Far too many people, particularly youth, from these rural areas are migrating to first and second-tier cities for fear that there is no future opportunity or earning capacity in villages for them to remain. This presents a significant burden on the cities, their infrastructure, resources and civic amenities, to wit:
increase in demand for already woefully inadequate water and electricity
pollution levels have reached catastrophic levels
influx of humanity has worsened traffic jams, overcrowded transportation
creates an overload on already poor drainage and disposal systems
adds to the creation of slums and other temporary illegal colonies
already overburdened civic authorities are inadequate to control the situation
hospitals and health care centres are overburdened with patients
the number of job seekers far exceeds the work available
poor economic conditions often lead to increasing rates of crime
While on the other hand, this mass exodus from the villages creates a separate set of issues for the villages:
land holdings are sold to developers, sometimes at a loss to farmers
shortage of farmers and workers due to migration to the cities
as more and more educated people are shifting to urban areas, the villages are suffering from a shortage of literate and advanced farmers
resulting in India falling below set growth targets for 11th/12th Five Year Plans
