Abstract

Due to rapid urbanization 60% of population of Dhaka city lives in slum and squatter settlements. The reason behind this poverty is low economic growth inequitable distribution of income unequal distribution of productive assets unemployment and underemployment high rate of population growth low level of human resource development natural disasters and limited access to public services. !long with poverty creating pressure on urban land shelter plots open spaces which creates environmental and ecological degradation. "urthermore facilities in these slums are very much unsatisfactory due to lack of proper water supply and sanitation system. Therefore the ma#or portion of e$creta is deposited into water bodies and open places as such polluting water sources groundwater and the general environment causing imbalance to the ecosystem. %n this study &orail slum in Dhaka city has been taken into account to evaluate these phenomena and their impact on the ecosystem and the neighboring urban fabric which will guide further to devise a strategic plan to thwart atrocity. Keywords: 'nvironmental assessment ecological degradation &orail slum water supply and sanitation.

1. Introduction
(lum population has largely increased in )angladesh over the last three decades along with the growth and e$pansion of cities and towns. There are over * +00 slum and squatter settlements in Dhaka city and estimated total number of households is ,,- 6.0 . /rban poverty is growing largely due to the transfer of the rural poor to urban areas. )ut the urban facilities are quit unsatisfactory for urban dwellers in Dhaka city. Dhaka is likely to face tremendous challenges in e$panding the e$isting infrastructure and avoiding deterioration of living standards due to congestion pollution and lack of basic services. These inadequate services and worsening environmental conditions disproportionately affect the urban poor many of whom live in slums . 0owever )angladesh produces ,. million metric tons of human faeces and +. million metric tons of urine each year . The ma#or portion of these e$creta deposited into water bodies and open places so polluting water sources groundwater and the general environment. !s a result ma#ority of population in )angladesh suffer from different kinds of water and e$creta1borne diseases that aggravate in their poverty situations. %n these circumstances % tried to conduct my study focusing the impact of &orail slum on our environment and ecosystem.

2. Study Area
"or the purpose of carrying out the research and to attain the ob#ective &orail slum area have been chosen as the study area. The selection is based on its prime location as it is located besides 2ulshan and )anani posh residential area of the Dhaka city. 0ere the land price is high and the site has a potential for urban development. 3oreover the people of the study area served the surrounding neighborhood for many purpose. 3ost of them are maid driver care taker garments worker and ,

worked in the small retail store as helper. They are important part of the surrounding area and the city as a whole. 4n the other hand this is very old and large slum settlements of city.

"ig1,5 (atellite imagery of the study area &orail 2ulshan 2.1. History of Korail slum The &orail slum began in ,66, during 7akistani governance. The area was designated for the Department of T8T by its original owner and the condition of the purchase is that it could only be used by T8T. )ut in ,660 60 acres of the land were allocated to the 79D violating the initial agreement. 9hen the previous private owners take legal action against T8T for violating the contract T8T reclaimed the 60 acres of land they had given to 79D. !t this stage three parties became clear stakeholders in today:s &orail slum area1 T8T 79D and the former private landowners ;3ridha -006<. %n ,660:s unoccupied pieces of land slowly became illegally captured by various T8T members staff as well as gang leaders and godfathers and city ward commissioners. These individuals then began to rent out land and housing to low1income and impoverished populations at low rates. !s a result of the growing demand for ine$pensive housing these inhabitants slowly e$panded to create &orail slum as it is today. 7resently many of the inhabitants at &orail are becoming owners of their spaces by illegally purchasing from their current landlords who initially seized the land unlawfully as well. 2.2. Socio demographic characteristics and economic pattern The range of total population as mentioned by the slum dwellers is =6 -00>,,+ 000 with ?, 6+0 male@ ?. 0+0 female@ and ,. -00 under five children ;3ridha -006<. 3ost of the people live here is 3uslims by religion and no educational background. The slum communities came to the city from different districts of the country and they migrate due to diverse socio economic and environmental reasons such as scarcity of land river erosion climatic disaster etc. -

"ig1-5 0ousehold %ncome 7attern ;(ohail -00.< These urban poor are occupied in a range of employment mostly in urban informal sectors. They mostly employed in garments sector driver of various types of vehicles like ta$i AB2 private car office car wheelbarrow or van pushers etc. masons day laborers office peon carpenters boatmen low grade employee in private government or semi government organization. The "emale labor forces is high in urban poor community and are engaged in garments sector sewing embroidery preparing food maid both in houses and offices etc. The employment catchment areas of these people are mostly 2ulshan )anani 3ohakhali )adda and the mode of transport they used by and large is walking and public transport. The monthly income level of the inhabitants living in this area is low. The ma$imum income of the poor are spent in food and accommodations.

"ig1?5 0ousehold %ncome Cange ;(ohail -00.<

2.3. i!ing condition The feature of housing of the area is very low. 3ost of them live in temporary home especially tin1 shed housing and very small portion of them live in semi puccaDpucca housing with permanent walls. Eery few houses have roof which is made of brick and cement whereas the roof of ma$imum houses is made of tin FA% sheetG. The remaining houses are made of bamboo straw and polythene which are ?

known as Hhupri. They are used to living in single1room houses with five to eight members which are ,* sq meters F,+0 sq feetG to ,=.+ sq meters F-00 sq feetG of the single member households most live in awful conditions with twenty to thirty people living in a single room. 3ost of the residents have no individual cooking area and toilet. They shared kitchen toilet and shower facilities which are very unhygienic. The dwellings are laid in very irregular pattern and no proper orientation. 0ouse to house gap varies in different spaces and the minimum gap is , meter and ma$imum gap is -.+ meter. There is lack of open space and vegetation. (treet pattern are also very chaotic and disorganized@ there is very little connection with the surrounding ma#or road.

"ig1*5 %mage of the area 2.". Infrastructure and ser!ices %n &orail slum area 60% water supply provided by D9!(! and *0% bought from outside the area with a monthly payment ;&han -0,0<. Eery few people used lake water for daily activity but not for drinking. 9ater sources are limited and they have to make queue to collect water for daily necessities. There are electricity and gas services available in this area but not continuous and adequate. The sanitation facilities are very unhygienic and vulnerable and the numbers of water seal latrines are ?+6 bucket latrines are -+0 hanging latrines are +-0.

"ig1+5 Detail information of &orail ;(ohail -00.<

#. $n!ironmental and ecological degradation issues

(lum population has largely increased in )angladesh over the last three decades along with the #.1. ac% of water supply and sanitation facility Cesidents of &orail slum doesnIt get proper sewerage services from 9!(! and only 6% of this population manages to get solid waste management services. !s a result both household waste and human generated wastes go directly or indirectly into the low1lying lands open spaces or water bodies and causes a number of problems. 3oreover inadequate safe drinking water causes many problems which are as follows. /nsanitary lifestyle. %nadequate access to safe drinking water. %ncreased health risks.

#.2. &oor housing settlement !ll houses are made of bamboo straw low quality wood and tin sheets. 3ost of them hold a single room for the whole family that makes the situation very congested. !ccording to a recent report population density in slums and squatters ranges from .00 to * -,0 per acre and a minimum of four and ma$imum of ten people share a room which is highly congested and unhealthy ;!kash and (ingha -00?<. This poor housing and lifestyle cause a number of problems for the environment of Dhaka city which are given below. %ndoor pollution Degradation of air quality with frequent slum fires +

%ncrease incidence of communicable disease that may spread to city dwellers from the workplace.

#.3. 'iomass fuel burning Due to lack of energy supply most of the residents of &orail burn biomass fuel for domestic cooking. %f it assumes that at least +0% people residing in &orail burn biomass at a rate of 0.-+ kgDdayDperson this results in ,0000 kg of fuel burning in a day. The reality may be a little more or less than the assumption but the amount is still high. )urning of this huge amount of biomass creates several problems for city environment key of which are as follows. Deterioration of outdoor air quality Ceduction of vegetation coverage %ndoor air pollution Deterioration of health (lum fire

#.". Slum fire !ccording to !inJ41(halish &endra F!(&G at least ,? people were killed in -* fire incidents between Hanuary -00? and 3arch -00* in Dhaka Aity. The following points were identified as the possible causes5 0and1made or kerosene stoves 3osquito coils or cigarette 3iscreants

F(ource5 The Daily (tar + !pril -00+G

(eferences
)iplob 7. (arker D. A. 8 (arker C. A. F-0,,G. !ssessment of 9ater (upply and (anitation "acilities for &orail (lum in Dhaka Aity. International Journal of Civil & Environment Engineering, IJCEE-IJENS, Vol: 11. A/(. F-006G. Aentre for /rban (tudies5 (lums of /rban )angladesh J mapping and Aensus -00+. CUS-NIPORT E-US!I" #oint $u%li&ation, "'a(a. 3owla K. !. 8 !frin (. F-00=G. 'valuating the 0ousing (ituation for the /rban 7oor in Dhaka. T'e Ja'angirnagar Revie), ***II.

)ontents
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