Why does dharavi exist

But it is certainly the most well-known, thanks to the film, Slumdog Millionaire, which it inspired and which was partly shot there. Slums, like all human settlements, are a world of the own, and a world to discover for the curious at heart. Obviously, there is the squalor. And there is no shortage of that at Dharavi.

There are about 1 million people living within 1 square mile three square kilometres , making it perhaps the most densely populated area on planet earth. The entire residential area lacks any sort of infrastructure such as roads, public conveniences and toilets. With an average of 1 toilet per , most residents use alleys or the local river as a toilet, even though the river is also a source of Dharavi's fresh water.

Children play in open sewers, while dead rats line the alleyways, and live ones run up and down. The slum has severe public health problems, with a long history of epidemics and other disasters. Virtually all housing has been constructed illegally, and is extremely crowded and small. Up to 5 people sleep in each tiny bedroom. But Dharavi is not only squalor. There are also important businesses there with leather, textiles, pottery, jewelry, and steel being the most important industries, along with a large recycling business.

There are reportedly some bakeries. Sometimes they will want to get tested because they sat next to someone who coughed or sneezed. There's a lot of fear and awareness. With some 11, tests done since April, there's a possibility that the slum still has a large population of people who are infected but show no symptoms. But officials believe they have been able to contain the infection at a time when it is picking up speed elsewhere in Mumbai and other hotspot cities.

The relatively low death toll is possibly explained by the overwhelmingly young population of the slum - most infected people have been in the age group of 21 to 50 years. And to make sure the harsh containment worked, free meals and food rations have been provided to residents trapped at home without work and income. It also helps that Dharavi gets a lot of media attention.

The slum drew international attention as the inspiration for the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire. Private doctors have joined the fever camps. The cash-rich municipality, politicians, and non-profits have provided tens of thousands of free meals and rations. Bollywood actors and businessmen have donated gear, oxygen cylinders, gloves, masks, medicines and ventilators.

They have a done a good job in helping officials containing the infection in Dharavi," says Dr Armida Fernandez, who's involved with a non-profit working in the slum. However, the economic costs of the draconian containment have been enormous.

The slum is home to thriving leather, pottery and textile stitching businesses. It has 5, small factories which pay taxes and some 15, single-room workshops.

It is also Mumbai's main hub of plastic recycling. Not surprisingly Dharavi is a place where migrant low-cost skilled labour has thrived for decades. After the lockdown, an estimated , of them left the place for their native villages after their workplaces shut and earnings dried up. Residents have pawned their gold, depleted their savings and been pushed into debt. It killed the economy of Dharavi," says Vinod Shetty, a lawyer who runs a non-profit called Acorn India, which works in the slum.

Slum dwellers in Mumbai's northern sections use blue tarps to protect against the monsoon rains. The houses are packed so tightly together it's impossible to see the pathways between them from above. Another view of the Mahim Nature Park, with the visitor's center visible as a open circular building on the left.

The entrance to the park costs 10 rupees, "less than a cup of tea", and provides a shaded natural getaway to the chaos of Dharavi's urban canyons. Support Unequal Scenes on Patreon. Purchase Prints. Drone Journalism Resources. Simply put, Mumbai is It's built on a slender, impossibly crowded peninsula surrounded on three sides by water.

It contains the heart of India's most powerful industries, and some of its poorest slums - it's an urban jungle, a vertical aerie for the superrich, and a fragile marine ecosystem. Billion-dollar houses in the form of skyscrapers exist next to vast slums covered in blue tarps against the monsoon rains.

Informal recyclers in Dharavi exist within sight of the National Stock Exchange, traditional fishermen moor their boats in the shadows of skyscrapers in Worli, and leopards prowl the Sanjay Gandhi National Park on the city's northern flank.