Urbanisation in Telangana State
The urban population in Telangana is rapidly increasing and it has surpassed the national average too. About 21 per cent of the State’s population was in urban areas in 1971, as against the national urban population of 18 per cent. However, there was a steep rise in urban population by 1981 to 25.3 per cent mainly due to increase in population in Hyderabad. Further, there has been a substantial jump in urban population during the period 2001 to 2011, from 31.8 per cent to 38.9 per cent. Thus, the growth in urban population in the state is much higher than all India.
As per 2011 census, 1.36 crore, i.e., 38.9 per cent of the State’s total population of 3.5 crore, lives in urban areas. Temporal analysis of urbanisation in Telangana reveals that there has been continuous increase in the proportion of urban population in India. According to Census 2011, about 31.2 per cent of the country’s total population lives in urban areas. State-wise comparison of urban population in India reveals that out of 29 states, 11 have urban population higher than the national average of 31.2 per cent. Telangana, with 38.9 per cent urban population, stands seventh in terms of urbanisation in the country, according to the Socio-Economic Outlook -2018 tabled in the State Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
Distribution of urban population across Telangana reveals that, about 20 per cent of the State population is concentrated in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation area. The Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation has been another fast-urbanising geographical area in the state. At present, GWMC accounts for about two per cent of the state’s total population. Warangal, being a historical city and located in a central point, well-connected by rail network and other transportation means, the city and its adjoining urban agglomeration is growing fast, with increased economic activities, the survey stated.
Another emerging urban agglomeration has been around the Ramagundam Municipal Corporation. The region has vast deposits of coal. Mineral-based and ancillary industries are coming up in and around Ramagundam, Godavarikhani and Mancherial. Public sector undertakings of the State and Centre viz., SCCL, and National Thermal Power Corporation, are located in this area and provide added advantages for industrial development in this region.
Spatio-temporal changes in telangana urbanization
The efficiency of urban settlements largely depends on regional planning, services provided and efficient management of available resources. With rapid urbanisation in developing countries, urban sprawl has become a vital point of research. Results depicting loss of vegetation cover from land cover analysis points at the rate of environmental degradation, imbalance in the native ecosystem and therefore calls for an immediate action. While the statistics from land use analysis insists to focus on the hotspots of possible urban agglomeration within the metropolitan development boundary. The results obtained helps the urban planners and modellers to identify and predict significant areas of urban growth and therefore to strategize for sustainable development for optimum resource utilization. These plans could be adapted to control or mitigate the negative potential impacts on the urban environment.
Land cover analysis was performed for the year 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2014. The outcome of land cover analysis showed clear indication of vegetation deterioration from 1989 to 2014. Increase in non-vegetation categories i.e. bare soil, barren land, quarry site, rocky fields etc. can be easily visualized. The results undoubtedly suggest at least 35% of vegetation has been converted into other category of land uses from 1989 to 2014. To understand land use changes, especially to estimate the percentage built-up area, which is a key metric to measure urban growth and sprawl. There is steep increase in built up areas pertaining to Malakpet, Madapur, Bollaram, Kukkatpally, Cherlapally etc. showing 93% (1989-1999), 319% (1999-2009) and 56% (2009-2014). Significant changes are observed in all the categories especially the urban land use shows tremendous change during the year 1999 to 2009. This rapid change can be related to the industry oriented policy measures and importance for the information technology sector given in Hyderabad region during 2000’s. Other category has been consistently decreasing from 90.50% in 1989 to 72.59% in 2014.Water bodies have also seen an alarming rate of decline from 3.75% to 1.84%. Confusion matrix was generated to estimate overall accuracy and Kappa statistic. Overall accuracy varied from 87% to 94% in Hyderabad region. These higher accuracy levels showed all the classified images were in good terms with respect to reference maps selected.
Urban Growth and Migration
The projected population of the Telangana State in 2016 is nearly 38 million. The population of the state is predominantly rural with 61.33 percent and remaining 38.67 percent of people residing in urban areas. Urban population in the State grew by 38.12 percent in the decade 2001 to 2011 as compared with 25.13 percent in the proceeding decade. In sharp contrast, rural population in the State grew by a modest 2.13 percent as per the 2011 census. The growth of urban population is mainly on account of migration from rural areas. The capital city of Hyderabad which is entirely urban accounts for over 29 percent of the State‟s total urban population (2011). The population of the State consists predominantly of backward classes and people belonging to the lower rung of the social ladder. Of the total population of the State, scheduled caste constitutes 15.45 percent and the scheduled tribes 9.08 percent. The percentage of ST population is higher than the national average 8.60 percent. There has been a significant increase in the percentage of tribal population in total population from 2.81 percent in 1961 to 8.19 in 1981 and further 9.08 in 2011.
70 percent population lives in the rural areas and their main source of livelihood is agriculture. Labour is the single most important factor in determining national income. Poverty is the main obstacle for the development of any country, but it is a very grave phenomenon where a section of society is unable to fulfill the basic necessities of life like bread, cloth, house and education. In rural areas people don‟t get an employment, their main livelihood is mostly agriculture and in some cases seasonal employment in agriculture, that‟s why workers face a lot of problems. The landless poor who mostly belong to lower castes, indigenous communities and economically backward regions constitute the major portion of Migrants. In the very large Tribal Regions of India intrusion of outsiders, settlements by the outsiders displacing the local tribal people and deforestation also played a major role in Migration.