11 replies to this topic

[kat74]

There are many slums in Africa and sanitation is a big hygiene problem. There are very many open sewer and flying toilets around and the smell is unbearable. People still live their because of finances and lack of alternatives. The air pollution out of the sewer lines is so much if you don't live there, you can hardly breath. The governments knows about the problem but I think they either don't care or they are busy making the richer rich. Do you guys have slums in your countries.

[Alli]

This is so sad... people shouldn't have to live in such awful conditions. China doesn't have slums like that- the poor in China are in the rural villages. Those villages are unbelievably poor, though- many people live in ways that people lived literally 3000 years ago- a hut with a dirt floor, basically.

[artistry]

This is sad to hear, there are places in many different areas where the sanitation is terrible. It is more than likely a combination of both lack of concern and possibly lack of funds, to do much about the problem. It makes you feel very bad for the people who have to endure such conditions.

[Pushhyarag2000]

I'm sure the situation is no better in most of third world developing countries. With couldn't care less attitude by politicians & bureaucrats. There is a large number of notified & non notified slums in urban agglomerations. And there are also areas occupied by squatters and the living conditions are completely inhuman. Imagine some of us would not even dare go any where closer but those people have to live there all the time. Its devastating to find politics in everything including in handling matters such as these. Granted, it must be a big problem confronting most urban planners and administrators but there is very little honest planning and even invisible honest execution.

[omkar1991]

Pushhyarag2000, on 11 December 2011 - 10:54 PM, said:

I'm sure the situation is no better in most of third world developing countries. With couldn't care less attitude by politicians & bureaucrats. There is a large number of notified & non notified slums in urban agglomerations. And there are also areas occupied by squatters and the living conditions are completely inhuman. Imagine some of us would not even dare go any where closer but those people have to live there all the time. Its devastating to find politics in everything including in handling matters such as these. Granted, it must be a big problem confronting most urban planners and administrators but there is very little honest planning and even invisible honest execution.

Agreed, there should be a sytematic approach towards planning, and effective execution as well.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

kat74, on 09 December 2011 - 06:47 AM, said:

There are many slums in Africa and sanitation is a big hygiene problem. There are very many open sewer and flying toilets around and the smell is unbearable. People still live their because of finances and lack of alternatives. The air pollution out of the sewer lines is so much if you don't live there, you can hardly breath. The governments knows about the problem but I think they either don't care or they are busy making the richer rich. Do you guys have slums in your countries.

I don't know the population of the area you are speaking about, but why don't the locals just dig deep holes
for "out houses"?
We had "out houses" in this country for decades before the water/sewer pipes were laid.
When they get close to full, you bury with dirt and start another hole.
It would be more sanitary then the scenario you are describing.

[jasserEnv]

I have traveled to many countries and open sewers are very common. Given the poor state of infrastructure in these countries in general, however, it is not surprising as putting in all of the sewage collection piping would be very expensive. Sadly, these countries will still manage to put in asphalt roads for cars. It just tells me that like everywhere else, the priorities are extremely messed up.

[sculptor]

"and the smell is unbearable. People still live their because of finances and lack of alternatives. The air pollution out of the sewer lines is so much if you don't live there, you can hardly breath. The governments knows about the problem but I think they either don't care or they are busy making the richer rich."

Kat:
'tain't just in the third world.

My wife is a professor , and the university did a meet and greet bus tour this past year, and in one small town in northern Iowa, when the subject of rising tuition came up, the local residents complained that their sewer system had broken and there was no money to repair it,(yet alone pay tuition) so the sewage bubbled to the surface and flowed down the ditch on the side of the road

it seems that the 99% can expect increased poverty and "third world" problems right here at home

[joeldgreat]

I think only few countries do not have slum areas. With the global effect of the poor economy in almost all developing countries, surely their will be bigger and more slum areas will come into place. The government cannot do about it, once they fixed the economy, then they can shift their eyes in helping people living in slums which most of them lost their jobs due to the global economy crises.

[jasserEnv]

While poverty is often identified as the cause of slums, one of the biggest contributing factors in the development of slums is actually overpopulation. This can happen both as a result of people having too many children and as a result of rapid urbanization. Unless overpopulation is addressed, slums continue to sprawl. If populations can stabilized, people will work to improve their quality of life and the place where they live over time. When this happens, slums start to look more like dense metropolitan areas. This happened in many parts of Europe over a great number of years.

The one benefit of slums oddly enough is that they tend to lead to dense populations as space is at a premium and people only use the minimum area. Sadly however, slums develop without any control of location so can be very damaging to the environment.

[msterees]

I really feel bad for people who have to live in these kinds of conditions. It's a shame their government doesn't care enough to make regulations that would allow them to live in more sanitary conditions. They probably don't think about digging holes for outhouses because they have been living this way their whole life and think nothing of the open sewage lines.

[jasserEnv]

msterees, on 07 January 2012 - 12:42 PM, said:

I really feel bad for people who have to live in these kinds of conditions. It's a shame their government doesn't care enough to make regulations that would allow them to live in more sanitary conditions. They probably don't think about digging holes for outhouses because they have been living this way their whole life and think nothing of the open sewage lines.

Outhouses still require regular cleaning or the accumulations will fill up the hole. That is why the sewers exist so that someone doesn't have to come to take the sewage away by vehicle. As far as government regulations, the regulations may exist but corruption and lack of funds to create proper sewers are more likely to be the problem. Digging in the ground to put in pipe takes considerable effort and you either have to have heavy equipment or a lot of laborers in addition to the pipe which can be expensive. That's why I don't believe it is as simple as regulations.