Town Planning in Ancient India c11.28

c11.28

This was a very simple makeshift and, at the same time, was not advocated by all. Though this externment of low class people was conducive to city-sanitation, it was hardly sufficient and not at all satisfactory. Even to-day only a very small percentage of the general population of this country lives in towns. The number of low class people, who were constrained by business to permanently reside in towns in ancient times was very meagre. The necessity for enlarging towns did not arise at those periods of Indian history when people had to flock to fortified towns and perforce to live there for protection and security. Consequently exclusion of a handful of citizens, if it was at all made to relieve congestion, was in the nature of a stop-gap rather than a permanent solution of the problem. Deliberate efforts were however made to keep down the multiplication of urban population so as to minimise congestion and put off the necessity of extension. For example, the Matsya Purāṇa lays down that a large number of people should not remain in the city or fort without any