Improvement in Delhi's basic amenities: Report

Basic amenities in the national capital like water, sanitation, electricity and transport have "greatly improved" in the past 10 years, a report said Saturday.

However, barring electricity supply, disparities in access to these services continue, said the Delhi Human Development Report 2013 that was released by Vice President Hamid Ansari and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit here.

"Delhi has seen an overall improvement in housing between 2001 and 2011 with housing shortage declining from around 2.5 lakh to 1.5 lakh," said the report.

While ownerships of homes is rising, people living in rented houses were found to be satisfied and upbeat about buying their own property in future.

However, the fact that estimated 50,000 homeless people continue to live on the streets cannot be ignored.

As far as water supply is concerned, around 80 percent households receive water in their premises which is better than other metros.

But in poor localities, the water supply, though free, is plagued with shortages.

"Around 70 percent of respondents in unauthorised colonies and 40 percent in slum clusters rated the water supply in the capital as below average."

Around 90 percent of the houses have toilet facility, 56 percent of children in slum clusters defecate in the open.

More than half the respondents gave below average ratings to public toilets.

The report lauded Delhi for providing 99 percent of households with electricity and said almost 80 percent of respondents rated power supply as above average.

Residents of some poor colonies did complain of erratic power supply and inflated bills.

The Delhi Metro, low-floor buses, new flyovers, etc. have given a major boost to transportation in the city. Commuting by Metro was the most popular as it offered cleanliness, comfort and safety, especially to women.

However, Delhiites were not too happy with the roads in their locality.

"Only one-third respondents rated road conditions in their locality to be good," said the survey.

As many as 58 percent were satisfied with the street lighting.