10 infrastructural developments every small town needs

Small towns in India are in a desperate need for better infrastructure which can boost the local economy and help improve the quality of life. While many big cities have made progress in recent years, the small towns of India continue to lag behind.

There are many challenges that these places face including poor road connectivity, primary healthcare system,  educational infrastructure and affordable housing.

1. Waste management system: If Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Clean India Campaign has to succeed, then the small towns of India will need an efficient waste management system. This is a key infrastructure required to improve sanitation and prevent outbreak of diseases. At present, wastes from households are mostly disposed in city outskirts by municipalities. There is an urgent need to set up recycling facilities as a lot of times the waste often ends up in rivers polluting them. Also, drainage facilities are a major problem with most towns getting flooded during the monsoons.

2. Power: The government has electrified over 7,000 villages in 2015-16 which stands 37 per cent higher than the previous three years. But this may not necessarily mean that all houses in the villages have access to electricity. This is because it takes time to set up the infrastructure such as transformers and power lines needed to distribute the electricity to every house. According to a study, the delay in actual electrification ranged from two years (in the case of Jharkhand and Bihar, which saw a recent wave of electrification) to more than 25 years in Odisha and about 15 years in the case Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

3. Roads: There is a positive relationship between connectivity and development in smaller towns and villages in India. With better roads and highways, there can be a better flow of business, trade and communication that will eventually enhance growth. Mountainous areas and remote villages are cut off from the network of roads, which need to be connected.  The government has allocated thousands of crores for building a strong transport network that can link different cities and small towns with regional hubs. However, several projects across the country have seen slow progress over the years severely impacting the economic progress of the small towns.

4. Bridges: India has had a bad history of bridges collapsing in both rural and urban areas, endangering people's lives because of weak construction. On March 16, Vivekananda flyover in Kolkata collapsed killing 27 people and injuring 80. Similarlly, on August 3, Mahad bridge on Mumbai-Goa highway collapsed. In the Gujarat town of Junagadh, earlier this year, another bridge had collapsed due to poor materials that were used in its construction. In smaller towns with rivers, bridges are very crucial for children and workers to travel to school or their work site.

5. Schools: Many small towns lack basic educational infrastructure. Most schools don't have proper toilets, electricity, and proper buildings with roofs. There is also lack of drinking water. The condition of government schools are also not satisfactory, according to many reports. There have been several cases of poisoning due to poor quality mid-day meals in government schools.

6. Hospitals: The number of hospitals and medical dispensaries need to be pumped up in rural India.  The government hospitals in most parts of the country are not up to the mark and medicines not readily available.  According to a study, rural public health facilities have a hard time ensuring a regular presence of medical professionals, trained doctors and pharmacists. In addition, there is a high level of absenteeism of those already employed

7. Affordable Housing: Owning a house is an aspiration for a lot of middle class Indians but the cost of buying a property is extremely high. Banks offer home loans for purchase, which has to be paid back in monthly instalments. High EMI rates and low earnings builds pressure on the people. The present government has acknowledged this problem and announced the "Housing for All by 2022" scheme.  However, considering the present market conditions, many industry experts call it a far-fetched idea.  In an interview to the Business Insider, global real estate company JLL India's country head Anuj Puri told the Business Insider said that making 2 crore urban houses and 4 crore rural houses available is a huge undertaking in itself, and will require not only sustained government interest and investment but also substantial private sector investment and involvement.

8. Telecom: According to the Ministry of Telecommunications, India is the fastest growing telecom market with progressive reforms and policies. However, India is nowhere close to China and USA in terms of network connectivity because of low penetration in rural areas due to lack of telecom infrastructure.
Some of the weaknesses highlighted in the same government report are lack of indigenous telecom manufacturing and low broadband reach in rural areas.

9. Water Supply: Among the 122 countries that are ranked in quality of portable water, India falls at 120, despite having 4 per cent of the world's water resources. There is inadequate piped water supply across rural India and the houses that receive water are mostly untreated. During years of bad monsoon, crops suffer because of the lack of irrigation facilities. By 2017, the government aims to bring piped water supply to at least 50 per cent of rural households.

10. Sanitation Facilities: Open defecation is a major issue in rural and semi-rural India despite the many governmental schemes and awareness programmes. According to an United Nations report in 2010, out of a total of 2.5 billion people worldwide that defecate openly, 665 million belong to India. And what is more alarming is the fact that some 88 per cent of diarrhoeal deaths worldwide are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. "Improving access to safe drinking water, adequate sanitation and promoting good hygiene are key components in preventing diarrhoea," the report said.