Settlements & migration

Introduction

• Shelter is the third most essential and basic need of man after food and clothing
• Man build houses to lead a settled life and the place where he build houses is known as settlement
  • Thus, settlement is a permanently occupied human dwelling place which indicates a community of dwellings and associated buildings ranging from a small hamlet to metropolitan city or megalopolis

Classification of Settlements

• Settlements may be classified on the basis of their functions, size, morphology, number and density of houses, etc.
• But the most widely used criteria is the function carried out by the inhabitants of a settlement
• On this basis, two types of settlements are recognized
  1. Rural Settlements
  2. Urban Settlements

RURAL SETTLEMENTS

• This refers to clusters of dwellings called ‘villages’ together with the surrounding land from which the inhabitants derive their sustenance
• In India, officially a Village stands for the area demarcated as mauza meaning, ‘parcel of ground with definite boundaries for revenue purposes without clear and consistent regard for its population’
  • A revenue village thus defined, is a definite administrative unit and includes one or more clusters of dwellings together with the land territory under possession

Classification of Villages

• Although there are several ways, classification based on size, population and area of land is the most popular and accepted classification of villages
• On the basis of above criteria, following classes of villages are recognised:
  1. Pura
     • The place where a habitat had been in ancient days and where chief habitats are all around or nearby areas is called pura
     • This habitat can this be called the nucleus of the area
  2. Khas
     • This is used for the main village
     • When the population increases, the word khas is used for the village from where people spread around
  3. Kalan
     • It is used for large villages and used at the end of the name of the village
  4. Khurd
     • This word is used for small villages
  5. Khera
     • This word is used for small colonies and also for the higher land of the village
     • Khera has great social value for the village community because all shows such as Ramlila take place here
  6. Nanglay
     • It comprises a group of small villages where on village is surrounded by several satellite villages

Settlement types

• The types of rural settlements imply the degree of dispersion or nucleation of the dwellings
  1. Compact settlements
     • If the number of villages equals the number of hamlets in an area unit, the settlement is designated as compact
     • Such types are found in the plateau region of Malwa, in Narmada Valley, Nimar upland, large parts of Rajasthan, etc.
     • In such villages, all the dwellings are concentrated in one central site
     • Factors contributing to growth to compact settlements:
       • Fertile plains, resulting in development of intensive agriculture in an area
       • Availability of water resulting in such settlements in Punjab, Haryana region

1. 1. Semi-compact or Hamletted settlements
      • If the number of villages equals more than half of the hamlets, it is semi-compact settlements
      • It covers more area than compact settlements
      • Chief characteristic of these settlements is an early recognised site and one or more than one hamlets which are closely linked with the main site, foot paths, or roads
      • The pressure of population on the main site forces many families to shift outside the main village
      • These are common in the khadar areas of Ganga, Bet banks of Punjab, Terai region of Uttar Pradesh and in delta regions of rivers
   2. Hamletted settlements
      • If the number of villages is equal to half of hamlet number, it is a hamlet settlement
      • The hamlets are spread over the area with intervening fields and the main/central settlement is either absent or has feeble influence upon others
   3. Dispersed settlements
      • If the number of villages is less than half the number of hamlets, the settlement is regarded as dispersed
      • The people in this type, live In isolated dwellings scattered in the cultivated fields
      • These are found in tribal areas, on Himalayan slopes
      • Homesteads/farmsteads of Punjab, Haryana region belong to this category

 Settlement Patterns

• Pattern refers to geometrical form and shape of the settlement
• The most common patterns of rural settlements found in India are:
  1. Linear pattern
     • In this, the main street of the village runs parallel to a road, railway line or water front and most of the village shops are located on this road
     • Such pattern is found in the Ganga plain, along coasts and in north-east Indian states
     • 
  2. Checkerboard Pattern
     • This develops at a place where two roads or some other mode of transport meet almost at right angles
     • The point of intersection of two main roads is the focus of growth of the settlement
     • Such villages are found in large numbers in the fertile plains of North India
     • Also, the pattern is quite common in Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh
     • 
  3. Rectangular pattern
     • The geometry of these settlements is largely rectangular
     • Such settlements develop in the fertile plains of north India where intensive cultivation is practiced
     • These settlements have straight streets which meet each other at right angles
     • This pattern is the heritage of our old system of land measurement in ‘Bighas’
     • These are abundantly found in Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh
     • In Rajasthan, the Indira Gandhi Canal Command region has a large number of rural settlements planned as rectangles
     • In south India, the deltas of the peninsular rivers have a large number of villages in this pattern
     • 
  4. Radial Pattern
     • This develops at a nodal place where number of roads and streets coming from different directions converge at a site
     • Houses are built along a radial route and a radial pattern comes into being
     • About one-third of Indian villages have radial pattern are most are found in northern plain of India
     • 
  5. Star-like pattern
     • It is a refined form of radial pattern
     • It develops when the space between the transport routes like roads, streets and foot path is occupied by houses and other buildings
     • The building process of the houses starts from the nodal place and spreads in all directions
     • This pattern is found in the fertile areas of Punjab, Haryana and western part of Uttar Pradesh
     • 
  6. Triangular pattern
     • • This pattern is a result of hindrance occurring on three sides
       • The hindrance may be physical or cultural
       • Such a pattern develops usually at the confluence of two rivers or two roads
       • 
  7. Circular pattern
     • This pattern develops around a pond, lake or a crater
     • People prefer to construct houses close to pond because of easy accessibility of water
     • The pattern may develop around a temple/mosque
     • These are found in the upper part of the Ganga-Yamuna Doab, trans-Yamuna region, etc.
     • 
  8. Semi-circular pattern
     • • Villages which grow along the river meanders, oxbow lakes or a lake at the foothill assume this shape
       • The Ganga and its several tributaries have semi-circular villages
       • 
  9. Arrow pattern
     • • • The villages which grow at the end of a cape, or at a sharp bend of a meandering river or a lake often assume this shape
         • Such settlements are found in Kanniyakumari, Chilka lake, Gulf of Khambat, etc.
         • 
  10. Nebular pattern
      • They represent the shape of a nebula
      • The roads in such settlements are generally circular, which end at the centre or nucleus of the village
      • These are found in hilly and undulating areas of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and in Ganga-Yamina doab region
      • 
  11. Terraced pattern
      • These are found on the hill slopes, which are cut for cultivation
      • Such villages are seen along hill slopes in Jammu Kashmir region, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Western Ghats
      • 
  12. T-Shape pattern
      • Sometime the routes meet in such a way, that they make a ‘T’ junction
      • People start building houses along the routes extending in all the three directions and T shape pattern develops

Distribution of Villages in India

• According to Census of India 2011, there are 640,867 villages in the country, including un-inhabited villages
• According to 2011 Census figures, 68.84% or more than two-thirds of India’s population lives in more than 6.4. lakh villages
• The largest number(more than 16.6%) are in Uttar Pradesh alone
• Chandigarh has the minimum number of 5 villages only
• The spatial pattern of above explained types, in India is as Indicated below:

Density of Rural settlements

• It is defined as the number of village per 100 square kilometers of land area
• The average density of rural settlements in India is 19 villages per 100 sq.km
• Among the larger states Bihar has the highest density of 48 villages per 100 sq.km; followed by Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jharkhand
• The lowest densities of less than 10 villages per 100 sq.km are found in Kashmir region, Kerala, Sikkim and so on
• Among the Union territories, Lakshadweep has the highest density of 65 villages per 100 sq.km, which is the highest in whole of India

Morphology of rural settlements

• Morphology of rural settlements is concerned with their internal and external structure and identification, classification, regionalization and analysis of its components
• The four main parts of a rural settlement include:
  • Homogenous part, agricultural fields etc.
  • Central part, built up area of Basti
  • Circulatory part, roads, streets, footpaths, etc.
  • Special part, school, temple, mosque, church, panchayat-ghar, cultural place, etc.

Rural Houses and house types

• The census of India defines a ‘census house’ as a building or a part of a building having a separate main entrance from the road, common courtyard or staircase, etc. used or recognized as a separate unit
• The houses made of locally available materials such as stones, mud, unburnt bricks, bamboos, etc. are called Kutcha houses
• The houses built using burnt bricks and cement are called Pucca Houses