be chosen as the second stage units,
followed by sample of manager in each of these a third stage.
Stratification can also be used in the design, if for example occupational
sub-groups are known to differ from each other, by selecting state such as
personal, production and finance management and sampling within each
of these. For example to be representative, one needs a complete, and
accurate list of the first stage units that make up the relevant population, a
basic requirement that is not always easily met. This forms the sampling
frame. Selection from the frame is best done by numbering the items and
using able of random number to identify which items from sample, though, a
quasi-random method of simply taking every item from the list is
often appropriate. The reliability of a sample taken from a population can be
assessed by the spread of the sampling distribution, measured by the

standard deviation of this distribution, called the standard error. As a

general rule, the large is the size of the sample the smaller the standard
error.
Area sampling
In sampling of this kind small areas are designated as sampling units

and the households interviewed include all or a specified fraction of those
found in a canvass of these designated small areas. The basic sampling
units or segments chosen may be relatively large or relatively small
depending on such factors as the type of area being studied, population
distribution, the availability of suitable maps and other information and the
nature and desired accuracy of the data being collected.
HYPOTHESIS FORMULATION
The main hypotheses are:
1. The quality of life is the product of income variations of people,

their standard of living, literacy/education and longevity.
2. The shopping behavior depends upon the marketing management of
seller and buyers, in items of needs, supplies and services available
and distance.
3. Modernity is the cause of changing life style of people in the urban
area.
4. Functional efficiency of people depends of urban conditions and
threshold of goods found in the city.
5. Livability of the urban eco-system is the outcome of development
and the traditional value system.
Tentatively this thesis will be written on the following sub- heads:

Facts are dependent upon a theoretical framework for their meaning.

They are also statements of relationships between concepts. Theory can
give direction to the search for facts. A hypothesis states what we are
looking for. When facts are assembled, ordered and seen in a relationship, they
constitute a theory. The theory is not speculation but is built upon fact.
Now the various facts in a theory may be logically analyzed and
relationships other than those stated in the theory can be deduced. At this
point there is no knowledge as to whether such deductions are correct. The
formulation of the deduction however constitutes a hypothesis; if verified it
becomes part of a future theoretical construction. The relation between the
hypothesis and theory is very close indeed. A theory states a logical
relationship between facts. From this theory other proposition can be
deduced that should be true, if the first relationship holds. These deduced
propositions are hypothesis.
A hypothesis looks forward. It is a proposition which can be put to a

test to determine its validity. It may seem contrary to or in accord with
common sense. It may prove to be incorrect. In any event
however, it leads to an empirical test. Whatever the outcome, the
hypothesis is a question put in such a way that an answer of some kind can
be forthcoming. It is an example of the organized skepticism of science.
The refusal to accept any statement without empirical verification. Every
worthwhile theory then permits the formulation of additional hypotheses.
These when tested are either proved or disapproved and in turn constitute further
tests of the original theory.
Design of Proof: Testing the hypotheses

The function of the hypothesis is to state a specific relationship

between phenomena in such a way that this relationship can be empirically
tested. The basic method of this demonstration is to design the research so
that logic will require the acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis on the
basis of resulting data. The basic designs of logical proof were formulated by
John Stuart Mill and still remain the foundation of experimental procedure
although many changes have been made.
REFERENCES
ADB(1991). The Urban Poor and Basic Infrastructure Service in Asia and the
Pacific. Volume I, II and III. Proceeding of a Regional Seminar, January 22-28,
1991. Manila: Asian Development Bank Economics Development Institute.
Hardoy, J. and David Satterthwaite (1989) , “The Emergence of New Attitudes

and Policies for Housing “ from Hardoy, J. and David Satterthwaite Squatter
Citizen” Life in the Urban Third World , pp. 118-145.
Kumata Y, et al. (1996) , “A city is not a City” Refletions on a New Language

for Megacities”. Paper presented at the Pre-Habitat II Conference on the world
Cities and the Urban Future, 23-25 August, 1995.
Sanders, Rickie (1987) “Towards a Geography of Informal Activity” Sacio-

Economic Planning Science Vol. 24, No.4, pp.229-237.Sanyal , Bishwapriya
(1988) “The Urban Informal Sector Revisited” Third World Planning Review
Vol. 10, No. 1,pp. 65-83.

Smith, Wallance (1975) Urban Development : The Process and the Problems
Berkely” University of California Press, 381pp
Sriniwas, Hari (1996)”Sustainable Partnerships for the Habitant Agenda” New

Roles for Professional NGOs.” Paper presented at the city Summit (UNCHS-
HABITANT II) , Istanbul , Turkey 4-16 June , 1996.
Turner. J.C 1968 , “Housing Priorities , Settlement Patterns, and Urban

Development in Modernizing Countries “AIP Journal , No-vember , pp, 354-
363.
UNDP (1991) Cities, People and Poverty : Urban Development Corporation for
the 1990s. A UNDP Strategy Paper . New York: United Nation Development
Program, 94p
***

Chapter-2
GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND
− Physical
− Economic
− Demographic
− Reference

GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND
Historical Pointers
The territory included within the district of Munger (popularly

Monghyr) formed pent of the Madhya-desa as “Midland” of the first Aryan
settlers. It has been identified with Mod-Giri a place mentioned in the
Mahabharata, which was the capital of a kingdom in Eastern India near
Vanga and Tamralipta. In the Digvijaya Parva of Mahabharata, we find the
mention of Moda-Giri, Which seems similar to Moda-Giri. Digvijaya Parva
suggests that it was a monarchical state during early times. A passage in
the Sabha –Parva describes Bhima’s conquest in Earstern Indian and says that
after defeating Karna, King of Anga, he fought battle at Modagiri and killed
its chief.
It was also known as Maudal after Maudgalya, a disciple of

Buddha, who converted a rich merchant of this place into Buddhism.
Buchanan says that it was the hermitage of Mudgala Muni and this
tradition of Mudga Risi still persists. Munger is called “Mudagiri” in the
Monghyr copperplate of Devapala. The derivation of the name Munger
(Monghyr) has found the subject of much speculation. Tradition arcribes
the foundation of the town to Chandragupta, after whom it was call Guptagars, a
name which has been found inscribed on a rock at Kastaharni
Ghat at the nothe-wrtern corner of the present fort. It is insisted that
Mudgalrisi lived there. Tradition ascribes the composition of various suktar
of the 10th Mavdala of the Rigveda to Rishi Mudgal and his clan.

However, General Cunnigham had strong suspicicion when he connects

this original name with Mons as Mundas, who occupied this part before the
advent of the Aryans. Again Mr. C.E.A. Oldham, ICS, a farmer collector
suggests the Possiblilty of munigiha, ie, the abode of the Muni, without any
specification which later corrupted to Mungir and later became Munger.
Munger City

At the dawn of history, the present site of the town was apparently
comprised within the kingdom of Anga, with the capital Champa near
Bhagalpur, According to Pargiter, Anga comprises the modern districts of
Bhagalpur and Munger commissionary. The Anga dominion at one time
included Magadha and the Shanti-Parva refers to an Anga king who sacrificed
at Mount Vishnupada. In the epic period Modagiri finds mention
as a separate state. The success of the Anga did not last long and about the
middle of the sixth century. B.C. Bimlisara of Magadha is said to have
killed Brahmadatta, the last independent ruler of ancient Anga. Hence the
Anga became an integral part of the growing empire of Magadh. As
epigraphic evidence of the Gupta period suggests that Munger was under
the Guptas. To the reign of Buddhagupta (447-495 A.D) belongs a copper
plate of A.D. 488-9 originally found at Mandapura in the district.
HIUEN TSIANG’S ACCCOUNT:
However the first historical account of the district appears in the

Travels of HIUEN TSIANG, who visited this area toward the close of the
first half of the seventh century A.D. Hiuen Tsiang observed “The country
is regularly cultivated and rich in produced flowers and fruit being abundant.
The climate is agreeable and manners of the people simple and honest.
There are 10 Buddhist monartries with about 4,000 priests and few
Brahminical temples occupied …..”. The pilgrim’s “I-lan— ha-po-fa-to”
country is identified as this area. He had to pass through thick
forest and strange mountains into the country of Hiranayaparvat. The
capital Hiranayaparvant, lay, on the southern bank of Ganga, and closed to it
stood mount Hiranya, which “belched masses of smoke and vapor that obscured

the light of the sun and the moon.” The position of this hill is determined from
its proximity to the Ganga, to be Munger and though no smoke new comes from
any peak, the numerous hot springs in the hills point to famous volcanic action.
These hot spring are also mentioned in Hiuen Tsiang’s Account. General
Cunningham identified the hot springs being those of Bhimbandh and its
offshoots. Other authorities refer it as Uren in present Lakhisarai District.
Unfortunately, there is a historical gap of almost two centuries when

we find its fresh mention in the Munger Copper plate of Devapala
discovered at Munger about 1780.
Till the advent of the Tukish rule in India. Munger was under sway
of the Karnataka dynasty of Mithila. However Bakhiyar Khilji took
possession of Territory of Munger in AD 1225 which came in
possession of the Khilji ruler Gyasuddin. After conflict
between tha Tugulaqs of Delhi and Bangal Sultan, some portion of then
Munger came under the possession of the Sharqils of Jaunpur.
Some inscriptions found in Munger speak of the conflict between

the Jaunpur rulers and the Bangal Sultan which resulted in farmer’s defeat
and finally resulted in peace. Here we came across the name of prince
Danyal who held the post of Governor of Bihar. It was prince Danyal who
had repaired the fortification of Munger and built in 1497 the voult over the
shrine of Shah Nafah. This is also known by the insemination but up by
Danyal on the eastern wall of the Dargah just within the southern gate of
the fort.
During Akbar’s period when the great Bengal military revolts started.
Munger was for some time the headquarters of Akbar’s officers in their
expeditions against the rebels. Kharagpur at that time was a great principality

extending from the south of Munger to the south of Bhagalpur and Sanathal
Paragans.
The Dutch traveller, De Graafe, who travelled

from Munger to Patna in November 1670 gives a graphic picture of the
horrible scenes. Marshall also mentions very interesting details about
Munger. He inspected Shah Shuja place built on the west side of the Fort.
He describes it, “as very large house where the king (Suja) lived, walled
next to the river, for about one and half Kos with bricks and stones with a
wall fifteen yards high.” He entered the first gate but was stopped at the other
within which he saw two elephants carved in stone and very large
and handsomely. “ The inside- palace was so strictly guarded that two Dutch
men De Graafe and Oasterhoff were imprisoned for their antiquarian
interest as they were taken as spies. They were released after seven weeks
of imprisonment in November, 1670 by paying a fine of one thousand rupees to
the Nawab of Patan. Marshall found a great garden and, at the
south end, he saw several thatched houses and many tombs and mosques.
He further writes “the town stands upon an ascent, the river bank by
being 8 or 10 yards high, the brick wall by the river side at the south end
of Munger was about 5 yards high and 20 yards long with a little tower at
each wall as a fortification to place the gun on it. Towards the
close of the 18th Century we find that Munger was merely a station of
“Power Magazine” established there ….
Joseph Hooker also speaks highly of Munger . “By far the prettiest
town, Munger was celebrated for its iron manufacture, especially of muskets, in
which respect it is the Burmingham of Bengal.”

When we come down to the early Mughal period we get a few

reference to the district in the famous book “Ain-I-Akbari” prepared by
Abul Fazl. According to it Sarkar Munger consisted of 31 mahals or
Parganas, paying a revenue of 10,96,25,981 dams (40 dams equal to one
Akbar Shahi rupee). During the reign of Aurnagzed we find mention of Munger
inconnection with the death and burial at Munger of the poet Mulla
Mohammad Saiyed, who wrote under the nom-de-plume of Ashraf.
Munger was politically and strategically so important that it did not

escape even the Maratha expendition Munger Fort was in such a good condition
that none was easily allowed to enter the Fort The modern history of Munger
came again into Prominence in 1762 when Kasim Ali Khan made it his centre
instead of Murshidbad in Bengal.
Munger fort as in 18th Century Fort’s Main Gate at Present
The subsequent history of the district is uneventful with the

extension of the British dominions. The town of Munger ceased to be an
important frontier post. There was no arsenal, no regular garrison was kept

up and no attempt was made to bring the fortification up-to-date. Munger,

however, was still important for its fine situation and salubrious air and
was used as a sanatorium for the British troops. So great a resort that it was
the journey up the Ganga followed by a stay was regarded of as healthy as
a sea voyage. We find that a trip the Munger was prescribed for the wife of
Warren Hastings when she was in ill health and in 1781 when Warren
Hastings was on his way to meet Chait Singh at Banaras he left his wife
here for the benefit of her health. But during the early part of the 19th
century Munger was degraded to a lunatic asylum for sepoys where there
was also a depot for army clothing and it became an invalid station for
British soldiers.
MUNGER DISTRICT AND THE CITY
Munger District is located in the southern part Bihar and its

headquarters are located on the southern of river Ganges. The district
is spread over 1419.7 Sq. Km accounting for 3.3% of the area of Bihar. It
lies between 24 22N to 25 30N latitude and 85 30E to 87 30 E
longitude. From administrative and development point of view, Munger is
divided into three subdivisions namely Munger, Kharagpur, and Tarapur.
There are nine development blocks namely Munger , Bariarpur, Jamalpur,
Dharahara, Kharagpur, Tetia Bambar, Taraput Asarganj and Sangrampur.
There are,in total, 903 villages in the district. The Munger district on an
average is 30 to 65 mtrs above sea level. The average annual rainfall is
1146.4 mm.

The existence of Munger as a separate executive centre dates from

the year 1812, It appears from a letter dated the 15th July of that year, that
Mr Ewing was appointed to have charge of Munger Criminal Court, called
the court of Joint Magistrate of Munger and that he was made subordinate
to the Magistrate of Bhagalpur and worked like a sub-divisional officers.
A letter also from Mr. Dow Deswell, Secretary to the Government,

date the 12th October, 1811 proves that at that time no magisterial
authority existed at Munger except that of the Magistrate of Bhagalpur to
whom it was addressed : “I am directed……”
No change seems to have been made in the powers or jurisdiction of

Munger till 1832 when it was made revenue-receiving centre
under the name of a Deputy Collectorship. This new office was conferred
on the joint Magistrate. From this time the officer exercised most of the powers
of a full Magistrate-Collector. He had no power to correspond directly with
the chief Executive and the Revenue authority as an independent authority.
The earliest record of value in the collectorate appears to be the

letter from the Commissioner of Bhagalpur to the Secretary to the Sadar
Board of Revenue at Fort William, dated the 29th May, 1850. It appears from the
record that the native town and Bazar of Munger have for a long period been
considered government property. This though constituting one mahal, was
divided into these tarafs, viz.,
1)Bara Bazar, 2) Deochi Bazar, 3) Goddard Bazar , 4) Wellesly Bazar, 5)

Munger Bazar, 6) Gorhee Bazar, 7) Batemanganj Topekhana Bazar, 8) Fanok
Bazar 9) Dalhatta Bazar 10) Belan Bazar , 11) Rasoolganj and 12)
Begampur”
General Features of Munger District
(A)
Sl. Name of the Geographical No of Gram No. of

No Block Area Panchayats Villages
1 Munger 23282 13 84
2 Jamalpur
3 Bariarpur 22433 21 110
4. Dharhara 27,940 13 76
5. Kharagpur
6. Teliabamber 37,917 25 186
7. Tarapur
8. Asarganj 13,051 19 109
9. Sangrampur 11,736 10 64
Total 1,36,359 101 629
(B)
1. Longitude : 240 22’N to 25 30’ N

2. Latitude : 85 30’ E to 87 30’ E
3. Height from Sea Level : 30 to 65 meters (msl)
4. Geographical area (sq.km) : 1419.7sq.km
5. No. of total villages : 903

6. No. of villages (electrified) : 506

7. No. of Nagar Parishads : 2
8. No. of Nagar Panchayats : 1
9. No of revenue Villages : 861
10. No. of Police Stations : 14
11. No. of T.O.P : 12
12. No. of O.P. : 2
13. Population (As per 2001 census) Total : 1135499
a. Male : 6044662
b. Female : 530837
14. Urban Area Population : 316586
15. Rural Area Population : 72.1%
16. Total Male Population (%) : 53.23%
17. Total Female Population (%) : 46.75%
18. Total Literacy Population (%) : 60.11%
19. Total Literacy Male Population (%) : 70.68%
20. Total Literacy Female Population (%) : 47.97%
21. Total Literacy Population (%) : 76.87%
22. Total Literacy Urban Male Population (%) : 83.97%
23. Total Literacy Urban Female Population (%) : 68.64%
24. Total Literacy Rural Population (%) : 53.35(%)
25. Total Literacy Rural Male Population (%) : 65.29(%)
26. Total Literacy Rural Female Population (%) : 39.69%
27. Sex Ratio : 878 Females /1000Males
28. Sex Ratio Urban : 879 Females/1000Males
29. Sex Ratio Rural : 875 Females/1000Males
30. Sex Ratio among children 0-6 years : 915Girls/1000Boys
31. Sex Ratio Urban among children 0-6 :948Girls/1000Boys
32. Sex Ratio Rural among children 0-6 : 905Girls/1000Boys

33. Actual Rainfall :1115.7m. meters
34. Average Rainfall :1146.4m.meters
(Average of 53 years)
35. Population Density : 800/sq.km
36. Population increase/ten years : 20.34%
37. Land utilizations (Give the latest available data)
a. Cultivable Area : 8600ha.
b. Net sown aera (in ha.) : 0308ha.
c. Forest : 2375.9ha.
d. Fallow land (inha.) : 292ha.
e. Land not availablefor cultivation(in ha):488
38. Irrigation (in ha.)
a. Net irrigated area : 2514.5 ha
b. By canals : 0258.00ha
c. By wells : 57.20ha
d. By other sources (specify) Tube well : 695.40
e. Pond : 09.50
f. Lift Irrigation : 033.30
g. Others :849.10 ha
h. Medium Irrigation :212.00ha
39. Animal Husbandry (As per 1982 Census):
a. Plough Animals : 8238
b. Dairy Animals : 0564
c. Cow : 3327
d. Buffaloes : 20564
e. Pig : 4008
f. Calf : 10905
g. Sheep/Goat : 12279/97135
h. Poultry : 48800
The district of Munger is hemmed among the Ganges in the north,

Bhagalpur district in the east, Barh district in the west and the district of
Jamui in the south. It covered in 1991 14 Development Blocks. The total area
was 3301.70Km2 and the total population was 1, 924, 317 ( vide 1991 census).
The density of Population per km2 was 583 in 1991.
Relief Features
Plain Lands in the North:
The Northern plain of Munger district has two facets of landscape

i.e. diaras north of the Ganagatic levee and tal land south of the levee.
Some of the Gagetic levee and tal lands south of the levee. Some of the
important diaras are Maheshpur. Heru, Bhadurpur, Kutluput, Tikarampur,
Kalarampur, Budhwa, and Taufir diaras. These diaras suffer from annual
inundation along with the erosion and deposition of soils. This is the aea of
flood hazards with the sedimentary rocks.
The area south of the Gangetic levee is known as Tal lands. Some of
the important tals are Barhiya tal, Mainma tal, Bilya tal, Bariarour tal and
others. Some of the important rivers e.g. Kiul Harohar, Dakranala and
Baduar deposit soil in their flood plains. Tal lands also suffer from annual
inundation, water loggings and deposition of soil.

Mineral Water
Munger district has long been famous for its mineral waters and hot
water springs, There is a belt of thermal springs a Zone from the
Kharagpur hills to the Rajgir hills of the Patna district. There are altogether
seven groups of thermal springs in this district . These are:-
1. Bharair (Chormara Group)

2. Bhimbandth Group
3. Hingaina Group
4. Remeshwar-Lakshmishwar-Bhowrah Kunds groups.
5. Rishikund groups.
6. Sitakund-Phillips- kund group and
7. Sringirishi group
Climate
Munger district is a part of Zone – III with sub-zone in South Bihar

Plains . The zone is located on south of river Ganges and comprises districts
of Munger, Bhagalpur, Gaya Aurangabad, Rohtas, Bhojpur , Patna and Nalanda.
It is sub- humid and much drier as compared to zone-I and III. It has monsoon
sub-tropical climate ranging from sub-dry and sub-humid conditions. There are
three district seasons in this zone viz., summer, monsoon and winter.
SUMMER (MARCH TO MAY)
The summer season is characterized by gradual rise in temperature,

occasional thunder showers and hail storm, high velocity westerly during

this season is very dry resulting in sunstroke deaths at times. The maximum
temperature rises up to 45o C.
MONSOON (JUNE OT SEPTEMBER)
It starts from middle of June and continues up to end of September.

Monsoon is characterized by cloudy weather, high humidity, frequent rains
and weak variable surface wind. Maximum rainfall occurs during July and
August.
WINTER (OCTOBER TO FEBAUARY)
Winter season is characterized by gradual decrease in temperature which

comes to a minimum in the first week of January. Thereafter, the
temperature starts increasing. The minimum temperature varies from 3.50
C to 90C.
RAINFALL
The rainfall under this zone is mainly influenced by the south-west

monsoon which sets in the second week of June and continues up to end of
September. Sometimes cyclonic rain also occurs. The average annual
rainfall of this zone is 1078.7mm. The rainfall distribution is marked
seasonal in character. Greatly limiting water availability in certain times of
the year and requiring disposal of excess water in some weeks during monsoon
also occurs. The average annual rainfall of Munger district is
1146.4mm (53year average), out of which 80% is received during monsoon
season and the rest (more than 5%) in summer season. In case of Munger
district, the temporal varitional annual rainfall was recorded at a maximum of
2181.6mm in 1971 and a minimum of 481.6mm in 1972 with annual

coefficiecnt of variation of 27.2%. July and August received maximum monthly

rainfall in the district. The monthly co-efficient of variation of rainfall for
monsoon from June to September was 68.5%, 44.3%and 51.8% respectively for
Munger.
SOILS
Soil of Munger district is grey to dark grey in color, medium to heavy in

texture, slightly to moderately alkaline in reaction, cracks during summer (1) cm
to more than 5 cm wide and more than 50 cm deep) becomes shallow with onset
of monsoon , with clay content nearly 40% to 50% throughout the profile.
Slicken side along with the wedge shaped structural aggregates absorb soil are
found in level land or depression. Soil becomes bonding during summer and
remains inundated rains. The clay minerals found are smectities followed by
hydrous mica. The soil has a good fertility status. Diara land soils are light
textured and well drained with free calcium carbonate (CaCO3) that varies
between 3% to 8% but seldom exceeds 10% particularly no genetic low zone
gives a coarse stratification micro relief, udic moisture regime clay. Minerals
found are hydrous mica, smectite, kaolonite and chloride. The nature of
sediments deposited in Diara land cab be generally stated as those near the
streams are coarser in texture i.e, sand which gradually becomes finer with
distance a grade to heavy texture of clay in the central part of the member, these
being always layers of sand at varying department which generally to not go
deeper than 40cm to 60cm of surface deposited as a result of changing course of
the current.
ECONOMIC ASPECTS

There is a significant growth potential for production and marketing

of horticulture commodities in underdeveloped and emerging economic
countries of the world. In this context though India has crossed many
milestones of success after independence (specially through Green
Revolution), but it has only 2% share in the worlds horticulture production.
The situation demands that we produce that we produce more & more from
lesser piece of land.
In 60s, agricultural Technologies were spread specially in Bihar

under IADP (Intergated Agricultural Development Program) and IADP
(Intensive Agricultural Development Program) in selected districts where
potentialities were available. In this context, Munger district was covering
a large area of the state in which there were cluster of lands like Diara, Tal,
Hills and Plain. If we visualize the overall development and production it is
felt that agricultural and allied departments do not have a regular linkage for
proper management of these clusters and they are working in isolation of
each other.
The agricultural development in the district suffers several

physical, institutional, infrastructural and technological constraints. The district
is one of the victims of flood and drought like natural calamities.
Among other constraints, non- availability of quality seeds, poor support of
credit facilities, erratic supply of electricity, small size of land holdings and
inadequate marketing facilities are the reasons due to which cultivators do
net get the optimum price of their produce.
Development of horticultural crops production will not only provide

the ability to meet domestic food needs but also form household economic
and social advancement of human health. In this regard woman can make a

significant contribution in specialized trades like horticulture, gardens and

in post-harvest period for the latest skills imparted to them.
Successful investment in programs aimed to enhance horticulture must be based
upon a strategic assessment of the major constraints faced by
farmers and their agro-ecological situation and must include a regional analysis
of market opportunities. Through knowledge, capital and technical inputs, the
development of horticulture can be made. Projects based approach guided by
strategic programs would lead to economic development and contribute to food
security.
Agro-ecological situation:
On the basis of Topography, soil resources & water table of Munger

district has been divided into clusters or four situations. These are:
1. Diara – Lands of Ganges – 10% (area)

2. Tal- Lands south of Ganges – (5.3)
3. Plain – old alluvial plain in south of Ganges- (81.3%)
4. Hilly – Shallow alluvium- (3%)
Principal Horticultural crops Grown in Munger District
Name of crop Kharif Rabi Summer
Vegetables Lady’s finger Potato Pointed
Brinjal Tomato Gourd
Pumpkin Cauliflower Pumpkin
Bodi Cabbage Lady’ finger

Bitter gourd Pea Sponge gourd
Spices Chilly Chilly
Turmeric ,Ginger Garlic
Fruits Mango
DEMOGRAPHIC AND OTHER ASPECTS
A few significant demographic and other features of the district are as
follows:
NO OF FAMILIES BELOW POVERTY LINE (BLOCK-WISE)
SI. Name of Block No. Of Families

No.
1. Sadar (Rural) 11,001
Sadar (Urban) 17,819
2. Jamalpur (Rural) 6440
Jamalpur (Urban) 6691

3. Bariarpur 7,222
4. Dharhara 15,163
5. H.Kharagpur 16,622
H.Kharagpur 1,614
(Urban)
6. Tetiabambar 7,181
7. Tarapur 8,957

8. Asarganj 6788
9. Sangrampur 8688
Total = 114,186
Agro-Climatic information about Munger District
SL. Name of The

Agro- Climatic information
No. Block
1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000
MM DAYS MM DAYS MM DAYS MM DAYS
1 Munger 766 50 1208 65 1103 58 1406 84
2 Jamalpur
627 55 874 83 702 56 828 79
3 Bariarpur
4 Dharhara 979 54 1254 85 1068 52 995 71
5 Kharagpur
1018 56 1253 73 1654 73 1490 90
6 Tetiabamber
7 Tarapur
927 51 1017 61 974 43 1211 64
8 Asarganj
9 Sangrampur - - - - - - - -

Block wise land utilization figures of Munger District

(Area in hectares)
Particulars Munger Jamalpur Dharhara Kharagpur Tarapur Sangrampur Total Area

Geographical 2382 22433 27940 37917 13051 11736 1,36,359
area
Cultivable 10760 12470 9900 16140 10800 11736 68,600
area
Cultivable 10200 8310 810 15300 10278 8120 60,308
area
Cultivable 27 35 49 - 12 123
waste land
Current Fellow 1560 2160 800 840 602 330 6,292
Forest 255.7 1525.8 14094.2 16500.2 - - 32375.9
Land put 232 180 225 395 335 435 1,802
under misc.
plantation
Population, Literacy Rate (Block wise)
CENSUS OF INDIA 2001

State/District
Literacy rate
/ C.D.
Block Total Rural Urban
Person Male Female Person Male Female Person Male Female
s s s s s s s s s
MUNGER
60.11 70.7 47.97 53.35 65.3 39.69 76.87 84 68.74
DISTRICT
Munger 67.97 75.7 58.96 54.66 63.9 43.72 75.44 82.2 67.48
Bariapur 53.84 65.4 40.07 53.84 65.4 40.07 -- -- --
Jamalpur 75.09 83.6 65.36 63.93 73.8 52.59 84.39 91.7 75.98
Dharhara 50.98 63.5 36.73 50.98 63.5 36.73 -- -- --
Kharagpur 51.39 64.4 36.74 50.28 64.1 34.79 57.83 66.2 48.19
Asarganj 52.00 62.7 39.71 48.68 59.8 35.88 81.44 88.6 73.34
Tarapur 53.34 66.1 39.44 53.34 66.1 39.44 -- -- --
Tatia Bombar 51.00 64.9 34.75 51.00 64.9 34.75 -- -- --
Sangrampur 53.66 65.8 40.01 53.66 65.8 40.01 -- -- --

CENSUS OF INDIA 2001
Populatoin Child population in the age- Literates

State/District/ group 0-6
C.D. Block
Persons Males Female Persons Males Females Persons Males Females
MUNGER Total 1135499 604662 530837 197144 102928 94216 564043 354611 209432
DISTRICT Rural 818913 435774 383139 150156 78809 71347 356799 233051 123748
Urban 316586 168888 147698 46988 24119 22869 207244 121560 85684
MUNGER Total 296950 159243 137707 48399 25084 23315 168940 101494 67446
Rural 109639 58869 50770 20323 10555 9768 48817 30891 17926
Urban 187311 100374 86937 28076 14529 123547 120123 70603 49520
Bariarpur Rural 92431 498632 42799 17015 8630 8385 40604 26816 13788
Jamalpur Total 181571 96522 85049 28735 14829 13906 114768 68267 46501
Rural 84912 45260 39652 15447 8079 7368 44411 27434 16977
Urban 96659 51262 45397 13288 6750 6538 73057 40833 29521
Dharhara Rural 103919 55197 48722 19601 10295 9306 42986 28509 14477
Total 181008 96183 84425 30683 16619 14064 77249 51253 25996
Kharagpur Rural 154098 81942 72156 25872 14196 11676 64470 43428 21042
Urban 26910 14241 12669 4811 2423 2388 12779 7825 4954
Total 59562 31620 27942 11276 5832 5444 25108 16175 8933
Asarganj Rural 53856 28609 25247 10463 5415 5048 21123 13876 7247
Urban 5706 3011 2695 813 417 396 3985 2299 1686
Tarapur Rural 84341 44060 40281 16311 8531 7780 36289 23470 12819
Tatia Rural 57622 30869 26753 10796 5586 5210 23882 16395 7487
Bombar
Sangrampur Rural 78095 41336 36759 14328 7522 6806 34217 22232 11985
REFERENCES
“District-specific Literates and Literacy Rates, 2001”. Registrar General, India,
Ministry of Home Affairs
http://www.educationforallinindia.com/page157.html.Retrieved2010-10-05.

http://munger.nic.in
http://ashishmunger.blogspot.com/
***

Chapter-3
INFRASTRUCTURAL-SOCIAL VIEW OF THE LIFE QUALITY
− Family Levels
− Personal levels
− Work areas
− Service-work-conditions
− Financial issues
− Socio-Cultural levels and the value systems
− Race –tribe and caste levels
− References

INFRASTRUCTURAL-SOCIAL VIEW OF THE LIFE QUALITY
FAMILY LEVELS
Historical studies have indicated that family structure has been less
changed by urbanization and industrialization that was once supposed. As far as
is known, the nuclear family was the most prevalent pre-industrial unit and is
still the basic unit of social organization in most modern industrial societies. The
modern family differs from earlier traditional forms, however, in its functions,
composition, and life cycle, and in the roles of mothers and fathers.
The only function of the family that continues to survive all change is the
prevision of affection and emotional support by and to all its members,
particularly infants and young children. Specialized institutions now perform
many of the other function that was once performed by the agrarian (rural)
family: economic production, education, religions, schooling, and recreation.
Employment is usually separate from the family group; family members often
work in different occupations and in locations away from the home. Education is
provided by the state or by private groups. Religions training and recreational
activities are available outside the home, although both still have a place in
family life. The family is still responsible for the socialization of children, but
even in this capacity, the influence of peers and of the mass media has assumed
a larger role.
Family composition in industrial societies has changed dramatically

since the onset of the Industrial Revolution. The average number of children
born to a woman in the United States, for example, fell from 7.0in

1800 to 2.0 by the early 1990s. Consequently, the number of years

separating the births of the youngest and oldest children has declined.
This has occurred in conjunction with increased longevity. In earlier times,
marriage normally dissolved through the death of a spouse before the
youngest child left home. Today husbands and wives (and unmarried long-
term partners) potentially have about as many years together after the
children leave home as before.
Some of these developments are related to ongoing changes in

women’s roles. In Western societies, women in all stages of family life
have joined (or- joined after having children) the labour force. Rising
expectations of personal gratification through marriage and family,
together with easier divorce and increasing employment opportunities for
women, have contributed to a rise in the divorce rate in the West. In 1986, for
instance, there was approximately one divorce for every two marriage
in the United States. In Great Britian the rate is approximately one for
every three marriage.
During the 20th century, extended family households declined in

prevalence in the West. This change in associated particularly with
increased residential mobility and with diminished financial responsibility
of children for ageing parents, as pensions from jobs and government-
sponsored benefits for retired people became more common.
By the 1970s, the prototypical nuclear family had yielded somewhat

to modified structures including the single-parent family, the stepfamily,
and the family witout chidren. One-parent families in the past were
usually the result of the death of a partner or spouse. Now however, most
one-parent families are the result of divorce, although some are created

when unmarried mothers bear children. In 1991 more than one out of four
children lived with only one parent, usually the mother. Many one-parent
families, however eventually became two-parent families through
remarriage or cohabitation.
A stepfamily is created by a new marriage of a single parent. It may

consist of a parent and children and a childless spouse, a parent and
children and a spouse whose children live elsewhere, or two joined one-parent
families. In a stepfamily, problems in relations between non-
biological parent and children may generate tension; the difficulties can be
especially great in the marriage of single parents when the children of both
parents live together as siblings.
Families without children may be increasingly the result of

deliberate choice on the part of the partners or spouse concerned a choice
that is facilitated by the wider availability of birth control (contraception).
For many years the proportion of couples who were childless declined
steadily as cures for venereal and other diseases that cause infertility were
discovered. In the 1970s, however, the changes in the status of women
reversed this trend. Couples particularly in the West now often elect to
have no children or to postpone having them until their careers are well
established.
Since the 1960s, several variations on the family units have emerged.
More unmarried couples are living together, before or instead of marrying.
Similarly some elderly couples, most often widowed, are finding it more
economically practical to cohabit without marrying. Homesexual couples also
live together as a family more openly today, sometimes sharing their households
with the children of one partner or with adopted or foster children. Communal

living, where “families” are made up of groups of related or unrelated people,

have long existed in isolated instances. Such units began to occur in the West
during the 1960s and 1970, but by the 1980s the number of communal families
was already diminishing.
No. OF FAMILY BELOW POVERTY LINE(BLOCK-WISE)
Sl. No. Name of Block No. of Families
1 Sadar (Rural) 11,001
Sadar (Urban) 17,819
2 Jamalpur (Rural) 6,440
Jamalpur (Urban) 6,691
3 Bariarpur 7,222
4 Dharhara 15,163
5 H.Kharagpur (Rural) 16,622
H. Kharagpur (Urban) 1,614
6 Tetiabmabar 7,181
7 Tarapur 8,957
8 Asarganj 6,788
9 Sangrampur 8,688
Total = 114,186

Slums & quatter Areas No. of Houses

1. Purabsarai 42
2. Laldarwaja 31
3. Laldarwajaghat 25
4. No. Two Gumti 33
5. Fort Areas 25
6. Near Police Line 21
7. Heru Diara 62
8. Sudurkhana 30
9. No. Five Gumti 28
10. North of Refujee Colony 50
In the city of Munger about 45 percent people are living in slums

and squatters settlements About 60,000 people are living in village centred
areas of the city such as Topkhana Bazar, Dilawarpur, Sadipur,
Murgiachak, Kasim Bazar, Garden Bazar, Gulijarpokhar, Chuabagh, Sandalpur
and Chhoti-Kelabari. In all these slum areas one can see heaps
of garbage on the road, drains choked with sevage, a huge crowd on the
water taps for drinking water, service latrine rate, retouched condition of
houses besides polluted environment in most of the residential area.
The main cause of such a pitiable condition is due to the small

expanse of the original city centre, but how the addition of new villages
into the old city centre have developed in the form of slum due to their
unmettaled narrow lanes with potholes at places. All such areas have been
included in this way in the cities of Munger, a point of slum in these cities.

According to 1961 census the following villages are included in the

municipal are of the city of Munger, Amarpur , Hasanganj , Adampur,
Gauripur, Ayodhya, Shankarpur, Hasanpur, Chua Bag, Naulakha
and Heru Diara.
PERSONAL LEVELS
Urban life of the residents of the townscape can be understood by their

patterns and modes of living,levels of education and civilization earned by the
people in terms of historical,social,economic and cultural environment.
Urabanism and the quality of life of non-agricultural population makes
difference in culture and lifestyle of people in the core areas of the city, middle
parts of the city and fringe area of the city. On the whole, we can say that all
these are responsible for variations in the urban life of people in Munger has
modified due to rise in the level of education of people. An analysis follows.
SERVICE-WORK CONDITIONS
Cities draw migrants with the promise of higher living standards, but
the wealth produced in cities does not necessarily translate into prosperity
for all. The best opportunities are open to those with entrepreneurial skills,
influence and access to services and support. Two issues are important: the
relative degree of income inequality, and the changes in these conditions
over time.
Studies of selected megacities show that in the late 1980s the

proportion of the urban population under the poverty level was roughly
comparable to national poverty levels in Korea, Brazil and Egypt; in
Nigeria, a higher proportion were poor in Lagos than in the country as a

whole, Data from China suggest that income differentials in ruban areas
have become lower than in rural areas, in contrast to the usual situation. It
is clear that income distributions became more skewed (i.e, the proportions
of both poor and wealthy increased) in Brazilian metropolitan areas during
the 1980s. In Asian, ruban poverty has been decreasing proportionally since
the mid- 1980s in a number of countries.
However, even with this success, income inequality is increasing.

Opportunities for the more advantaged are increasing at a faster rate than
those available to the disadvantaged. Access to services, particularly health
and education, for all, including the poor and disadvantaged, will be
essential to reduce these biases and prevent their perpetuation in the next
generation.
Occupation of Residents No. of Male Female Place of

Families origin
Labourers 18 42 35 Laksmipur
Sakarpur
Tarapur
Municipal Worker 5 10 11 Bela, Tarapur
Rikshwapuller 6 11 13 Belhar,
Sangrampur
Chandpur
J.R.S. Collegle Male 3 3 6 Sangrampur
Beggar 4 4 4 Sangrampur
Glass, paper, Tin Collector 5 10 10 Sangrampur
Fakir 1 1 1 Akbarnager

In 1971 the following new market have been added to the old marked of
the city and now most of them have developed as slums of incurable in
nature because the material condition getting worse
The slums and squatter people of Purabsarai, Munger are mostly

labour class people besides Municipal workers, rickshaw puller, beggars,
vendor and fakirs. Most of them came from Lakhmipur, Sakarpur, Tarapur,
Sangrampur, Chilla, Bela, Belhar, Chandpur and Akbarmager. These place
are located in south eastern part of the district of Munger where these
people have been harassed by Yadava’s of the area which act as a push
force and the opportunity of getting a good job in the cities of Munger and
Bhagalpur is a pull force for attracting these people.
FINANCIAL ISSUES
Number of Commercial banks and co-operative in Munger District
No. of Commercial Banks 37
No. of Regional Rural Banks 21
No. of Co-Operative Banks 06
No of Land Development Banks 02
Total 66
Average Population per Branch 14700
Average Village covered per Branch 25
SADAR BLOCK
1. Bharatiya State Bank Main Branch, Munger

2. Bharatiya State Bank Bazar Branch, Munger

3. Bharatiya State Bank Basudeopur

4. Bharatiya State Bank Bardah
5. Bharatiya State Bank Shankerpur
6. Punjab National Bank Munger
7. Canara Bank Munger
8. Union Bank of India Munger
9. Bank of India Munger
10. Syndicate Bank Munger
11. United Bank of India Munger
12. Central Bank of India Munge
13. Land Development Bank Munger
14. UCO Bank Munger
15. Munger-Jamui Central Coop. Bank Munger
16. Munger Kshetriya Gramin Bank Munger
17. Munger Kshetriya Gramin Bank Munger
18. Munger Kshetriya Gramin Bank Mai Dariapur
19. Indian Overseas Bank Munger
20. Munger Kshetriya Gramin Bank Nauagarhi
SOCIO-CULTURAL LEVELS AND THE VALUE SYSTEMS
Population denisites in urban settlements generally exceed those in

rural areas. Crowding is an important element in disease transmission,
particularly of airbone infection agents. The incidence of tuberculosis
cases fell in the more developed countries of the would in part because of
reductions in the density of populations in urban areas, though its re-emergence

has more to do with drug-resistant bacteria and infections which weaken the
immune system such as HIV than with population density.
In the most parts of the world, women are bearing fewer children, but that
does not necessarily mean less crowding in societies where the nuclear family is
the exception rather than the rule. Providing shelter and support for elderly
parents and poorer relatives is not only customary but an
essential part of the social security system in many countries. This may be
changing, in East Asia for example, where incomes are rising and there is a trend
towards the nuclear family. A trend towards nuclear families can worsen
environment stress since the household is a basic unit of
consumption. The continued spread of shanty towns and other informal settlements
around major cities clearly indicates that local population densities continues to rise
even as household sizes decline.
Overall consumption and housing in the 20th and 21st centuries have created
not only socio-economic problems but also an unprecedented concern of the
physical environment degradation. Abyssal poverty, social desirability and lack
of poper opportunity in rural areas forces men to imgrate to urban area. All these
have made the quality of life very miserable.
Slums have unhygienic localities in the urban centre where congestion of

houses, dump of garbage on the road side, open drains of refuge water, service
latirines, lack of street lights, broken metalled or unmetalled road and the dingy
looking houses dominate the scene, Ecology or the environmental condition of
people in the slum where they reside, shows that the life is quite miserable and
struggling in nature, In such a situation, mostly the poors are living in the slums
because the houses are relatively cheap in comparison with other areas.

RACE-TRIBE AND CASTE LEVELS
Brahmans
Maithil Brahmans are the highest ranking caste and also, in political
terms, the dominant casts. Brahmans came to control much of the land.
Thousands of villages were in Brahman control, and they are still the largest
landowners in Mithila. The other castes are described in the order according to
their traditional occupations as expressed by Brahman.
Yadavas
Yadavas are by far the largest casts in the region at one-eighth of the total
population. They are herdsmen and cultivators and consider themselves kinsmen
to the god Krishna, who was also a cowherd.
Bhumihars
Bumihars are small landlords who claim to be Brahmans but are considered
lower because they have taken up agricultural pursuits and given up priestcraft.
Maithil Brahmans serve as their priests for domestic rites.
Kayasthas
Kayasthas are record-keepers for landwnes and village surveyors and

accountants.
Rajputs
Rajputs the 100,000 Rajputs in Mithila are not native to the area, but came
during the Mughal era and became zaminders. This is why Brahmans count
them as lower then Kayasthas, even though Kayasthas are technically a superior
type of Shudra. The next few castes are th middle agricultural castes, “clean

castes” in ritual terms, upwardly mobile in political and economic terms, now
pushing Brahman dominance and getting power in local and state government.
Doms
They are included in the scheduled castes under the constitution. Their
total population during 1961 census was 4.533 (4. 091 in rural and 442 in urban
areas.) They rear pigs, make bamboo wares and work as labourers. They are
much addicted to liquor but the incidence in going down some of them have
started studying in schools.
Dusadhs
They are notified scheduled castes under the constitution and according to
the census of 1961 their total population was 56,597 (54,165 rural and 2,432
urban). They are scattered throughout the district. They are one of the most
useful castes in the district, owing to their value as agricultural labourers. In
Bhagalpur and some other districts of South Bihar the Dusadhs are practically
leaving their profession of pig rearing and have confined themselves to cattle
rearing only. But the Dusadhs of this district rear both cattle, pigs, poultry, etc.
A few who are them are quite well-to-do and own landed property also, a few
who are educated have taken to teaching profession in the primary schools. They
have monopolized the post of village chowkidas or village watchmen in the
district. The women supplement the income of the family by working as
labourers. The incidence of literacy among them is poor.
Hajams or Napits
They are now included in the constitution under Backward classes

and are also known as Nai and Thakur. They are scattered throughout the
district. Their chief profession is shaving and hair-cutting but some are also

good cultivators and rear cattle. They used to play a more important role
earlier for negotiating marriage among the Hindus and at the actual
marriages. Their role during the birth and death of a man is still important.
In some of the villages Hajamss still practice a rude form of unscientific
surgery. Several of them now work in hair sutting saloons.
Kewats and Mallahs

They belong to Backward classes. Boating fishing and agriculture are
their occupations. The incidence of literacy among them is very low,
Kumhars
In almost all the villages and towns some men of this caste are found.
They are originally potters and prepare earthenwares, tiles, etc. some of them are
also good cultivators. The incidence literacy among them is very low.
Mushars
They are notified scheduled castes under the constitution. They are
numerically very strong among the scheduled castes. Essentially most of them
are without lands and lead a precarious exist as labourers. They keep pigs, hens
and cocks.
Rabidasas
Usually called Chamars they are by occupation makers of footwear,
cultivators or labourers. They are a notified scheduled caste. In some villages
they have the right to collect the hides of the dead livestock. The services of the
women-folk, Chamain, are frequently requisitioned as midwife although they
are untrained and follow crude methods. Many of them are getting employment

in the public services. Hard-working and simple minded, they are now quite
progressive in spite of poor incidence of literacy. Their total population in the
district in 64.667 souls. They are scattered throughout the district.
The Bantar
The early history and origin of this caste has not been noticed in detail
anywhere so far. A special investigation was made about them. It is commonly
believed that the Bantars originally belgoned to Nepal form where they came to
Bihar in search of better condition of life. But their facil features do not bear
resemblance with those of the Nepalese. In this state they are scattered in
Darbhanga Purnea and Munger districts.
Dhanuks and Kahars

Generally Dhanuks and Kharas join domestic services and are employed
as servants. They used to work as palanquin bearers when palanquins were in
use.
In town they pull rickshaws, or are employed as drivers or peons in
offices . They are now getting allergic to domestic choses.
Dhobis
Dhobis are notified Scheduled castes under the constitutional. They are
mostly scattered in the rural areas of the district. Almost every village has got
some Dhobis who mostly work as washer-men. In the towns they have opened
laundries. Besides wage earners some of them are also agriculturists. They have
a strong caste Munger.

REFERENCES
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, op. cit., Ch. 2, p. 55ff.
The World Bank. 1988. World Development Report 1988. New York: Oxford University Press.
United Nations Centre for Human Settlement (UNCHS/Habitat), op. cit.
The World Bank. 1994. Infrastructure for Development: The World Development Report 1994,
p.26 ff. New York : Oxford University Press.
Satterthwaite, op. cit. Among the questions raised are the appropriateness of definitions of access
to community piped water on the basis of physical proximity to taps without consideration of the
size of the served community and “effective availability” of sufficient quantities of water.
Reporting biases for urban populations (particularly in squatter settlements) and lack of
consideration of costs incurred and their relation to incomes.
The world Bank 1994.
Generally measured by data on wage rates since these are more widely available than other
indicators of individual and household wealth.
Collins, S. D. 1926. Economics Status and Health: A Review and study of the Relevant Morbidity
and Mortality Data, Public, Public Health Bulletin No. 165. Treasury Department, US Profile
Health Service. Washington . D. C.: US Government Printing Office. In “The Ranks of Death:
Secular Trends in Income and Mortality,” by Stephen J. Kunitz and Stanley L. Engerman. 1992.
In Health Transition Review 2 (Supplementary issue).
Country writeups in United Nations. (Forthcoming) The Challenge of Urbanization : The

World’s largest Cities. New York: Population Division, Department for Economic and Social
Information and Policy Analysis, United Nations.
Mexico and Cairo information from: Serageldin, Ismael, and Richard Barrett. 1993.
“Environmentally Sustainable Urban Transport: Defining a Global Policy.” Washington, D.C.:
The World Bank. Cited in the Urban Age 2 (1).

Chapter-4
FUNCTIONAL AREAS and the levels Of

quality Of life
− Conditions of Urban Morphology

1. Commercial areas
2. Industrial areas
3. Educational Institutions
4. Medical Facilities
5. Recreational areas
6. Other areas and Aspects
− Physical – Non-Physical Parameters (Qualitative-Quantitative)
− Methodology of the present work: Measurement of the Life
Quality Levels.
− References

FUNCTIONAL AREAS AND the levels of

quality Of life
Functional Zones of Munger City

CONDITIONS OF URBAN MORPHOLOGY
1. COMMERCIAL AREAS
It appears form the record that the native town and Bazar of Munger have for a
long period been considered government property. This though constituting one
Mahal, i.e. Khas Mahal Land, which was divided into 13 Tarafs, VizBara Bazar,
i. Deochi Bazar,
ii. Goddard Bazar,
iii. Wellesly Bazar
iv. Munger Bazar,
v. Gorhee Bazar,
vi. Batemangaj
vii. Topekhana Bazar,
viii. Fanok Bazar,
ix. Dalhatta Bazar,
x. Belan Bazar
xi. Rasoolganj and
xii. Begampur”.
Business areas:
Markets at Rajiv Gandhi Chauk and Indira Gandhi Chauk

But now a days these are the following business areas of the city:-
• Bada bazaar – Deals with fruit and vegetable market

• Chowk Bazar –Deals in readymade garment shops , sweet shops and guns
shops
• Murgia Chowk - Deals in stationary shop
• Purabsarai - Deals in vegetable market , fish market and stationary shop
• Gandhi Chowk – Deals in readymade market and jewellery shop
• Bata chowk Bazzar – Deals in footware shops
• Din dayal upadhya chowk Bazzar – Deals mainly in readymade garment and
main shops are Rajesh Vastralay and readymade Emporium .
• Rajeev Gandhi chowk Bazzar –Deals in stationary shops
• Sardar patel chowk Bazzar –Deals in guns shop
• Mansari talley –Deals in whole shale market of fruit and vegitables
• Lohar patti bekapur –Deals in iron steel and sphere parts market
• Pasratha market –Deals mainly in food grains , spices and stationary
• Topkahna bazzar –Deals in stationary shops
• Kauramaidan bazzar –Deals in whole sale market of fruits and vegetables
• Raja Bazzar – Deals in medicine shops
• Mugal bazzar Sonarpatti --- Deals in jewellery shops
• Bekapur Sonar patti – Deals in Jewellery shops
• Badi Bazzar – Deals in Guns Shops, Cyber cafes, Private Nursing Homes .
Munger is a small town but always bustles with business activity. There
is nothing which is not sold in the market. Market are specialized and
therefore , people have no difficulties in going to the particular market to
purchase a particular thing . The expression market are specilaised means
that in each market only one kind of thing is sold and attracts the customer
of only that thing. Take for instant the mohalla Bada bazzar is called itself is

called Bazzar or market . The market of Bada Bazzar deals in fruits and
vegetables.
If a person needs of fresh vegetables and fruits, he has to simply go to

this market and he demands his needs , shall be satisfied in no time . Every
kind of vegetable is available there and in any quantity . The quality is also
superior. Even in the specialized market there is the further speclization in
one place the seller of potato are only there at another place Brinjals are sold
at another place in the same market pumpkings or karelas are sold .
Cauliflower and kobbies of all varieties and of all sizes are sold there .
Hence we find there is Speclization with in Specilization . Bada bazzar is
the market of fruit and vegetables but with in this area vegetable or fruit of
one kind are sold only in one place . As far fruit are concern Oranges and
apples are sold in abundance because customers flock to these places .
Bananas are sold throughout the year . The banana growers leave in nearest
locality and they have no difficulty in transporting there goods to market,
At a very cheap cost. But sometimes banana from neighboring district
particularly from Bhagalpur are imported. Bhagalpur is the nearest
adjoining district of Munger . In Bhagalpur banana cultivation is under
taken on a mass scale . In metro Politian city like Kolkata and Delhi
vegetables and fruits are sold and the unit of selling is 250 grams .
When a purchase goes to the vegetable market of Delhi or Kolkata and

if he asks the rate from the seller the seller mention the price at the rate of
only 250grms or one fourth of the kilos but this is not the case in the
Munger market , here mostly the price of a Kilos is told and the customers
act accordingly . In metropolitan town kadu or pumpkins is sold at the rate
of kilos or at the rate of 250 grams but this practice is not found in Munger
market , Pumpking are sold by numbers . Each Pumpkins priced different by
according to its weight, quality and freshness. In the morning hour fresh
vegetables are available because the local growers-cum-sellers bring their
commodities and go away t their respective villages after selling them.
The market therefore is compact and concentrated. The customers

gains tremendously because of this he has not to bargain and prices charge
are very reasonable and suit the per stream of the buyers, No sellers can
charge higher price or unreasonable price because next to him there is
another seller who is ready to sell at the competitive price . There is another
specific feature of vegetables market 75 % of the sellers are women and it is
they who conduct the sale.
Just at a stone through from the bada bazzar there is another market but
this market is not of perishable goods , vegetable and fruit are perishable
commodity but this market which lies in chowk bazzar is a market of
durable goods like garment and Guns .Garments of every variety of every
color and every price are sold in several shops . The most important shop
selling readymade garments is readymade Emporium. These garments
cattier to the needs and taste and pocket of a very variety of customers –
from the richest to the poorest, The richest are prepared to pay up to Rs
2000 or 3000 for one piece of garments but the poorest can also get
garments at the rate of Rs 40 to 50 per piece. Strangely enough these
garments are not produce or manufacture in Munger or in any of adjoining
district but are impetrated from as distant places as Kolkata and Delhi
where there are thousands of establishment manufacturing and sewing
garments .
The specialization are supplied to the Munger Sellers and garment are
supplied according to those speculation, Kolkata or Delhi manufacturer are
completely ironing about the taste of Munger consumers and hence they
cannot manufacture on their own. If they do so, they will encounter
marketing difficulties . This is not the case with Munger shop owner who
know what the consumer wants and they order the making of type of
garment. The garment for the poorest are imported from manglaghat of
Kolkata and Gandhinagar of Delhi . The manufacturer of Kalkata and
Delhi do not sales in retails. . The quote the price in twelve (dozen) There is
a brisk and heavy sell during the different festival of different religion and
different communities .
During the Holi and Durga pooja festivals of Hindus, during the id
festival of Muslims and during the Chrismas of the Christians, there is
overcrowding of the shops by the customers . There is no space in the
establishment for the customers even to stand in the shop areas . The result
there is bargaining by the customer and the prices quoted by the shop
keeper are immediately paid by the customer who immediately leaves the
place thereafter . During the winter seasons woolen goods and garments
find a ready market and during summer seasons summer dresses are sold
briskly. During the rainy seasons rain coat are sold these are particularly
required for the school going children.
The next important market is the market of dealing in stationary

goods There is cluster of shops dealing in every kind of commodities in
daily use like toothpaste, brush , shop , biscuits , Chocolate , paper & paper
weight Etc . These shop attract customer of every age –Man and women of
90 years down to children age 4 to 5 years . All these goods are made
available to the Shopkeeper from local whole sellers . It is the whole sellers
who brings the goods from Mumbai , Kolkata , Patna & Delhi . And the
retailers purchase their goods from them.
Footwear are sold in a Market known as Bata Chowk . Bata is the

greatest largest and most famous footwear seller . The footwear sellers of
National and International reputies are also found in the Market Food
grains and Spices are sold in Pasratha Market and iron steel goods are found
in Lohar patti .
2. INDUSTRIAL AREAS
Jamalpur Workshop:
Brief History : Established on the 8th day of February
1862, Jamalpur Workshop has enjoyed the distinction of
being the largest and the oldest locomotive repair
workshop with the most diversified manufacturing
activities on the Indian Railways. The British chose
Jamalpur as the site of this workshop due to ready
availavbilty of skilled workers who were descendants of
acclaimed gun makers and fabricators of weapons of steel for the Nawabs of
Bengal and Orissa.
The workshop has a number of FIRSTS to its credit, a few of which are:-
• The FIRST to manufacture a steam locaomotive and a locomotive boiler-

216 of which were manufactured between 1899 and 1923.
• The FIRST to have set up a rolling mill not only on the railways, but
probably in the country in1870.
• The FIRST to establish a railway foundry in the year 1893.
• The FIRST to manufacture a rail crane in the counntry with indigenous
know-how in 1961/

• The FIRST to manufacture high capacity electrical lifting jacks and ticket
printing, ticket chopping, ticket slitting and ticket counting machines.
• The FIRST and the only railway workshop to manufacture electrical are
furnaces of & frac 12; tonne capacity in 1961 for production of steel
castings.
Turning Shop 64-tone Cranes which are manufactured in Jamalpur
With the gradual eclipse of steam traction on Indian Railways, steam

locomotive activities, which had peaked to 600 Standard units per month in 1962-
63, started declining in the late 60’s and finally the steam activities came to a
complete end in August’92. The closure of steam activities was to some extend
overcome with the switching over to the repair of Diesel Locomotives, repair of
unloadable wagons and manufacture of Diesel Hydraulic B. D. Cranes and Tower
Cars. Workshop undertook manufacturing of rolling stock spares in a big way to
meet demand of in house, other divisions and workshops of eastern railway.
Workshop has recently started periodical over hauling of BOX’N wagons.
Formerly 22000 (Twenty two thousand) but now a days only about 9000 (Nine
thousand) workers have left. Most of the employes are settled in Jamalpur butabout

2000 workers live in the city of Munger and they used to attend office by trevelling
Munger to Jamalpur. A workers train called cooli train runs from Munger to Jamalpur.
GUN MANUFACTURING Industry at Munger
In Medieval India very few cities like Agra and Munger along with some
others had expertise for the manufacture of firearms. It was done quite
efficiently during Shershah. It was of course banned by Mugal Emperor Akbar.
However some times after Agra lost this industry but Munger technicians kept
alive their traditions industry. The gun manufacture facilities to be a factory for
the selection of Munger by Mir Kasim Ali as his capital. It was geographical and
strategically safe and well protected.
Previously, here cannon were made at Topkhana Bazar but subsequently
it came to Guns firstly like ML Guns and then to capped gun. Gun
manufacturing got fresh impetus during Mirkashim Regime. Till the Shifting of
the factories to the jail Campus it was being done at Chuabag And Kassim
Bazar. Britishers banned the use of guns by private persons by enforcing Acts
viz. Act 18 in 1841, Act 30 in 1854, its manufacture was then also banned by
Act 28 of 1857, then up to 1860 by Act 31 of 1860.
In 1879 New Arms Act came into existence on 6th March, 1879 and
provisions were made for the manufacture of guns under licenses scheme. The
then Collector Mr. Lee highly appreciated the craftsmanship of the gunsmiths of
Munger, who were selling their Gun only for Rs. 10 only despite their
inseparable condition.
During the First World War period the Munger Gun manufacture again
came into prominence and production of cartridge gun was also developed.
Munger was perhaps the only city in India where gun manufacturing took the
shape of cottage industries and became popular profession. Now a days about 35

Gun Companies are working under this gun factory. Each company has its own
entire unit of Manufacturing of the Guns. Munger Gun Factory makes 12 Bore
double Barrel and single barrel guns. Thirty five separate gun companies have
quota of different number of guns they can manufacture every year.
When I met the owners of the gun companies they said that this big
factory is now suffering from its worst times. The government policy is such
that many of the gun companies are not in a condition to manufacture gun. The
owners and the workers are living in miserable condition. The State and Central
taxes are very high, the renewal of the license is very tough, and recently the
license to manufacture guns has been passed by after four years. Further in
Bihar the government does not easily provide arms licence and hence the
demand has also declined a lot.
Many of the workers of the companies who are not making guns and
running in miserable condition has opted another choice, they are helping the
persons who are making illegal weapons in Munger. Their art and handicraft of
making guns are being used by the persons who are involved in illegal arms
trade. Munger is the biggest center of Manufacturing illegal weapons and fire
arms also, even many sophisticated arms are now being made here in Munger.
Now the semi automatic pistols, revolvers, carbines, and sophisticated rifles are
being supplied to the extremist groups, terrorists and the underworld people
from Munger. It has become a big threat for the internal security of the entire
nation.
Recently the present Senior Superintendent of Police of Munger who
have done a marvelous job in raiding and crushing the illegal arms trade in
Munger has said that it is almost impossible to put an end on illegal making of
the guns if we do not provide jobs and means of livelihood to the persons who
are involved in manufacturing of these illegal arms. It has been reported that
more than 4500 small illegal gun making units are being run in Munger district.
Main Entrance Gate of Munger Gun Factory Manufecturing of Barrel
Short Handled Double Barrel 12 bore gun Illegal Pistols ceased by Munger police
ITC FACTORY LIMITED

Background & History :

The present ITC factory, which is popularly known as the “Chatkal”
or Cigarette factory, is one of the biggest tobacco
factories of India built over 17.38 acres of land. The factory is situated at
Basdeopur, 1.5 miles from Munger station.
It was started by the Peninsular Tobacco Company on 6th November,

1907 in Munger presumably because of its proximity to suitable tobacco
cultivating area and also due to the availability of transport facilities by rail,
road and river. It commenced its manufacturing operation in the year 1908. In
1910, the Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited came into existence as a
private company, as a selling and distribution organization.
On 12th December, 1925, a printing factory was also set up for the printing
needs of this factory. In 1928, the Peninsular Tobacco Company went out of
business in India and its cigarette production activities were taken by Tobacco
Manufacturing (India) Ltd., while Printers (India) Limited took over the printing

business in Munger inside the factory campus itself. After the great damages
during 1934 earthquake, the factory received certain renovation and
reorganization.
In the 21st century, it provides direct employment to around 1800
workmen. This Factory is operated on world-class benchmarks in terms of
quality, health and safety standards and provides a gamut of welfare and medical
care services to its employees. The Factory has to its credit various International
and National awards like the Sword of Honour from the British Safety Council,
ISO 14000 certification from DNV, Netherlands, ROSPA Gold Award for
Occupational Safety, Bachat Factory Certificate from the Minsitry of Finance,
Govt. of India, First Prize for Pollution Control Management from the Bihar
State Pollution Control Board, etc.
ITC’s Sunehra Kal Mission through BAIF & SEWA at Munger : Pursuant
to the wishes of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India, during his visit to
Bihar in May 2003 that efforts be made in the direction of social upliftment,
ITC has flagged off its “Sunhra Kal Mission” in Munger in partnership with
BAIF Development Research Foundation and SEWA, both nationally
renowned, non-political and professionally managed NGOs, The projects at
Munger, which is the first of its kind in Bihar, aims at creating opportunities for
gainful self-employment for the rural families especially disadvantaged sections,
ensuring sustainable livelihood, enriched environment and improved quality of
life.
ITC’s Other Social Responsibility Initiatives at Munger : Apart from the
above notable contributions, ITC’s Munger Factory has constantly discharged
its responsibilities as a good and responsible corporate citizen by addressing the
local issues relating to the local society. The Company works in close concert
with the District administration at all times and actively supports it by way of
repairs to roads and drains, donation of equipment to the Municipality, arranging

immunization camps, putting up lighting around Munger town, etc.
Additionally, the Company provides support proactively during earthquakes and
other administrative exigencies from time to time.
Furthermore, free cataract eye camps are also organized through several
NGOs along with organizing general health check-up for the citizens of Munger.
ITC has also been organizing free yoga and health awareness camps every
month for the people of Munger.
From time to time, the Company has supported various activities like
providing equipments for the Operation Theatre at the Government Sadar
Hospital, lighting facilities and provision of generator services . It has also
provided certain infrastructure facilities at the District Court at Munger apart
from assistance in the construction of a much-needed public toilet and bathing
complex under the aegis of the Sulabh International and cleaning of the Ganga
water intake pumps done from time to time which serves to ameliorate drinking
water shortage in the Munger town during summer months.
It has strength of about 3000 workers. It is the biggest industry of Munger
city and second biggest in the entire district. The workers are highly paid and
which constitute upper middle class of the Munger town. The company further
promotes many cultural activities, like drama and theater, Musical shows etc.
3. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Munger has many good schools, colleges and Institution.

• Schols - Notre Dame Academy in Jamalpur and Munger, Saraswati
Vidya Mandir, DAV Public School, St. Xzvier’s School, Kendriya
Vidyalaya, Little Angels School, S. K.D. Memorial Public School,
New Era, Arya Bal Shanti Niketan etc. The oldest school in the
district is the Zila School (formerly Government English School)

which was founded in 1854. There are two girl’s schools, Baijnath
Girls School and Balmik Rajniti Balika Vidyalaya, Madhopur, in
Munger town.
• Colleges - R.D. & D.J. College, Balmiki Rajniti Mahila
Mahavidyalaya, J.R.S. College are institutions for higher education.
R.D. & D.J. College is one of the oldest and renowned College in
the Bihar and Eastern India Zone. The alumni of these Institutes are
now working all over world and have brought laurels to the district.
• University - Bihar School of Yoga (World’s First Yoga
University[1] and a deemed university) attracts students from all
over world. Around 400 Australians, Americans and others register
for the yoga course every year with this figure rising continuously.
Baijnath Girls High School Notre Dame Academy
Bihar School of Yoga

Bihar School of Yoga (BSY) was established in 1964 as the

headquarters of International Yoga Fellowship. It aims to impart yogic
training to householders and sannyasins alike. Since the firtst Yoga
Teacher Training Courses which was held in 1968, the school has grown
into a reputable International Training center of great renown.
The Yoga School is situated at Ganga Darshan, which is built over

a large hill overlooking the Utter vahini Ganga. Here, amidst an
atmosphere of natural beauty, surrounding by scenic gardens, green
garden paddy fields and a majestic 180 degree panoramic sweep of the
river Ganga, a new vision of yogic life is inspired.
The techniques of integral Yoga taught here are a synthesis of all

approaches to personal development. Yoga Teachers Training, Yoga
Health Management, Individual Sadhana, Hriya Yoga, Mantra
Meditation and other advance courses are conducted by trained

sannyasins on a group or individual basis for day and life residential

students.
The Bihar School of Yoga has always been known for its excellent
sannyasa training and was one of the first instructions to initiate and train
female and overseas sannysains on a large scale.
The institution houses a well-stocked Yoga Research Library with
a large collection of books and data where most of the school’s
publication of Yoga, health techniques and research are compiled.
Ashram graphics, the modern printing press, prints all the BSY
publications. Its has a wide range of equipment’s and is staffed and
managed by the sannyasins and disciples of the ashram who do
everything from typesetting to dispatch.
Conventions tours, seminars, workshops and lectures help spread
the yogic message “from door to door and from shore to shote”. In
addition to these, trained sannyasins are ever ready toconduct organized
conventions, seminars and lecture tours throughout all the India and the
world. This provides a solutions for the Yoga minded people who find it
impossible to undertake a journey to Munger or any of the branch
ashrams.
Bihar Yoga Bharati – World’s First Yoga University

Swami Niranjananand Saraswati (Left) and his guri Late Swami Satyanand Saraswati
In order to preserve and regenerate the total scope of yogic sciend by

combining academic and scientific methodology with spiritual vision,
established Bhiar Yoga Bharti (BYD) as a charitable educational institution at
Munger in the year 1994.
BYB offers scholars, scientists, doctors and yoga aspirants from all over
the world a a golden opportunity to work together to formulate on scientific
basis for the growth, expansion and rapid integration of Yoga into modern
society.
Bihar Yoga Bharati is the first university of its kind to impart a

comprehensive Yogic education with provision for MA, M.Sc., M. Phil, Ph. D,
DSc, and Dlitt. The Undergraduate department offers a four month certificate
course and a one year Diploma course in Yogic Studies. The postragudate
department offers a One year diploma course in Yogic Studies. The
postgraduate department offers a One year diploma inYoga Ecology and Two

year Master Course, MA in Yoga philosophy, MA/MSc in yoga phychology and

M.Sc. in Applied Science.
Bihar Yoga Bharati offers complete academics, yogic education and

training in the traditional Gurukul or ashram environment. This combination of
academics training and residential ashram lifestyle, helps the student imbibe the
Yogic principles in an integral way. It ensure that, along with an intellectual
yoga education, each student imbibes the spirit of seva (Selfless services),
samarpan (dedication) and karuna (Compassion) for humankind.
KHANQAH RAHMANI MUNGER, BIHAR
KHAQAH RAHMANI is an institution internationally known where

spiritualism is taught and practiced and purification of soul is done with a
view to achieve salvation. It has a history of splendid and dignified deeds
behind it in connection with service to humanity. It commands tremendous
regards form both Muslim and Non-Muslim, nationwide and also in abroad.

People from every walk of life gather in large number on every

second Saturday of the month to get blessings from the present Sajjada
Nashee, Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Wali Rahmani and get rid of their
troubles and difficulties.
This holy shrine was established over hundred year ago in the year
1901 by the eminent SUFI of all times namely Hazrat Maulana Mohammad
Ali Mungeri (R.A.).
KHANQAH has contributed considerably in freedom movement in

Bihar, Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Maulana
Mohammad Ali Jauhar, had come here to generate the freedom movement.
Shri Krishna Sinha, The first chief Minister of Bihar, took shelter for 22 days
to run the freedom movements form this center. After the death of Hazerat
Munger (R.H) become the Sajjada Nasheen and led the flame of freedom
struggle. He was also jailed by the British Rulers.
Apart from those leaders, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Dr. Rajendra
Prasad, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, had also graced this
institution with their presence from the time Recently in march 1991 at the
death of Hazrat Maulana Minnatullah Rahmani (R.A.) Shri Rajeev Gandhi,
Shri V.P.Singh and Shri Chandra Shakhar (the then P.M.) had come to pay
their homage and tributes to this great soul.
JAMIA RAHMANI :
In this religious academic institution student are taught Islamic

theology comprising of HADIS, FIQUAH, TAFASEER-QURAN, HAFIZ,
QUERAT ETC. to the highest standard (up to post graduate degree) as well

as they are equipped with Islamic Discipline and culture, In fact knowledge
is blended here with PRACTICE. It is a residential institution.
This renowned institution was also established by HAZRAT Maulana

Mohammad Ali Mungeri (R.A. ) in the year 1927. After his death his son
namely Hazrat Maulana Minnatullah Rahmani (R.A.), the Founder General
Secretary of “All India Muslim Personal Law Board”, took over the
command and brought multi dimensional progress to this institution in a
very short span of time and gave it a new height and horizon touching the
zenith of many glorious achievements.
Presently, Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Wali Rahmani, Sajjada

Nasheen Khanque Rahmani, Munger is efficiently and effectively running
this institution and it is smoothly marching ahead.
Rehmania Foundation
Jamia Rahmani has a magnificent library known as KUTUB KHANA

RAHMANI with a sizeable collection of valuable books including rare
manuscripts.

Really JAMIA RAHMANI Munger, Bihar, holds a very prominent

position among the institutions of Islamic Learning in India and abroad.
To maintain and look to the education and training of the Muslim

orphans to enable them to stand on their feet. Secondly, to inculcate in them
the religious feeling for communal unity and amity and tom train them on
oriental cultural pattern and finally to discover means for their
employment and progress.
Educational Position
At present, the Anjuman runs the orphanage and a middle English

School and a class of theology which prepares students to become Hifz
(who can recite Koran extempore.).
At present there are five teachers, two staffs and 203 students of
whom 33 get both board and lodge.
The middle school cater to need of the Anjuman boys and after that
arrangements are also made through the Anjuman for their Secondary
education in M.W. High School (Maulanagar Waqf).
Nearby Munger Fort there is a tomb of Mullah Muhammad Sayed

Asharaf, a poet who was preceptor of the Princess Zebunnissa. It is
understood that Mullah Muhmmad Sayed Ashraf attract disciples from
distant places beyond the limits of Munger and Bihar.
From the accounts of Francis Buchanan, (who surveyed this part of

the county In 1810-11) it appears that the incidence of education in
Munger was not very encouraging.

The same Francis Buchanan further writes that the teaching of the
Hindi Sciences, viz. Grammer, Law, and Metaphysics were done in the
Hindu pathshalas. He gives warm tributes to an Astronomer of Munger
whose name was Gauri Dutta Pathak, ‘the most sensible man that I have
been able ot find in that vicinity’. Sir Pathak used to prepare almanacs. The
Government records of Bhagalpur division show that the Government of
Bengal had taken up Vernacular division show that the Government of
Bengal had taken up Vernacular education in the forties of the last century.
In Munger district – Munger, Shekhpura and Teghra were considered
suitable sites for Vernacular school in the district of Munger. This school
was started at Munger in the month of June, 1846 in the Fort area with 12
students and one teacher on a monthly salary of Rs. 20/- Shah Yahid-ud-
din began his work as a teacher who had received his education at
Bhagalpur at the hands of Moulvi Muhammad Hanif of Moulana Chowk and
he taught Arithmetic, Geography, History, Arabic, Persian and Urdu
Languages.
In December, 1849 the Government desired to convert these

Vernacular school into additional Zila School. The Educational Dispatch of
1854 ended all the Vernacular School and amalgamated them to the
secondary school established in different districts. W.W. Hunter in his
statistical accounts of Munger of 1877 writes that the number of aided
Government school was 8 in 1856-57, 11 in 1860-61 and 15 in 1870-71.
ZILA SCHOOL
The oldest school in the district is the Government English School,

Munger now Zila School. It was founded in 1854. Gradually there were 229
school in the district attended by 6675 pupils by 1882 the number of school

in the had risen to 2755 and of pupils 230403. Since ten in 19th and 20th
century the number of school have grown up enormously.
The two girl schools-Baijnath Girls School and B.R.M. School

Madhopur are there in Munger town.
R.D. & D.J.COLLEGE
In the sphere of higher education the Diamond Jubilee College,

presently R.D.& D.J College was started in the year 1898 and in celebrated
its centenary celebration in 2002. The R.D. & D.J. College is the second
oldest college under Bhagalpur University. During the decade of 1980-90
Munger College added P.G. teaching in most of the departments and
presently there are 16 departments-4 in the science, one in the commerce
and 11 in the Arts faculties which are running P.G. Classes.
Amongst the distinguished members of this college, Dr. K.P. Mitra was
a distinguished historian, Sri K. K. Sharan an eminent scholar with his
leanings to literatures, and Sri K. N. “kapil” who was a literacy figure and got
many books in Hindi to his credit. He was the Editor of a Hindi Journal
“Prachi and one of the important editors of “Srikrishna Avinandan Granth.”
He had a long tenure and remained principal of the college for 25 years. Dr.
U.P. Verma, who succeeded him, was great scholar of his subjects
Economics & Commerce and has several books to his credit.
Among other colleges in Munger town mention mist also be made of

J.M.S. college, Munger, J.R.S. college B.R.M. College, Munger and R.D.S.Y.
college, Munger.
Shift in the field of Education specially of secondry level the role and
functioning of Notre Dame Academy at Munger and Jamalpur has been

quite satisfactory. The Notre Dame is run by American Roman Catholic

Mission and imparts education according to the syllabus of C.B.S.E. New
Delhi. A Kendriya Vidyalaya has also been established at Jamalpur. There is
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Khargapur also.
There is Vishwanth Singh institute of Legal studies which has made

rapid progress. It has got a magnifying 4 strayed building which can
accommodate four to five thousand students in a shift.
4. MEDICAL FACILITIES
Hospitals were available within a radius of 1 km for about 60% of

the migrant households. Though free health care facilities are available
from the nearby government hospitals for minor ailments, they had to
spend on medicines for major illness, which was beyond their ability. The
number of households borrowing on grounds of health has also increased
from 65 (8%) before migration to 135 (17%) after migration.
The entire slum population is vulnerable if a fire or flood wipes out

peoples’ temporary dwelling places or urban authorities decide to embark
on a slum clearance programme without providing alternative living
spaces. In the sample nearly 90% of the households were evicted by the
city authorities for illegal encroachment. This is one of the major problems
encountered by the slum people all over. At the global level. Each year
about 20 million to 40 million urban dwellers are forcibly evicted.

Government are reluctant t legalise them for fear of encouraging even more
illegal settlement.
Health Conditions :
Living conditionS in many urban slums are worse than those in the
poorest rural areas of the country (World Bank, 1993). This can be
attributed partly to the slums exceptionally unhealthy environment. Many
of the most serious diseases in cities are ‘environmental’ because they are
transmitted though air, water, soil and food or through insect or animal
vectors. The concentration of people in areas where the provision of water,
sanitation, garbage collection and health care is inadequate creates the
conditions where infectious and parasitic disease thrive and spread.
Around half the urban population in developing countries is suffering from
one or more of the diseases associated with inadequate provision of water
and sanitation (DFID, 2001:20).
Table -1 summarizes the diseases suffered by he migrant respondent or by

the members of the family in the last five years. The incidence of the
following diseases seems to be large among the migrant households.
• Viral fever
• Dysentry
• Malaria
Table 1 :
Diseases Suffered by the Sample Respondent / Their Family Members in

the Last Five Years.
Sl. No. Name of the disease No. of households*

1. Viral fever 489
2. Dengue fever 64
3. Madras eye 191
4. Tuberculosis 28
5. Skin diseases 113
6. Malaria 247
7. Cholera 66
8. Dysentry 539
9. Cancer 9
10. Chicken pox 17
11. Hepatitis 7
12. Asthma 02
13. Others 341
5. Source : Primary survey
• Responses are not mutually exclusive.
Viral fever are very common among the slum dwellers and is
linked to contaminated water. Being poor and to economise on fuel
almost all households do not boil the drinking water. Dysentery, a
water-borne disease, was largely found among slum households.
About 65% of the households have suffered form dysentery. Majority
of the respondents (or their family members) have been attacked by
viral fever (60%). Malaria was found among 30% of the migrant
households in slums. The other ailments suffered by the migrant

households are:
• Dengue fever
• Madras eye
• Tuberculosis
• Cancer
• Hepatitis
• Skin diseases
• Asthma
Dengue Fever - a rare disease transmitted by mosquitoes was

found among 8% of the migrant households, specially at Chennai
slums. Migrant households suffered skin diseases particularly during
the monsoon when the sewerage overflows.
Most women respondents of younger age were anemic and

stated that they suffered from frequent headaches, and nausea
caused by the foul smell from the ditches, garbage dumping places,
dirty water canal beds etc Rapid urbanization has adversely damaged
the urban environment through air, water, solid waste and noise
pollution. Slum dwellers are the worst victims of urban environment
degradation. The chief victims of the accident at Bhopal, were not just
workers, but slum dwellers in 8 Indian cities reports that every year
30, 000 children are affected by asthma and the incidence of asthma is
larger among children living on roadsides than those living in less
congested streets, because the former inhale emissions of the motor
vehicles. The concentration of air pollutants exceeded the WHO
guidelines in many urban centers in India. Long term exposure to

dust. Sulphur dioxide and small particles in the air causes a wide
range of chronic respiratory diseases and exacerbates heart disease
and other conditions. In India, the death rate due to cancer increased
by 3% and that of lung cancer by 9% since 1990 (World Resource
Institute, 1997).
In 2010 Dengue fever broke out in Munger and nearby block

Bariyarpur killing about 110 affected patients. It was the first time
Munger faced Dengue. The reason behind this big number of death
toll was the inadequate health facility and absence of required
treatment especially absence of blood – platelets separator machine
was the reason behind which the patients were reffered to Patna,
Kolkata and Delhi.
Solid wastes are the most visible form of pollution. Most of the
methods of disposing them pose serious threat to environment and
human health, particularly to those living in slums. In the absence of
regular collection of wastes by Municipalities/Corporations, the
accumulated piles of garbage promotes the multiplication of flies,
which results in the spread of fly borne diseases such as typhoid,
amoebic dysentery, diarrhea and cholera. Rodents also breed and
account for the spread of plague.
Further in the absence of adequate sewerage and drainage

systems in the slums, the stagnant waste become breeding grounds
for various kinds of pests and insects particularly mosquitoes, which
transmit diseases such as malaria, yellow fever and filariasis to
human beings. The problems of noise pollution is also severe among
the slum dwellers as they live on road side, nearby railway tracks,

under bridges etc. Noise pollution causes headaches, sleep

disturbances nd mental stress.
5: RECREATIONAL AREAS
This zone of the city of Munger is poorly adjusted where only three
cinema halls like Neelam Talkies, Vijay Talkies Baidynath Talkis and Zoo at
Company Bagh, Ploground as play field. , R.D. and D.J. College Playground
beside Munger Lions Club, Cigarette factory club and Patel clubs are
functioning.
Besides these there is one fire fighting brigade at Kasturba

water works, Bari Bazar, There are 920 water borne latirines, 7,536
service latrines and other are found in the city which show that the
environmental pollution is more acute. The Municipality should
immediately try to convert the same in sanitary latrines into water
home one as it is necessary to make healthy environment of the city.
Soil is disposed to through head laod septic latrine method in the city.
In sewerage system pucca Nala, Kutcha Nala and open drains are
prevalent.
6. OTHER AREAS AND ASPECTS
Sri Krishna Vatika

Named after the proud Son of Munger and the First Chief
Minister of the Bihar state Dr. Sri Krishna Sinha, Srikrishna Batika, is a
very beautiful enclosed garden just opposite to Kashtaharni Ghat. To
have the pleasure of both a green place and the holy river Ganga this
is one of the Must Visiting place for the people coming to Munger.
Sri Krishna Vatika is also one of the most interesting as well as

adventurous venue available in Munger as it has two “Surnags”
(tunnels). Some efforts in the past had been made to pass through the
tunnels also known as- Mir Kasim’s Surang but these have only
proved to be life taking. There are some tombs of Gul and Bahar,
wards of Mir Kasim Ali.
It is said that Princess Gul and Prince Bahar used to hide under
the tunnesl by the riverside in order to weak vengeance upon the
British officers. They used to clothe themselves with tiger skins
during the nights. Once Bahar, on his rounded ina dark might was
caught sight of by British officer who instantaneously shot the Prince
dead. The truth was reveled next morning and the Prince was said to
have been buried by the darga of Pir Shah-Nafah-Gul. The Prince was

found dead in a man’s attire by the side of her brother’s tomb, where
she was also buried. The officer, responsible for Bahar’s and
incidentally Gul’s death ordered for a daily salute of guns in the
evening to mourn the loss of these children.
SHRI KRISHNA SEVA SADAN
It is an another important place of Munger which has ben named after

the Great son of Munger and the first Chief Minister of Biar Shri Krishna
Singh. It is a huge public library and community hall.
It is the best place for books loving persons. This library has a great
collection of books. Rai Bahadur Dilip Narayan Singh has contributed for
the construction of this big public library.
PIRPAHAR

Three miles east of the town is a hill called Pirpahar, from the top of
which a fine view of the surrounding country is obtained. The hill is called
after an old Muhammadaan Saint or Pir, whose name is no longer
remembered, though devotees occasionally come to worship at his grave.
MELAS
 At Rishikund at Kharagpur police-station every year in the Malmas, big

mela is held which has religious sanctity.
 At Degorah in Kharagpur police –station there is a hill. On the top of the
hill is Sheio Mandir. A big mela is held in Fagun on Shivaratri day and it
continues for three days.
 At Rangnath in Kharagpur police-station also a big mels is held at
Shivaratri day for two days.
 At Rangnath in Tarapur police-station a big mela is held on Shivaratri day
and it continues for five days. This village is situated on the road to Bhagalpur.
 In Munger town Dashara Mela is held on a gigantic scale and about a lakh
AND
 At Kastaharinighat in Munger town on Maghi Purnima day a big mela is
held.
 At Sitakund on Mufassil police-station every year a big mela is held on

the occasion of Maghi Purnima. It is started that it is is held since the days of
Ram.
SOCIAL CONDITIONS AND PARAMETERS (QUALITATIVE-

QUANTITATIVE) :
For all the relative advantages of city life, widespread poverty casts a
shadow over the urban future. Difficult questions remain concerning the
definition of poverty, but it cannot be denied that a vast number of people in
urban areas cannot adequately provide for their basic needs in shelter,
employment, water, sanitation, health (including reproductive health) and
education. Such poverty may affect a third of all urban dwellers directly, but its
indirect effects are felt by the whole society, The ability to meet the challenge of
eradicating extreme poverty and providing basic needs will define and to some
extent determine the viability of urban centres and the economies which they
increasingly dominate. A large proportion of the poorest are women.
Collectively, women form a resource of great size and crucial importance. Their
individual ability to provide for themselves and their families will determine
whether the potential of that resource is realized.
Various estimates of the proportion of urban populations living in poverty

are available; different definitions are used. One global estimate suggests that
27.7 per cent of the developing world’s urban population lives below official
poverty lines. Regional variation is considerable : sub- Saharan Africa, 41.6 per
cent; Asia, 23 per cent; Latin America, 26.5 per cent; and the Middle East and

North Africa, 34.2 per cent. Urban poverty has been increasing faster than rural
poverty.
According to national studies up to half the population of several cities in
1
some of the world’s poorest countries are living below official poverty lines.
Even this may be an underestimate: official poverty lines are often set
unrealistically low, below the levels required to meet basic needs, and standard
income-based definitions do no usually take into account the higher cost of
living in the cities. In 1990 “at least 600 million urban dwellers in Africa, Asia
and Latin America live in ‘life and health- threatening’ home and
neighbourhoods because of the very poor housing and living conditions and the
inadequate provision for safe and sufficient water supplies and for sanitation,
drainage, the removal of garbage, and health care”. 2
Some individuals and families move out of poverty and others fall into it.
Social status, including poverty and near poverty, is not static but dynamic. The
relatively poor, however, do share a particular vulnerability to life’s shocks:
even minor illnesses and lost opportunities can lead to deeper poverty and
misery. Many millions of people never get access to the sills, resources or
opportunities required to escape from poverty’s grasp. The frequency of
mobility out of poverty in rural and urban areas is poorly understood.
Though urban poverty has its special characteristics, the same structural
factors underlie poverty in both urban and rural areas.
The quality of life is dependent on many factors particularly on infrastructural
conditions. Life quality refers to all trades and conditions of persons of area or
place influencing objectives and goals of life. The living environment decides
and determine whether there will be an improvement or detonation.

Generally speaking quality of life refers to material acquisitions but

materiality is not a determinant of happiness or greater horns. The modern world is
world of industrialization means urbanization. Urbanization changes the concept
and attitude towards life when feudalism is the dominant socio-economic formation
and rural economy is the hub of life ,there is a particular concept corresponding to
each . When capitalism comes it replaces feudal view of life, the result is that there
is a revolutionary transformation in the mind set of the people and also the goals
and objectives of life .
A man lives in society. He is an individual and leads a personal life but this
is one level , he is connected with family , neighbors, regions, state, country and
foreign places through thousand links . Primarily speaking the individuals leads
his own lives according to his own lives according to his own standard, norms and
views. Much depends on his action and accomplishment and the personal levels.
At the same time the individual is a part of family. He has parents, he has wife and
children, he has to discharge his responsibility towards all of them. Family
requires enough money to serves its needs hence the individual has to earn
sufficient amount of money . The children have got to be educated and their
other needs have also got to be met. This means that he must work in order
to earn therefore , he is connected with the work areas . In his place of work he
comes in contact with his colleagues and fellow employees.
There is an interaction with them, because of interaction the opinion and the
views of the individual undergo area-change.The condition of work have also
great effect on the mind and the working of the individuals. At the place of work
finance or money becomes the most important things. Financial requirements and
needs are the main concern of the employee hence it is clear that the individual
work only personal levels on the family levels and on the fellow employees in his
place of work. All these factors are very important in the formation of his attitude
or philosophy of life, The individual works on a cultural levels also , his culture of

the fertilizing contact , he has with other . There is a difference between culture
and civilization. Civilization is what we have and culture is what we are . The
behavior the mind set , the attitude , the norms and standard – All these create
cultural background and the individuals becomes what he is because of the their
combined effect .
Races, tribes and castes have also great influence in creating cultural goods
and determining the outlook towards men and things . As far as the town of
Munger is concern there are not differences of race, Racial question or problems
does not arise in the town of Munger. Racial question are very important in united
kingdom and in United state of America. In the USA, Negros belong to another
race . Hence , a social problem is there . In the united kingdom also there is a
question of race . Asian are in the united kingdom in a large number and they are
regarded as outsides or secondary citizens . In the town of Munger there is only
one race & hence the racial question does not crop up . The tribal population is
negligible and there is tribal question does not arises . Munger has population
188050 but out of this population the tribal population is only 373 . Hence it is
clear that the tribes have no say or determining influence in the life of the city .
but the caste question remains burning and important . The Schedule caste
number 3350 and other caste have a population of 174327 . hence , caste
conflict and caste problems arise frequently . There is religious conflict also but
this has not been mentioned to the synopsis .
The dominant caste is yadavas and they are very aggressive and the
oppressive. There is always a conflict between the yadavas on one side and the
Muslims on the other side. Muslims are very large in number and there is fight
between yadavas and Muslim for supremacy. In other places there is conflict
between Hindus and Muslims. There is a communal conflict but in Munger, the
conflict assumes not the forms of Hindu and Muslims but takes the guise of
Yadavas vs Muslims .

THE LIFE QUALITY LEVELS AND METHODOLOGY OF THE

PRESENT WORK
The methods of the study of quality of life are theoretical- cum- regional-
inductive. A systematic analysis is quite inevitable, where sample approach
would be adopted only for behavioral analysis of quality of life. It was been
imperative for this study to do continuous analysis otherwise real differentiation
may not emerge. The methods of analysis had be mainly descriptive-cum-
analytical study.
Data have been collected both from published and unpublished sources.
The published data has been collected from government offices, census hand
book, and municipality and corporation offices besides resource persons of the
area. The unpublished data available from filed work, map analysis and data
available from block offices and town planning department in the city of
Munger had been used.
Urbanism and the quality of life of non-agricultural population make

difference in culture and lifestyle of people in the core areas of the city, middle
parts of the city and fringe areas of the city. On the whole, we can say that all
these are responsible for variations in the urban life of people in Munger has
been modified manifold due to rise in the level of education of people .
On the basis of a highly positive correlation observed between the life
quality and income levels and other economic conditions and urban zoning from
the city centre to the periphery, a threefold categorization of areas of quality of
life has been made here: The Higher Income Areas of the city in terior, the
Middle Income Areas generally in the middle parts, and the Low Income Areas
extending in the outer parts in general. Further details have been stated in the
next chapter.
REFERNCES
Hamid, Tabatabai, and Manal Fouad. 1993. The Incidents of Poverty in

Developing Countries: An ILO Compendium of Data. A World Employment
Programme Study. Geneva International Labour Organization. Cited in “Urban
Poverty.” Introduction to Urbanization and Environment 7 (1)
.
Satterthwaite, David. 1995/ “Rapid Urbanization and the Urban Enviornment.”
Paper presented at the Seminar on Demography and Poverty. International
Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), Liege, 2-4 March 1995.
Oberai, A. S. 1993. Population Growth, Employment and Poverty in Third

World Mega-cities, p. 119ff. Geneva: International Labour Organization. The
cited estimates refer to around 1988, at the time of an international surey
conducted with ILO assistance. The definitions of slum dwellings are not strictly
comparable, however. Cairo’s high estimate results from a definition stressing
informal housing (rather than its quality), Seoul’s was based on a local
definition of inadequacy, Shanghai’s was tied to an administrative criterion
concerning housing which needed to be rebuilt. Only in Seoul was the slum
population’s growth rate negative.
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). 1993. State
of Urbanization in Asia and the Pacific 1993. Table 2.36. New York : United
Nations. Statistics were lacking for much of East Asia and for the Pacific. Most
data points referred to the mid- to late 1980s. Oberai, op. cit., p. 136.
Ibid., p. 138.

United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS/Habitat). 1996. An

Urbanizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements 1996 (Draft), pp/ 6-47.
Nairobi: UNCHS/Habitat.
Daly, Mary. 1994. The Right to a Home: The Right to a Future, Third Report of
the European Observatory on Homelessness. Brussels: FEANTSA. Cited in
UNCHS., op. cit. Oberai, op. cit., p84ff.
United Nations. 1995 The World’s Women 1995 : Trends and Statistics, Series
K, No. 12, 9. 41ff. New York: United Nations.
Cawthorne, Pamela M. 1995. “Of Networks and Markets: The Rise of a South
Indian Town: The Example of Tirrupur’s Cotton Knitwear Industry. “
World Development 23 (1) : 43-56; and Findley, Sally, and Lindy Williams.
1991. Women Who Go and Women Who Stay: Reflections of Family Migration
Processes in a Changing World, World Employment Programme Research
Paper. Geneva : International Labour Organization.
Findley and Williams, op. cit.
Oberai, op. cit., p. 82ff.
ibid., p. 83.
***

Chapter-5
TYPES AND PATTERNS OF QUALITY OF LIFE

AND living
− Process of cultural transformation
− Conglomerations of culture
− Types of Life Quality and Living
− Patterns of Life Quality
− References

TYPE AND PATTERNS OF QUALITY OF LIFE AND LIVING
PROCESS OF CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION
Linguistic Structure as a Case:
Hindi and Urdu and are the official languages of the state (recently
Maithili is also included as one of the official languages of the state although the
usage of the language for official purposes is negligible), whilst the majority of
the people speak one of the Bihari languages - Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili or
Angika. Presently Bihari languages are condiered one of the five subgroups of
Hindi however Maithilii was declared as a separate language. However, these
are considered to be derived from the language of the erstwhile Magadha
kingdom - Magadhi Prakrit, along with Bengali, Assamese, and Oriya. Bihari
Hindi a slang form of Standard Hindi is used as a lingua franca and many
speak it as their first language throughout state. A small minority also speaks
Bengali mainly in big districts or along the border area with West Bengal. Many
Bengali speakers are generally people from West Bengal or Hindu people from
erstwhile East Pakistan who came during the Partition of India in 1947.
There is a common misconception that all Biharis speak Bhojpuri. It is a

less widely spoken language; about 16% people speak Bhojpuri in Bihar and it
is spoken only in western Bihar. The majority of population in Bihar speaks
Maithili and its dialects which accounts 65% of bihars population. The numbers
of speakers of Bihari languages are difficult to indicate because of unreliable
sources. In the urban region most educated speakers of the language name Hindi
as their languages because this is what they use in formal contexts. The

uneducated and the rural population of the region return Hindi as the generic
name for their language.
In spite of the large number of speakers of Bihari languages, they have not
been constitutionally recognized in India. Hindi as the language used for
educational and official matter in Bihar. These languages was legally absorbed
under the subordinate label of HINDI in the 1961 Census. Such state and
national politics are creating conditions for language endangerments. The first
success for spreading Hindi occurred in Bihar in 1881, when Hindi displaced
Urdu as the sole official language of the province. In this struggle between
competing Hindi and Urdu, the potential claims of the three large mother
tongues in the region - Magahi, Bhojpuri and Maithili were ignored. After
independence Hindi was again given the sole official status through the Bihar
Official Language Act, 1950. Urdu became the second official language in the
undivided State of Bihar on 16 August 1989.
CONGLOMERATIONS OF CULTURE
Performing arts
Bihar has contributed to the Indian (Hindustani) classical music and has
produced musicians like Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan who later migrated
out of Bihar, Bhrupad singers like the Malliks (Darbhanga Gharana) and the
Mishras (Bettiah Gharana), who were patronized by the Zamindars of
Darbhanga and Bettiah respectively have produced maestros like Ram Chatur
Mallik, Abhay Narayan Mallick, Indra Kishore Mishra.

Bihar has a very old tradition of beautiful folk songs, sung during
important family occasions, such as marriage, birth ceremonies, festivals, etc,
and the most famous folk singer has been Padma Shri Sharda Sinha. Thay are
sung mainly in group settings without the help of many musical instruments
like Dholak, Bansuri and occasionally Tabla and Harmonium are used. Bihar
also has a tradition of lively Holi songs known as ‘Phagua’, filled with fun
rhythms. During the 19th century, when the condition of Bihar worsened
under the British misrule, many Biharis had to migrate as indentured laborers
to West Indian islands, Fiji, and Mauritius. During this Bhojpur area. Dramas
on that theme continue to be popular in the theaters of Patna.
Dance forms of Bihar are another expression of rich traditions and

ethnic identity. There are several folk Dance forms that can keep one
enthralled, such as dhobi nach, jhumarnach, manjhi, gondnach, jitiyanch, more
morni, dom-domin, bluiababa, rah baba, kathghorwa nach, jat jatin, launda
nach, bamar nach, jharni, jhijhia, natua nach, bibapad nach, sohrai nach, and
gond nach.
Theatre is another from in which the Bihari culture expresses itself.

Some forms of theater with rich traditions are Bidesia, Reshma-Chuharmal,
Bihula-Bisahari, Bahura-Gorin, Raja Salhesh, Sama Chakeva, and Dom Kach.
These Theater forms originate in the Anga region of Bihar.
Munger is culturally richer than any other city of Bihar. Theaters,

Drama, Dance are the part and parcel of the urban life of Munger. Munger is
culturally rich because of its past relations with the Bangla Culture also. There
are several groups which performs Dance and Drama. The biggest festival is
Durga Puja and on this occasion we observe such performances everywere in

the Puja Pandals. These days a group in Munger have initiated a project of a
movie in Angika dialect. The name of the movie is “ Toh Se Lagi Lagan”. The
entire crew of this movie project belongs from this city, the Actors- Md. Chintu
(lead actor), Director-Sujit Suman, Story writer, Lyricist – Hemant Kumar
Singh, cameramen etc, all belongs from Munger city. Several street plays for
social and political awareness used to be organized by the actors of IIPTA.
Cuisine
The cuisine of Bihar for the Hindu upper and middle classes is
predominantly vegetarian, but eating non-vegetarian food is also popular.
However, people discourage eating ment daily and many Hindus don’t eat
meat during Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The Muslims in Bihar however
do generally eat meat as vegetables. In Bihar people generally eat boiled rice
and daal etc. and no roti during lunch and Roti is eaten in night with
vegetables. The traditional cooking medium is mustard oil. Khichdi, a broth of
rice and lentils seasoned with spices and served with several accompanying
items, constitutes the mid-day meal for most Hindu Biharis on Saturdays. The
favourite dish among Biharis is litti-chokha. Litti is made up of dough stuffed
with sattu (grinded powder coming from roasted brown chickpeas) that
boiled in water. It is than fried in oil. But little oil is used since it has been pre-
boiled. The other way of cooking Litti is grilling it on red hot coal. Chokha is
made of mashed potatoes, fried onions, salt, cilantro, and carom seeds. Litti is
also accompanied with ghee and channa (small brown chickpeas with onions
and masala). Litti Chokhkha is most favorite dice of Bihar.
Chitba and pitthow which are prepared basically from rice, are special
foods of the Anga region. Tilba and Chewda of Katarni rice are also special
preparations of Anga. Kadhi bari is a popular favorite and consists of fried soft

dumplings made of besan (gram flour) that are cooked in a spicy gravy of
yoghurt and besan. This dish goes very well with plain rice. Bihar offers a large
variety of sweet delicacies which, unlike those from Bengal, are mostly dry.
There is a distinctive Bihari flavor to non-vegetarian cuisine as well,

although some of the name of the dishes may be the same as those found in
other parts of North India.
Religion
Gautam Buddha attained Enlightenment at Both Gaya, a town

located in the modern day district of Gaya in Bihar. Vardhamana Mahavira,
the 24th and the last Tirthankara of Jainism, was born in Vaishli around
sixth century BC.
A typical Hindu Brahmin household would begin his day with the
blowing of a conch shell at the dawn.
In rural Bihar and here too, religion is the main component of popular
culture. Shrines are located everywhere – even at the foot trees, roadsides,
etc., religious symbols or images of deities can be found in the most obscure
or the most public places. From the dashboard of a dilapidated taxi to the
plush office of a top executive, holy symbols or idols have their place.
Hindus are a majority in the state and the present region. Most of the
festivals are Hindu festivals. There are many variations on the festival
theme. While some are celebrated all over the state, others are observed
only in certain areas. However Bihar is so diverse that different regions and

religions have something to celebrate at year. Many of these are officially

recognized by the days on which they take place being proclaimed as
government holidays.
Festivals
Chhath, also called Dla Chhath- is an ancient and major festival in
Bihar, and is celebrated twice a year: once in the summers, called the Chaiti
Chhath, and once around a week after Deepawali, called the Kartik Chhath.
The latter is more popular because winters are the usual festive season in
North India, and Chhath being an arduous observance requiring the
worshippers to fast without water for more than 24 hours, is easier to do in
the Indian winters. Chhath is the worship of the Sun God.
Wherever people from Bihar have migrated, they taken with them
the tradition of Chhath. This is a ritual bathing festival that follows a period
of abstenance and ritual segregation of the worshiper from the main household
for two days. In the eve of Chhath, houses are scrupulously cleaned and so are
the surroundings. The ritual bathing and worship of the Sun god takes place,
performed twice: once in the evening and once on the crack of the dawn,
usually on the banks of a flowing river, or a common large water body. The
occasion is almost a carnival, and besides every worshipper, usually women,
who are mostly the main ladies of the household, there are numerous
participants and onlookers, all willing to help and receive the blessings of the
worshiper. Ritual rendition of regional folk songs, carried on through oral
transmission from mothers and mothers-in-law to daughters and daughter-in-
law, are sung on this occasion forseveral days on the go. These songs are a great
mirror of the culture, social structure, mythology and history of Bihar and
eastern Uttar Pradesh. Chhath being celebrated at the crack of the dawn is a
beautiful, elating spiritual experience connecting the modern Indian to his

ancient cultural roots. Chhath is believed to be started by Karna, the king of

Anga Desh (modern Bhagalpur region of Bihar).
Among ritual observances, the month long Shravani Mela held along a
108 kilometre route linking the towns of Sultanganj and Deoghar (now in
Jharkhnad state) is of great significance. Shravani Mela is organised every year
in the Hindu month of Shravan, that is the lunar month of July- August.
Pilgrims, known as Kanwarias, wear saffron coloured clothes and collect water
from a sacred Ghat (river bank) at Sultanganj, walking the 108 km stretch
barefooted to the town of Deoghar to bathe a sacred Shiva-Linga. The
observance draws thousands of people to the town of Deoghar from all over
India.
Teej and Chitragupta Puja are other local festivals celebrated with fervor
in Bihar. Bihula-Bishari Puja is celebrated in the Anga region of Bihar. The
Sonepur cattle fair is a month long event starting approximately half a month
after Deepawali and is considered the largest cattle fair in Asia. It is held on the
banks of the Son River in the town of Sonepur. The constraints of the changing
times and new laws governing the sale of animals and prohibiting the trafficking
in exotic birds and beasts have eroded the once-upo-a-time magic of the fair.
Apart from Chhath, all major festivals of India are celebrated in bihar,
such as Makar Sankranti, Saraswati Puja, holi, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Adha (often
called Eid-ul-Zuha in the Indian Subcontinent), Muharram, Ram Navami, Rath
yatra, Rakshbandhan, Maha Shivaratri, Durga Puja is celebrated with a grandeur
akin to the neighbouring state of Bengal, Diwali, Kali puja/Shyama puja/Nisha
puja is celebrated in the Mithjilanchal portion, Kojagra is also celebrated in the
Mithilanchal region, Laxmi puja , Christmas, Mahavir Jayanti, Buddha Purnima,
Chitragupta Puja, Gurpurab and several other local festivals as well.
Cinema
Bihar has a robust cinema industry for the Bhojpuri language. There are
some small Maithili, Angika and Magadhi film industry.
A new film industry with angika dilect has been started here in Munger.
The films and art loving people have made an endavour to make films and
music albums with angika. Two music albums have already been released and a
film “Toh Se Lagi Lagan” is about to release.
Salient Features of Slum Data- Bihar (2001 Census)
About 70 towns in Bihar have reported slums.Total slum population in the

State was 25.3 lakhs, accounting for about 17.9% of the total population of the
cities / town reporting slums.
With the help of structured interview schedule, relevant information were
gathered from the women migrant respondents. A few details were also
collected through personal observations. In this study, quality of life of migrant
households is assessed in terms of the following parameters:
• Structure of the dwelling place
• Source of drinking water
• Electrification
• Water logging during monsoon
• Latrine facility
• Sewerage system
• Drainage system

• Garbage disposal system

• Access to health care services
• Health conditions
TYPES OF LIFE QUALITY AND LIVING
In order to know the level of living people in a given geographical area,

the overall consumptions, housing, health, education, social status,
employment, affluence, leisure hour, social security and social stability are
considered significant. The rapid rate of urbanization during the 20th and 21st
centuries has created not only socio-economic problems but also an
unprecedented concern of the physical environment degradation. Abyssal
poverty, social desirability and lack of proper opportunity in rural areas forces
men to migrate to urban area. All these have made the quality of life very
miserable.
Due to alarming growth of population in the last census (2001), the
Government of India has taken stock of the situation regarding quality of life of
people in the cities in which 34 variables have been considered, i.e. whether the
family owns a car, fan, T.V. set, radio set, electricity, motor cycle, bicycle along
with their literacy, food habit, ornaments, dress material and others. We
obtained data on all these items has been considered quite essential in order to
know the ecological condition and quality of life people residing in a particular
locality.
Quality of urban life is closely related with the social, cultural, economic
and political life of people in the region under study. Due to hum-drum reality of
urban life it is difficult to identify one another because the frequent meeting is
not possible along with the variations in caste, income potential, difference in or
culture and the standard of living are the major causes of the variations in

quality of life. Quality of life helps in knowing the living standard of people and
how life situations could be improved for the better especially in the slum areas.
The study has been organized in different segments which is based on
analysis of maps prepared ward-wise and the data collected from fieldwork in
the slum areas of the city such as Delawarpur, Topekhana Bazar, Chhotikela-
bari, Purabasarai and Murgiachak. The intensity of slum is very high because
the sitting condition is absolutely in sanitary. The heaps of garbage lies here and
there and the living conditions of the poor menials the labour class people are
absolutely unfit for human living. Morover, with the decline of service facilities
and increase of population the slums are cropping up everywhere in the city.
These days’ slums have created a panic for cities development. It has been
a serious issue crated a panic for cities development . It has been a serious
issued for the town planning bodies not only in India but in Europe and North
America as well. Sums are the marginal areas of cities where the poor people are
illiterate, drinking water supply is miserably on lowest end and the vice of
underworlds predominate the scene, The study of slum is meaningful for
environmental modification and amelioration the problems of urban area for
providing more amenities to the ailing masses. This type of study finds ground
mostly in European counties, where the city centers are the problems in a
developing urban scenario of Munger.
PATTERNS OF LIFE QUALITY
As already stated,urbanism and the quality of life of non-agricultural of

the city, middle parts of city and fringe area of the city. On the whole, we can
say that all these are responsible for variations in the urban life of people in
Munger has modified manifold due to rise in the level of education of people.
Residential Areas of Munger
Urban Life Quality has been mainly divided into three groups as given below.
The areal patterns of life quality have been shown in the map given.

LIFE QUALITY GROUPS
Rich People Middle Income Low

Groupe People Group People
Marwaris Contractors Menials

Business Class Service Class Labours
The pattern of urban life could be differentiated with the help of male and
female living conditions, rich and poor.
REFERENCES
The following reports in the series : The Center for Bihar Family Studies, John Snow, Inc.,
and Center for Population and Family Health. 1995. Findings from the Sub- Saharan Africa
Urban Family Planning Study. Arlington, Virginia, and Boston, Massachusetts : SEATS
Project, John Snow, Inc. and Center for Population and FamilyHealth, Columbia University:
(a) In collaboration with : National Family Welfare Council of Malawi, Blantyre District
Health Office, Blantyre Municipal Health Department, Southern Region Provincial Health
Office. Blantyre City Report: (b) In collaboration with: Bulawayo City Health and Zimbabwe
National Family Planning Council Bulawayo City Report: and (c) In collaboration with :
Mombasa District Health Office and Mombasa Municipal Health Department, Mombasa
City Report.
Janowitz, Barbara. 1992. “Cost and Cost Recovery Options for Thailand.” Paper prepared
for “Programme Management Issues and Operational Plans”.
UNFPA/Thailand

“Special Report: Exceeding the Breakeven Point.” Integration. No. 38 (December 1993) : 2-
21.
UNFPA. 1995. Report on Family Planning Sustainability, Technical Report Number 26, p.
26, New York:UNFPA.
National Research Council. 1995. Resource Allocation for Family Planning in Developing
Countries: Report of a Meeting. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. It must be
noted that comparative information concerning the distribution of the subsidy benefits for
other health services and other categories ofr benefits in general are not available.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Education
Yearbook 1995. Paris : United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Personal communication with staff of United Nations Statistical Office, who assist
governments in the design of analyses of relevant census data for use in the planning
process.
Jespersen, Eva, and David Parker. 1990. The 20/20 Initiative. New York: UNICEF; and The
World Bank. 1995. World Development Report 1995. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 1993. Trends
and Projections of Enrolment by Level of Education, by Age and by Sex, 1960-2025, Current
Surveys and Research in Statistics Series No. CSR-E-63. Paris : Division of Statistics, United
National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Chapter-6
Degraded residential areas: slums and

squatters
− Growth and Distribution

− Conditions and Impacts
 Creating Population pressure
 Insanitary environment
 Working conditions
 Food Habits

Degraded residential areas: slums and

squatters
GROWTH AND DISTRIBUTION :
“Slums” are highly congested urban areas marked by deteriorated and

unsanitary buildings, poverty, and social disorganization.
“Squatterers” settle on land, especially public or unoccupied land, without
right or title. Squatterers include those who settle on public land under
regulation of the government, in order to get title to it.
Simply slums refer to the environmental aspects of the area where a
community resides, while squatters refer to the legality of the land ownership
and other infrastructural provision.
One out of every seven people now lives in a slum- or at least that’s the
UN’s best estimate. More and more slum residents are organizing to improve
their lot, as their numbers swell in cities all over the world.
Slum is an area of the city, that is poor and where the houses are dirty in
condition. It consist of shanties which are small houses built of woods, metal, and
cardboards. These days the tenements of slums dwellers are such that they are not
fit to live because they are very dirty or in dilapidated condition. Generally, the
slums are situated on the edge or in the fringe or on the extremity of the big cities.
If a ruler migrants who becomes slum dweller when they come to town in
search of job, altimetry they become jobless and house less if they either do not
get a job or when they get it the job is not to their satisfaction or it is not in

harmony with the qualification they hold. Poverty or lack of job satisfaction under
employment and lack of proper accommodation drive them in to frustration when
the population of the town swells because of the rural migrants it causes
tremendous pressure of infrastructural system or network existing in the town.
There is the question of transport because of the pressure of population the
transport system is not able to cope with the existing network, there are bottlenecks
or congestion and snarls in the town .the result is that the genuine and permanent
habitant suffers tremendously. Not only transport problem becomes difficult to
deals with but housing problem also begins to rear its ugly head. The question of
commodity the new arrivers in the cities and new addition to the population arises
and reminisce immediate solution .
Educational infrastructure is also overstrained. The number of educational

institution cannot educate and admits the children of the slum dwellers. The result
is that they do not go to the school and increase the number of illiterate person .
When they grow up they wants jobs for them self and when they do not get they
become either criminals or anti social elements. The girls of the slum dwellers
become sex workers in order to make their growth their meet .
The problem is now to eke out a living. It becomes difficult for them to
support themselves and sustain them self. The network of civic ammonites also
comes under tremendous strain . The increased population requires toilets and
bathroom facilities and when they do not them their Detroiters and medical
facilities are needed for them. Medical network show in efficient and in
responsible that the melodies & elements of the migrants are not treated well .
Trade and commerce also suffers.
The slum dwellers may suffer and they may be devoid of their human right
but there is one silver living in the darkening cloud, slum and slum dwellers are of
great benefits and advantage to the powerful and dominant section of the

population . There are the factory owners who recruit cheap workers from the
crowd of slum dwellers. The retail shopkeepers also get cheap labour for their
establishment. The politician gains because the slum dwellers act as vote bank in
their election. They make promises to the slum dwellers that they will improve
their condition and therefore, the slum dwellers are enticed to vote collectively for
them. The Polish and the government officials gain because they get safe bribes
from the residents of slum that is why nobody is interested in solving the problem
of slum dwellers. The question of solution of transport problem has cropped up in
the city of Munger .
“The city of Munger has an awkward location with special reference to the
transport route network because it lies far off from the railway track kiul –
Bhagalpur loop lines. Therefore, Munger-Jamalpur rail lines only act as a sub-
Urban railway. Inside the city Purabsarai and Munger Junction are located besides
bus depot in Sastrinagar and bus stand near town hall . Fort gate , purabsarai and
Munger station & Lal darwaza are some of the important transport notes of the city
which acts as the Nerve centers because they provided the line to the city people in
terms of moving to the offices ar other sector of occupation .
The city of Munger has facility of labrours train ( Coolie train ) which serve
the comminuting population of the city as daily commuters to the railway work
shop and citrate factory in Munger on northern fringe of the city the facility of
ferry point serves people in crossing the river for onward movements towards north
Bihar . In urban areas the maintenance of roads are very poors and the sanitary and
lighting of roads are in very poor states due to lack of fund and stealing activities of
people not only for electricity but also for bulb point etc.
Looking into the matter very closely we find that the problems of slum
and slum dwellers are not so acute in the city of Munger, Generally slums exist on

the rims and borders of big cities. It is these agglomerations that can validly be
called slums.
Munger is not a big city it is a very ordinary city as far as population is

concerned though historically it is very important city and its history goes back far
into the womb in the ancient world. The slum population in Munger is 13723 and
its consist not of rural migrant of two kinds of people some of them are in slum
because of their caste , the untouchable and schedule cast are not allowed to leave
in the heart of the city . They live in segregated places because of social
concentration but the chunk of slum dwellers comes from different positive factor.
Most of the people who lived in diara –land found their cattle and houses and
other belonging has been washed away by the floods.
They were victim of natural calamities and hence they come to town of
Munger to save themselves they occupied any land and built small huts and begin
to lives in them, hence their problem differs from the problem of the slum dwellers
of the big cities.
Slums at Lal Darwaza and Gumti No 2
The basic characteristics of slums are:

• Dilapidated and infirm housing structures

• Poor ventilation
• Acute over-crowding
• Faulty alignment of streets
• Inadequate lighting
• Paucity of safe drinking water
• Wate logging during rains
• Absence of toilet facilities
• Non-availability of basic physical and social services
The living conditions in slums are usually unhygienic and contrary

to all norms of planned urban growth and are an important factor in acceleration
transmission of various air and water borne diseases. ‘Slums’ have been
defined under section 3 of the Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act,
1956 as areas where buildings
• are in any respect unfit for human habitation.

• are by reason of dilapidation, over-crowding, faulty arrangement and
design of such buildings, narrowness or faulty arrangement of streets, lack of

ventilation, light, sanitation facilities or any combination of these factors, which
are detrimental to safety, health and morals.
According to the Census of India, 2001, a slum is a compact area of at

least 300 population or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested
tenements, in unhygienic environment, usually with inadequate infrastructure
and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities.
In the city of Munger, about 45 percent people are living in slums and
squatter settlement. About 60,000 people are living in village centred areas of

the city such as Topkhana Bazar, Dilawarpur, Sadipur, Murgiachak, Kasim

Bazar, Garden Bazar, Guljarpokhar, Chuabagh, Sansalpur and Chhoti-Kelabari.
In all these slum areas one can see heaps of garbage on the road, drains choked
with sevage, a huge crowd on the water taps for drinking water, service latrine
rate, retouched condition of houses besides polluted environment in most of the
residential areas.
Squatter Area No. of Houses Dominant Caste

1. Purabsarai 42 Manjhi
2. Laldarwaja 31 Dome
3. Laldarwajaghat 25 Dome
4. No. Two Gumti 33 Halkhor
5. Fort Areas 25 Nat
6. Near Police Line 21 Manjhi
7. Heru Diara 62 Yadav, Muslim
8. Sudurkhana 30 Gareri
9. No. Five Gumti 28 Muslim
10. North of Refugee Colony 50 Bengali
2. INSANITARY ENVIRONMENT :
With the help of structured interview schedule, relevant information were

gathered from the women migrant respondents. A few details were also
collected through personal observations. In this study, quality of life of migrant
households is assessed in terms of the following parameters:
• Structure of the dwelling place

• Source of drinking water

• Electrification
• Waterlogging during monsoon
• Latrine facility
• Sewerage system
• Drainage system
• Garbage system
• Access to health care services
• Health conditions
Structure of the dwelling place :
Around the world over one billion residents live in inadequate housing,
mostly in slums and squatter settlements, where living conditions are poor and
services are insufficient. One-quarter of all urban housing units in developing
countries are temporary structures, and more than one third do not conform to
building regulations. In Munger we found two types of structure of the slum
dwellers. One who are known as untouchables and socially boycotted lives at
the outskirts or fringes of the city. Their homes are made up of brick, Mud and
polythene sheets. They are ill made and the basic problem is that they do not
have any sanitary facilities. The use open lands and open sewer for latrins.

The second are those who are the victims of flood and soil erosen by the
Ganga. They have alo migrated to the city for shelter and livelihood. They have
setteled here on government land or unoccupied lands and they constitute the
major part of the squatter settlements in this city. Areas like chua bagh, Lallu
Pokhar, Belan Bazar, Naya Gaun, Vasudeopur, Patel Nagar, Ganga Nagar,
Adarsh Gram, Tikapur Chandika Asthan anre the places where the people from
Kutlupur, Bahadurpur, Zafernagar, and Tikarampur diyera have migrated to the
city of Munger. Housing is some how better than the slums of the untouchables
but it also depends on the financial status of the migrents.
Some areas are well constructed with all the modern facilities like what in
lallu Pokher, Vasudeopur, Patel Nagar etc and on the same time when we see
Chua Bagh & Adarsh Gram we find squatter settlements which are almost equal
to slims. The houses are made up of Mud, Briks or big stones and fus and plastic
sheet. Here also we find no sanatory facility. People use open lands and the river
bank for latrins.
Source of drinking water :
More than 1.4 billion people in developing countries lack access to safe
drinking water, which is one of the essentials for good health (World Resources,
1998-99: 68). World wide, about 2.3 billion people suffer from diseases that are

linked to poor water quality. An estimated 4 billion cases of diarrheal disease

occur every year causing 3 to 4 million deaths mostly among children.
Munger is on the bank of river Ganga and hence for drinking water it is
dependent on Ganga. The water supply system under the PWD department of
the Government of Bihar has arranged to provide supply water in the each and
every corners of the city.The city of Munger gets drinking water from Kasturba
Water works of Munger Municipality with headquarters in Bari Bazar. It has
daily capacity of suppling 10.46 million gallons of water to different parts of the
city. The water tanks are found at Bari Bazar, Gulzar Pokher, Sadar Hospital,
Fort area, near churamba. The water supply mechanism provides drinking water
in the complete length and breth of the city.
Electricity Supply :
Regarding this parameter as one of the measurements of quality of life, it

is seen that nearly 41% of the migrant households in slums had no electricity in
their dwelling units. The incidence of lack of electricity is more pronounced
among the migrant households of slums (55%). In the absence of electricity,
kerosene lamps were largely used by most households.
The city of Munger recievs electric supply from Barauni Thermal Power,
D.V.C and Patratu Thermals. The city provide electricity connection to 243
industrial units, 1917 commercial units, 1431 units for the street lights and about
12000 individual connections in the entire city. In times of electricity scarcity
NTPC kahelgaun also supply electricity. Not only in Munger but in the entire
ster of Bihar there is a huge shortage of electricity supply. The thermal powar
plants in the state are not functioning on the ful strength. They are producing
one fourth of their capacity. State – Center relations and the problem of Coal
linkage are the major problems behind this inadequate production. An another

NTPC at Badh, unit is going to be startd in 2011 and it has been hopped that it
will reduce some scarcity
Sewerage system in slums :
Only 5% of the total migrant households have underground sewerage

system, which means that 95% of the households lacked this facility. Even in a
metropolitan city like Munger, no sewerage facility was available to more than
95% of the migrant households the main problem is that during monsoon, the
sewerage flows into the huts of the households.
Munger is more or less a planned city and it will not be exaggeration to

say that it is the first planned city of by the Britishers in India. In 1934 the entire
city was demolished by earthquake and then after 1934 this city has been
planned. It had a very efficient sewage system that was called Bara Nala. It is
connected with all the streets and mohallas of the city and it drains out all the
dirty water and waste in Ganga.
Munger Municipal Corporation
But due to complete mismanagement of the Munger Municipal

Corporation it has not been cleaned time to time resulting jammed sweage in the
entire city. When in June 2010 dengu break out in the city then only this Bara

Nala was cleand and that too was not done by the Muinisipal Corporation of
Munger but done y the ITC Company as a cheraty.
Garbage disposal system in slums :
Nearly 67% of the sample migrant households in slums do not have any
arrangement made either by public or private services for garbage collection and
disposal. These households resorted to open dumping of garbage in
streets/ditches etc. About 27% of the households had access to the
Municipal/Corporation dustbin for garbage disposal. Only in the case of 6% of
the households, the garbage was disposed by the residents through burning.
Thus risk to human health are compounded in these slums, where garbage
collection is nonexistent in most cases and drainage tends to be poor, promoting
the growth of insects and other diseases vectors.
Munger lacks Garbage Disposal System and disposal of the solid waste
of the city. The Municipal Corporation have enough man power and technical
and mechanical support for this but the entire corporation is full of inefficient
peoples and further they present the worst work culture. The Garbage and the
solid waste are dumped in the outskirts of the city near Haji Subhan, and
Sandalpur.
Access to primary health care:
Hospitals were available within a radius of 1 km for about 60% of the

migrant households. Thought free health care facilities are available from the
nearby government hospitals for minor ailments, they had to spend on medicines
for major illness, which was beyond their ability. The number of households
borrowing on grounds of health has also increased from 65 (8%) before
migration to 135 (17%) after migration.

The entire slum population is vulnerable if a fire or flood wipes out

people’s temporary dwelling places or urban authorities decide to embark on a
slum clearance programme without providing alternative living spaces. In the
sample nearly 90% of the households were evicted by the City authorities for
illegal encroachment. This is one of the major problems encountered by the
slum people all over. At the global level, each year about 20 million to 40
million urban dwellers are forcibly evicted. Governments are reluctant to
legalise them for fear of encouraging even more illegal settlement.
Health Condition :
Living conditions in many urban slums are worse than those in the poorest
rural areas of the country (World Bank, 1993). This can be attributed partly to
the slums exceptionally unhealthy environment. Many of the most serious
through air, water, soil and food or through insect or animal vectors. The
concentration of people in areas where the provision of water, sanitation,
garbage collection and health care is inadequate creates the conditions where
infectious and parasitic disease thrive and spread. Around half the urban
population in developing countries is suffering from one or more of the diseases
associated with inadequate provision of water and sanitation (DFID,2001:20).
The incidence of the following disease seems to be larger among the migrant
households:
• Viral fever
• Dysentry
• Malaria
Viral fevers are very common among the slum dwellers and is linked to
contaminated water. Being poor and to economies on fuel almost all
households do not boil the drinking water, Dysentery, a water-borne disease,

was largely found among slum households. About 65% of the households
have suffered from dysentery. Majority of the respondents (or their family
members) have been attacked by viral fever (60%). Malaria was found
among 30% of the migrant households in slums. The other ailments suffered
by the migrant households are:
• Dengue fever
• Madras Eye
• Tuberculosis
• Cancer
• Hepatitis
• Skin diseases
• Asthma
Dengue fever,a rare disease transmitted by mosquitoes, was found among

8% of the migrant households, specially at Chennai slums. Migrant households
suffered skin disease particularly during the monsoon when the sewerage of
overflows.
Most women respondents of younger age were anemic and stated that they
suffered from frequent headaches, and nausea caused by the foul smell from the
ditches, garbage dumping places, dirty water canal beds etc. Rapid urbanization
has adversely damaged the urban environment through air, water, solid waste
and noise pollution. Slum dwellers are the worst victims of urban environment
degradation. The chief victims of the accident at Bhopal, were not just workers,
but slum dwellers who had settled near the factory.
A recent WHO study on air pollution in 8 Indian cities reports that every
year 30,000 children are affected by asthma and the incidence of asthma is

larger among children living on roadsides than those living in less congested
streets, because the former inhale emissions of the motor vehicles. The
concentration of air pollutants exceeded the WHO guidelines in many urban
centers in India. Long term exposure to dust, sulphur dioxide and small particles
in the air causes a wide range of chronic respirations. In India, the death rate due
to cancer increased by 3% and that of lung cancer by 9% since 1990 (World
Resources Institute, 1997).
Solid wastes are the most visible form of pollution. Most of the
methods of disposing them pose serious threat to environment and human
health, particularly to those living in slums. In the absence of regular collection
of wastes by Municipalities/Corporations, the accumulated piles of garbage
promotes the multiplication of flies, which results in the spread of fly borne
disease such as typhoid, amoebic dysentery, diarrhea and cholera. Rodents also
breed and account for the spread of plague.
Further in the absence of adequate sewerage and drainage systems in the

slums, the stagnant waste water become breeding grounds for various kinds of
pests and insects particularly mosquitoes, which transmit disease such as
malaria, yellow fever and filariasis to human begins.
The problem of noise pollution is also severe among the slum dwellers as
they live on road sides, nearby railway tracks, under bridges etc. Noise pollution
causes headaches, sleep disturbances and mental stress.
The noise pollution has already reached a high level in most of the
metropolitan cities in all the residential, commercial, and industrial and silence
zones. The increasing noise pollution may be attributed to the increase in the
number of vehicles, workshops, loud speakers etc.

Health problems are more serve in urban areas as compared to rural areas
owing to poor solid waste management methods. While 75% of the households
in rural areas suffer health hazards, as high as 95% of urban households in rural
areas suffer from different kinds of ailments (Sundari and Saradha, 2001:77). In
India, municipal solid waste dumping grounds are a menace to society. For
instance in Mumbai, particulate matter levels at the Deonar dumping ground
were found to be about 2000 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) while the
WHO’s norm is 150 ug/m3 (Alappat and Dikhshit, 1999).
Hospital Waste is among the more dangerous types of garbage because it

contains disease-carrying pathogens. The list of diseases caused due to improper
disposal and treatment of hospital waste is endless, but of major concern are
deadly disease like AIDS, viral Hepatitis, TB, Bronchitis, Gastroenteritis and
other skin and eye related disorder.
Overall, it can be inferred that the migrant households live in unhygienic

and congested places devoid of basic necessities for a healthy life. The empirical
results presented above, are almost consistent with the major findings of the
NSS survey on ‘Slums in India’ (49th Round, 1993-94). According to the NSS
Survey, at All India level, around one-third each of the urban slums had
pucca/semi pucca and katcha structures; 65% had ‘tap’ as the source of drinking
water; 60% of urban slums remain water logged during monsoon, 54% lacked
latrine facilities and 83% had no underground sewerage system.
3. WORKING CONDITIONS :
There is a vast difference between rural life and urban life. No doubt the
basis of urban life is different from rural life, but urban life has its own
peculiarities and features, which have their own effect on different aspects of
man’s life, as socially, economically and politically, life in the city of Munger

have their own peculiarities. Here the political life is dynamic and changes with
the social need of urban life.
The slums and squatters people of Purabsarai, Munger are mostly labour
class people besides municipal workers, rickshaw pullers, beggars, vendor and
fakirs. Most of them came form Lakhmipur, Sakarpur, Tarapur, Sangrampur,
Chilla, Bela, Belhar, Chandpur and Akharmager. These place are located in
south eastern part of the district of Munger where these people have been
harassed by Yadav’s of the area which act as a push force and the opportunity of
getting a good job in the cities of Munger and Bhagalpur is a pull force for
attracting these people.
Slums and Squatter Residents of Purabsarai (2004)
Occupation of No. of Male Female Place of origin

Residents Families
Labourers 18 42 35 Laksmipur
Sakarpur
Tarapur
Municipal 5 10 11 Bela, Tarapur
Worker
Rikshwapuller 6 11 13 Belhar,
Sangrampur
Chandpur
J.R.S. College 3 3 6 Sangrampur
Male
Beggar 4 4 4 Laksmipur
Glass- Paper - 5 10 10 Sangrampur
Tin Collector

Fakir 1 1 1 Akbarnager
4. FOOD HABITS :
Bihari cuisine is predominantly vegetarian because traditional Bihar

society influenced by Hindu and Buddhist values of non-violence did not eat
eggs, chicken, fish and other animal products. However there is also a traditional
of meat-eating and fish dishes are especially common due to the number of
rivers in Bihar such as t he Sone, Gandak and the Ganges. There are also
numerous Bihari meat dishes with chicken and mutton being the most common.
Dairy products are consumed frequently throughout the year, woth common
foods including yoghurt known as dahi and also buttermilk known as mattha,
ghee, lassi and butter. The cuisine of Bihar is similar to a great extent of North
Indian cuisine but has an influence form other East Indian Cuisine (for example
like Bengali cuisine, Mustard oil is used in cooking). It is highly seasonal, with
watery food such as watermelon and Sherbet made of pulp of the wood-apple
fruit being consumed mainly in the summer months and dry foods, preparations
made of sesame seeds, poppy seeds in the winter months. Some dishes which
Bihar is famous for, include Sattu Paratha, which are parathas stuffed with
fried chickpea flour, Chokha (spicy mahsed potatoes), Fish Curry and Bihari
Kebab, Postaa-dana kaa halwaa
REFERENCES :
Alappat. B. J and Dikshit A.K (1999) ‘Management of Plastic Wastes’, Indian

Journal of Environmental Protection. 19 (12).
Census of India (2001) - Series 34

Development Report (2002-2003), Government of India Board, New Delhi.
DFID (2001) Meeting the Challenge of Poverty in Urban areas: Strategies for
Achieving the International Development Targets, UK
Economic Survey (2001-2002) Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New

Delhi.
Narasaiah.M.L (2001) Women, Children and Poverty. New Delhi: Discovery

Publishing House.
Rabial Mallic (2001) Urban Poor in Calcutta. achr@loxinfo.co.th
‘Slums in India’, Report No.147, NSS 49th Round, Jan.-June 1993, NSSO, 1997.
Sundari. S. and Saradha. K.K. (2001). ‘Domestic and Commercial Solid Waste
Management’. The Indian Journal of Social Work. Vol. 62, Issue. 1.
Suresh. V. Indian Vision 2020 www.urban.India.
Indian Slum Clearance Board (2002-2003) Activities of the Board. Chennai
Altman, Lawrence K. 1995. “New Skin Test Will Help Track Ebola Infection in
Remote Areas,” The New York Times, 19 Septermber 1995.
UNFPA.1995. The State of World Population 1995. Transmission of HIV/AIDS

in Sub Saharan Africa. Washington D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Fontanet, Arnoud, and Peter Piot. 1994. “ State of Our Knowledge: The
Epidemiology of HIV/AIDS.” In AIDS Impact and Prevention in the Developing
World: The Contribution of Demography and Social Science. Paper presented
at a seminar, International Union for the Scientific Study of Population
(IUSSP), Liege, 5-9 December 1993.
World Health Organization 1995, p. 15.

International drug users are another group at high risk of infection. In some
parts of the world, prostitute populations are also high users of such drugs.
Rohter, Larry. 1995. “A Fever, Once in Retreat, Surges in Latin America,” The
New York Times, 23 September 1995.
“World’s poor Youths Facing Western Maladies,” The New York times. 24
September 1995.
Source: recent tabulations provided by the Family Health Division of the World
Health Organization.

Chapter – 7
SAMPLE STUDIES
Degraded Residential areas

Social Space Analysis
 Muslim Mohallas
 Harijans’ living area
 Yadavas’ living space
 Others
References

SAMPLE STUDIES
DEGRADED RESIDENTIAL AREAS
As stated earlier, in the city of Munger, about 45 per cent people are living
in slums and squatter settlements. About 60,000 people are living in village
centred areas of the city such as Topkhana Bazar, Dilawarpur, Sadipur,
Murgiachak, Kasim Bazar, Garden Bazar, Guljarpokhar, Sadipur, Murgiachak,
Kasim Bazar, Garden Bazar, Guljarpokhra, Chuabagh, Sandalpur and Chhoti-
Kelabari. In all these slum areas ne can see heaps of garbage on the road, drains
choked with sevage, a huge crowd on the water taps gor drinking water, service
latrine rate, retouched condition of houses besides polluted environment in most
of the residential area.
The main cause of such a pitiable condition is due to the small expanse of
the original city centre, but how the addition is due to the small expanse of the
original city centre, but how the addition of new villages into the old city centre
have developed in the form of slum due their unmetalled narrow lanes with
potholes at place. All such areas have been included in this way in the cities of
Munger, a points of slum in these cities. According to 1961 census the following
villages are included in the municipal are of the city of Munger, Amarpur,
Hasanganj, Adampur, Gauripur, Ayodhya, Shankarpur, Hasanpur, Muzaffarpur,
Bag Naulakha and Heru Diara

SOCIAL SPACE ANALYSIS
Residental Areas
Ward
No Mohallas toatal population Sechudle cast Sechudle tribe Ot
1 Lal Darwazza , Shoji ghat 4977 916 27
2 Dalhatta , Bara Nala 4023 432
3 Dalhatta poor house , Railway line 3375 460
Gumti Sonar patti , baht tolly ,
4 chandishan 5152 548
5 Vasdevpur , Sherpur 3399 73
6 Basgadha , sunderpur , Khemka Kalisthan 3539 89
7 Naya goun , kala pathar road , shyampur 4464 302
8 Mugal Bazzar ,Basdevpur 4147 215
9 Gumti no 3 , Chandisthan road 4441 135
10 Shastri nagar 3505 234
Gumti No 2 , Jila school Boundary , Killa
11 kahi 4645 1043 14
Topkahana Bazzar, sewa sadan, masjid
12 road 3802 240
13 Kotwali neelam , Kriparampur 4003 296
14 Murgiachowk & Mumtaz market 3206 243 6
15 Purab sarai road & Railway line 3423 182
16 Madhopur , JBBRM college Road 3221 123
17 Dusbhujis Asthan and Prasad Road 3203 129 6
18 Raiser , Maheswar babu road 3331 164 4
Naya goun , shyampur ; sita kund ,
19 pirpahari 4578 254 8
20 Sujawalpur , hospital road 5041 167 10
21 Hajsujan , Krishnapuri 4234 246 8
22 Sajhuber road 3200 214 8
23 Kauda maidan , Dj college Road 3349 151
24 Sadhiur 4340 204 5
25 Kalitajia Road 4991 141
26 Bekapur Vastralya Road , Ramlila maidan 3207 40
27 Garden bazzar , Badi Bazaz 3271 47
28 Goshi tola raod , Kasturba Road 4959 59 4
29 Argara road , lallu pokhar road 3243 125 9
30 Pipalpati Belan bazzar 3666 515 33
31 Chuabaag , Pul Road 4965 371
32 Khanka road 4293 293 38
33 Mansaritalle Road , madanbabu Road 4087 151
34 Sandalpur , Puranigunj 4650 348 6

35 Konark road , Jamalpur road 4520 234 6

36 Gumti no 5 , Jaddu babu Lane 5024 303 4
37 Bindwada , sharmatoli , Mahadipur 5167 689
38 Akhada galli, Mehtar toli 4775 393 40
39 Maksaspur road , Masjid road 4893 303 49
Kashim Bazzar, Kalisthan , Fauzdari
40 Bazzar 4074 370 57
41 Chuhabag, Badanala 5110 618 7
42 Hasangunj road , Fari road 3792 295 19
43 Safiabad by pass road 5155 213
44 Bindwada, Nauatoli, Begampur 4692 150
45 Chardiwariraod , Mirjapur 4918 629 5
188050 13347 373
Fig: Graphical representation of ward wise caste population of Munger
1. MUSLIM MOHALLAS
The city, Bihar state, northeastern India, on the ganges (Ganga) River.
Munger is said to have founded by the Guptas (4th century B.C) and contains a

fort that houses the tomb of the Muslim saint Shah Mushk Nafa (died 1497). In
1763 Mir Qasim, was constituted a municipality in 1864.
Squatter area No. Houses

No. Five Gumti 28
Heru Diara 62
2.HARIJAN’S LIVING AREA
Purabsarai 42
Laldarwajaghat 31
No. Two Gumti 25
Fort Area 33
Near Police Line 25
Sudurkhana 21.
3. YADAVA’S LIVING SPACE
Heru Diara 62

4. OTHERS
Other social groups have already been studied in some detail in earlier
parts of the present work.
REFERENCES
The Associated Press (February 26, 2008). “UN says half the world’s
population will live in urban area by end of 2008” International herald
Tribune.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/26/news/UN-GEN--UN-Growing-
Cities.php.
http://www.unicef.org/sowc08/does/sowe058_take_StatisticalTables.pdf
World Urbanization Prospects: The 2005 Revision, Pop. Division, Department

of Economic and Social Affairs, UN
Britannica Futurist Blog
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs
UN State of the World Population 2007, UNFPA
Ankerl, Guy (1986). Urbanization Overspeed in Tropical Africa. INUPRESS.

Geneva.
Million Keynes intekkigence Observatory (10/03/2008). “Population Bulletin

2007/2008” . Press release.

http://www.mkiobservatory.org.uk/page.aspx?id=1914&siteID=1026. Retrieved
based on 2000 U.S. Census Data
Grant, Ursual (2008) Opportunity and exploitation in urban labour markets

London:
Overseas Development Institute

Chapter – 8
MANAGEMENT AND RE-ORIENTATION : PROBLEMS

AND PLANNING
− Testing of Hypotheses
− Major Problems
− Short term measures
− Medium term measures
− Long terms measures
− References

MANAGEMENT AND RE-ORIENTATION : PROBLEMS

AND PLANNING
TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS
The function of the hypothesis is to state a specific relationship between
phenomena in such a way that this relationship can be empirically tested. The
basic method of this demonstration is to design the research so that logic will
require the acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis on the basis of resulting
data.
The hypothses tested are :
1. The quality of life is the product of income variations of people,

their standard of living, literacy/education and longevity.
2. The shopping behavior depends upon the marketing management of
seller and buyers, in items of needs, supplies and services available
and distance.
3. Modernity is the cause of changing life style of people in the urban
area.
4. Functional efficiency of people depends of urban conditions and
threshold of goods found in the city.
5. Livability of the urban eco-system is the outcome of development
and the traditional value system.
About the hypotheses, it has been concluded that the hypotheses
Nos.1 and 5 have been found to be valid and established during the
course of field study, hypothesis 2 could not be subjected to detailed
scrutiny, while those at No.3 and 4 were observed to be partly true.

MAJOR PROBLEMS
Slum people are mostly the underprivileged, weakest section of our

society. They are deprived of the minimum basic amenities like housing, water
supply, drainage and sanitation.
Women and children are the worst victims. Physically, mentally and
emotionally they are affected. People who were never on the streets had to sleep
on pavements, without proper security of their lives. A comparison of the
income level of migrants with non-migrant population, show that the former are
slightly better off. However, there is steady deterioration in the quality of life of
migrant households. Poor quality of life and poverty go hand in hand, one
perpetuating the other.
SHORT TERM MEASURES
Nearly 67% of the sample migrant households in slum do not have any
arrangement made either by public or private services for garbage collection and
disposal. These households resorted to open dumping of garbage in
streets/ditches etc. About 24% of the households had access to the Municipal /
Corporation dust bin for garbage disposal. Only in the case of 6% of the
households, the garbage was disposed by the residents through burning. Thus
risk to human health are compounded in these slums, where garbage collection
is nonexistent in most cases and drainage tends to be poor, promoting the
growth of insects and other diseases vectors.

MEDIUM TERM MEASURES
Structure of the dwelling place:
Around the world over one billion residents live in inadequate housing,
mostly in slums and squatter settlements, where living conditions are poor and
services are insufficient. One-quarter of all urban housing units in developing
countries are temporary structures, and more than one third do not conform to
building regulations.
Source of drinking water :
More than 104 billion people in developing countries lack access to safe
drinking water, which is one of the essentials for good health (World Resources,
1998 – 99: 68). Worldwide, about 2.3 billion people suffer from diseases that
are linked to poor water quality. An estimated 4 billion cases of diarrheal
disease occur every year causing 3 to 4 million deaths mostly among children.
Electricity Supply :
Regarding this parameter as one of the measurements of quality of life, it

is seen that nearly 41% of the migrant households in slums had no electricity in
their dwelling units. The incidence of lack of electricity is more pronounced
among the migrant households of slums (55%). In the absence of electricity,
kerosene lamps were largely used by most households.
LONG TERMS MEASURES
Only 5% of the total migrant households had underground sewerage

system, which means that 95% of the households lacked this facility. Even in a
metropolitan city like Munger, no sewerage facility was available to more than

95% of the migrant households The main problem is that during monsoon, the
sewerage flows into the huts of the households.
Hospitals were available within a radius of 1 km for about 60% of the

migrant households. Though free health care facilities are available from the
nearby Government hospitals for minor ailments, they had to spend on
medicines for major illness, which was beyond their ability. The entire slum
population is vulnerable if a fire or flood wipes out peoples’ temporary dwelling
places or urban authorities decide to embark on a slum clearance programme
without providing alternative living space. In the sample nearly 90% of the
households were evicted by the City authorities for illegal encroachment. This is
one of t he major problems encountered by the slum people all over. At the
global level, each year about 20 million to 40 million urban dwellers are forcibly
evicted. Governments are reluctant to legalise them for fear of encouraging even
more illegal settlements
REFERENCES
Glaeser, Edward (Spring, 1998). “ Are Cities Dying?”. The Jounal of Economic
Perspectives 12 (2): 139-160
Brand, Stewart. “Whole Earth Discipline – annotated extract”.
http://web.me.com/stewartbrand/DISCIPLINE_footnotes/2_-_City_Planet.html.
Retrieved 2009-11-29.
Nowak, Jeremy. “Neighborhood Iniative and the Regional Economy.”

Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 1, February 1997, pp. 3-10.

Park, H.-S. (1987) Variations in the urban heat island intensity affected by
geographical environments. Environmental Research Center papers, no. 11.
Ibaraki, Japan: Environmental Research Centre, The University of Tsukuba.
“Heating Up : Study Shows Rapid Urbanization in China Warming the

Regional Climate Faster than Other Urban Areas”
***

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
In this part, measures have been adopted to deal with the variations in the
quality of life of urban peoples in the cities of Munger. Such study has recently
drawn attention of the scholars and the urban planners as well due to ever
increasing population in the urban centers. This is wholly dependent on the
person per room found in the residential house, types and patterns of latrines
used by the urban resident, the level of literacy in percent, the upkeep of lawn
and gardens dress materials, ornaments used and the food habit of people.
The quality of life is a conceptual view introduced recently by the census

of India (2001) in the state of Bihar. As the urban centers of Munger are oldest
one located in the Anga plain and hence, its historical development is
chequerred but shrouds with mystery, Recently, the interplay of criminal gangs
have created sever problems in the urban localities of Munger and Bhagalpur. It
is amazing the people of the cities have adopted modern way of living but the
adoption level is very slow due to illiteracy, poverty and super stitiousness of
residents of the locality or in the urban zone of influence.
In this project the interest has been shown that the people are keener in
adopting modernity by the modern means of living but poverty is the main
hurdle to have such a way life. Cultural heritage is the guideline for the
urbanites, and most of the people of Munger understand themselves as military
might of the society as their forefathers have fought several wars with the kings
and kingdoms who had putted their jealous eye of the administer of Anga.
The urban centre of Munger is located on latitude 25023’16”N. and longitude

86 29’ E. in the Bihar state of India on the right (southern) bank of the Ganga.
This has been surrounded by the Ganga River from the north and the climate is
of drier tropical type due to annual rainfall of just 125 cm in the whole year. The
vegetation is semi-dry monsoon type and the soil is coarse structure riverine
sandy and loamy sand Type. It comes under the levee zone of the Ganga river.
The climate is salubrious and the land-use intensity is decreasing from central
part of the cities towards its periphery due to distance decay function of
population density, declining price of the land , gradient of population density
and the safety of people from city core to the periphery.
The first chapter of the present work is devoted to introduction, i.e.

Significance of study of urban life, objectives of study, Problems to be
investigated, Conceptual development of the issue, review of past literature on
the subject, methods of study, Source of data and hypothesis formulation.
The second chapter is related to Geographical Background in Munger.
The third chapter is devoted to the infrastructural-social view of life

quality - the family levels, socio-cultural levels and the value systems and race-
tribe and caste levels.
The Fourth chapter is related to functional areas and the levels of quality
of life. The Fifth chapter is related to Types and Patterns of Quality of Life and
Living. The Sixth chapter is related to Degraded Residential Areas : The Slums
and squatters. The Seventh chapter is related to Sample Studies. The Eighth
chapter deals with Management and Re-orientation: Problems and Planning.
The major findings of the research work are as follows:-
1. Nearly all types of living levels are found in the city.
2. One of the most significant specialities of the city is formed by its quite
widespread informal occupations not commonly found in majority of
Indian cities known to the researcher.

3. The interclass gaps of life quality are highly prounced in the city.
4. The Yoga University Centre is a unique speciality of the place expected to

go a long way in enhancing the non-physical life quality of people.
----------- ----------- -----------

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Significance of studies pertaining to quality of life – particularly an applied

Urban growth and development are parasitic as these depend on the

The first chapter is devoted to introduction, i.e. Significance of

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 1

The second chapter is related to Geographical Background in Munger.

The Fourth chapter is related to functional areas and levels of quality of

I am grateful to my research supervisor Prof. O. P. Singh, (Hon’ble Ex.

I also express deep sense of gratitude to my respected father Sri

I am also thankful to Prof. Shri D.C. Pandey, Hon’ble Head of the

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 2

CHAPTERIZATION Page Nos

Types and Patterns of Quality of Life and Living

Summary and Conclusions 166-168

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 3

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY:

− Conceptual development of the issue

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 4

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY:

‘Quality of life’ as any other concept in social science has been

Urban settlement is an area where the majority of people are engaged in

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 5

Due to alarming growth of population in the last census (2001), the

This study has been organized in different segments which is based

Moreover, with the decline of service facilities and increase of population

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 6

The study of slum is meaningful for environmental modification and

Urban centers are places where the majority of population are

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 7

Slums and squatter settlements

“Slums” are highly congested urban areas marked by deteriorated,

“Squatters” settle on land, especially public or unoccupied land, without

Simply slums refer to the environmental aspects of the area where a

Most people come to cities seeking jobs and that many of

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 8

In Mumbai, both the municipality and poor neighborhoods have

If a rural migrant who becomes slum dweller when he comes to a town in

Educational infrastructure is also overstrained. The number of educational

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 10

Munger is not a big city. It is a very ordinary city as far as population is

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 11

The preview of the research encompasses almost all aspects of urban

The study of the quality of life in cities of India has assumed

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 12

As far as quantative development is concerned, it is a play of statistics.

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 13

The following issues have been formulated:

1. Is the quality of life caused by income changes of the people ?

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 14

2. Is the quality of life linked with standard of living ?

These tentative or provisional suppositions can be verified by appeal to the

Objectivity is a goal of scientific investigation. Objectivity is a frame of

However objectivity continues to be an elusive goal at the practical

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 15

Besides personal preferences, the ideological biases acquired in the

The researcher should make his value preference clear in a research

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 16

The main aspects are:

1. Variations in caste groups and associations

Ph. D. Thesis (Geography) Page 17

CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE ISSUE

Doomsayers have long predicated the downfall urban conglomerations or

A growing school of pragmatists on the other hand, have emphasized the