IndiaLiving: PATNA

Patna, home of Bahurani Purnimina. is more than 5000 years old. It is an unplanned city. The known population is over 4.5 million. Anyone can build any type of building for any use anywhere. My Bahurani Purnima's home is now surrounded on two sides with multilevel buildings under construction with a third planned on a third side. This building will also include retail space. The front of her yard is open to a now congested highway. Though her home is within a walled compound she will no longer have any privacy in her yard.

Patna's infrastructure has not been able to keep up with the growth. There is no garbage management or managed disposal. There is no space to create a garbage landfill. Waste ends up being thrown in the street or any empty space which is increasingly scarce. This is becoming more of a problem with the new use of disposable diapers. Traffic is always congested and slow. A dusty haze continuously hangs over the city. Bahurani says it takes her three days to accomplish what one day should. There problems are immense. In a city this populated and growing rapidly, where does one begin to address the problems? The government, mired in corruption, cannot manage. What will it be like in another ten years? It's just a way of life here. People cope. Those with means have created an oasis within their living spaces.