A Geographical Study of Poverty Profile of Nainital Town, India

Nainital township (29° 24' N, 79° 28' E), a popular hill resort of Kumaun Himalaya, is developed around a 1.4 km long and 0.45 to 0.25 km wide lake extending in NW-SE direction and having a maximum depth of about 27m. The lake is situated at an elevation of 1935 m at the prominent Nainia Peak towards north of the lake. Around a billion people live in informal settlements. Urban poverty in India is over 25 percent; some 81 million people live in urban areas on incomes that are below the poverty line. The nature of urban poverty poses distinct challenges for housing, water, sanitation, health, education. Interestingly, while the slum population is increasing, the number of slums has decreased – resulting in greater density. In most of the cases slum dwellers do not have access to clean water, sanitation and health care facilities. They face a constant threat of eviction, removal, confiscation of goods and have virtually no social security cover.  The present paper is an attempt to address the issues related to urban poverty in Nainital – a hill town of historical legacy of British Empire.