& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Crushing Weights Threaten Bangkok
Movements of people inside a country have piany causes.
People leave the countryside and enter the towns to make more money — but then, when they become richer, they move outwards again to get away from urban noise, smoke, tension, etc.
When epidemics strike, the towns are emptied. When economies grow fast, they are filled to bursting.
When governments fail to improve urban roads and services. businesses move out to rural areas (where wage costs are often lower, but transport costs may be higher). So. because the local urban governments lose tax income that way, they invite businesses back again with special incentives.
Thus the country-city flows are like in-and-out tides. At the moment in Thailand, for instance, the tide is flowing swiftly into the cities, as the economy has burst into high growth. The movement Is expected to have a significant effect on the growth of the population as a whole.
In 1990. the population growth rate In Thailand was about 1.4 per cent, at which
level the population doubles in half a century. The total fertility rate (the number of children per married woman) is estimated to be 2.3. a level very close to the replacement level of 2.2 children.
The fertility rate is expected to decline further, although at a slower pace compared with that of the last 20 years. Variations are expected among the regions of the country. By.the end of the century, the fertility rate is expected to decline to about 2 and the population size would grow to approximately 64 mil-
So Thailand Is facing a "demographic transition" — that Is. low fertility and mortality rates plus large migrations from countryside to
towns and cities. But the worst problem will He in the cities.
Thailand faces serious challenges over urban population growth, fn 1990. the urban population- Is estimated to be about 18 million, accounting for 32 per cent of the total population of 55 million.
It has been estimated that . the urban population would Increase to about 25 million or about 39 per cent of the total by the year 2000. This growth has resulted In serious shortages of basic urban services and environmental problems. These require huge amounts of investment to rectify.
Those who have visited Bangkok at Intervals over the last 20 years will know very well what has occurred. A middle-class housing boom be-
gan in the 1970s. as trading incomes rose, so suburban sprawl began to surround Bangkok.
Then, to widen the roadways. the "klongs" (canals which crisscross the city) were covered over, or became open sewers. These klongs of clear water used to be lined with beautiful houses.- each with Its stone stairs where the private barges could tie up.
The policy of closing over the kloqgs. vyhlch seemed right at the time, created a smelly network of stagnant water in their place. Then high-rise buildings proliferated. and the real threat became clear.
Bangkok to built on wet mud. It Is sinking under its own weight of buildings and contents and people.