People started migrating from villages towards town with the rapid growth of industries. This is, more or less, a world-wide phenomenon. Formerly people remained in villages to carry on their agricultural pursiuts and cottage industry as also to work in agro-based cottage industry. But agriculture can no longer absorb and sustain the growing population in villages. So the towns are fast getting over-crowded for this steady migration of village people who flock in towns in quest of jobs and occupation. The inhabitants of city like Tokyo now number more than a crore. A big city is bursting so to say, at the seam's due to increase of population, aggravating housing problem.
To provide family accommodation for so many citizens is a stupendous problem. Multi-storeyed building is now the order of the day. In Moscow even space under stairs and the corridors of a building is now occupied by the tenant.
Big cities are now becoming houseful and houses stand cheek by jowl. Sanitation and health are sure to be affected in such conjested living. One is easily reminded of Keate's poem, "To one who has been long in City Pent". City is nothing but a concreate jungle. Children are hard put to playing for the absence of open space. A city park is only an apology whereas a properly maintained big open area with greenery is considered the lung of the city. Naturally, pollution grows and various types of ailments develop in a modern city. Apart from the physical aspect, such crowded living stunts the mental growth and disturbs the psychology, the nerves of the rising generation.
Once again the problem of distribution is the devil of the piece. There are plenty of houses in many cities that are lying partly or fully vacant i.e. more rooms than men to dwell. The stock plea of the owners of these houses that rather empty rooms will be kept locked up than accommodate any tenant on rent. All this is due to unfavorable rent laws. To make things worse, in some states like Delhi, the rent laws favor the owner of houses but in a state like West Bengal, the house tenancy Act dangerously leans towards the tenant. So the owners here are more or less determined not to allow tenants. The urgent necessity is to enact a uniform rent law all over India, that would be ideal both for the owners and tenants so that the housing problem can be partly relieved and solved. In the mean time, an encouraging news comes that the center is considering allowing 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment in the housing sector. Foreign countries will be allowed to float joint ventures with Indian partners to help house building so that many more Indians may enjoy the fortune of living under their own roof and not in shanties of slums.
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