Articles by Parul Agarwala

Parul Agarwala is the Country Programme Manager at UN-Habitat India.

Housing is a fundamental social and economic need that determines the quality of life and health of people. Housing also underscores the deeply entrenched urban plight of our cities. 6.5 crore persons, that is 1 in every 6 persons, lived in slums and informal settlements in India in 2011. The existence of 33,510 slums, surveyed in 2013, in our 4,000 plus cities is another staggering statistic. Long-term marginalization of these neighbourhoods, is visible in the poor access to water and sanitation amenities in slum households. The census of 2011 showed that  43.3% households did not have water inside their homes…

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