WORLD OF SCIENCE
Urban living
DR. T. V. PADMA
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Mohenjodaro was the largest Indus city with room for 80,000 people and Harappa was the second largest.
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One of the differences between villages and cities is that the former are often self-sufficient. As they are associated with agricultural land, they usually grow enough food to support the population. The smaller population of a village also means that one doesn't have to worry quite as much about providing water and sanitation facilities.
Cities support more people, and can't usually grow food to support them. Mohenjodaro was the largest Indus city (extending across 250 hectares), with room for 80,000 people (though fewer people probably lived there full time). Harappa began as a village and grew into the second largest Indus city (over 150 hectares, with a population of 40,000 to 60,000) by about 2600 BCE.
Highly developed
The cities of the Indus had large public structures where grain may have been stored. They also had excellent sanitary facilities. Bathrooms were made watertight with bitumen. Toilets had pots that were called sump pots, with a hole at the bottom to let liquid sewage seep out into drains. Toilets sometimes had seats for extra comfort!
Water from bathrooms and toilets generally flowed out into small drains that connected with a large covered drain that ran below the main streets and took the sewage and wastewater out of the city. Outside the city, the drains emptied into gullies that were washed out by the monsoon rains every year - otherwise, of course, the drains would slowly get blocked with build up, and over time, they would stop functioning. The drains even had manhole checkpoints at regular intervals, so that they could be easily serviced if they got blocked! Functioning drains aren't easy to construct!
Indus cities smelled a lot fresher than Mesapotamia and other cities of the time. Main streets often had built-in garbage bins, so that refuse was not spread out everywhere. Those ancient Indians had an advanced civic sense!
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