7/31/2019 Dharavi Slum in Mumbai

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Dharavi Slum in Mumbai

- Slumdog Millionaire

The slum in Dharvi gives a general impression of a highly poor quality of life, a

place where those who dwell within are unable to succeed past the limited

microeconomic system in place within the slum, be this trade of pottery, a keytrade1, or that of a more illegal nature alike that of drug trade and prostitution.

Conditions within the slum are of an extremely poor nature, the high population

density alone a major issue, with over one million inhabitants living in the cramped

five hundred and fifty acre sprawl of built upon land. Living in brick and tin

shantys those who live within the area can expect to be vulnerable to variable

and often violent weather, with the structural support of their weak established

housing being tested and frequently failing, laying out those within to the

elements. This alone leads to many prominent issues, be it that of quickly

contracting illness due to weakened immune systems from the wet environment or

developing sanitary illness such as the deadly trench foot- caused by consistentground water and a poor level of hygiene

People within the slum are subject to the typical quality of life that one who

resides in any slum world over will experience, apart from perhaps one key

element to the Dharavi slum that differs from many others; the large number of

inner slum jobs. There is a strong industry of plastic recycling, leather tanning and

pottery within the slum itself, with jobs in any of these sectors being available

consistently. However he who works in these areas earns little money, with the

average workers pay being only that of two dollars per day. This low income is not

due to the worker being taken advantage of however, it is due primarily to the

western worlds exploitation of cheap goods.

Within the slum population continually grows due to its inhabitants being without

education and knowledge of contraception, nor is any available to them - this also

brings about the issue of heightened overcrowding, along with a high percentage

of the population being taken ill and becoming carriers of sexually transmitted

diseases.

However the above situation is becoming one of few in the world to be actively

changed by both the Indian government and private developers. Named the

Dharavi Re-Development Project it is a two and a half billion dollar project to

improve the lives of slum dwellers and recuperate the billions of dollars worth ofland inhabited by the social and economic undesirables. Under the plan developers

will build a two hundred and twenty five square ft. apartment per each registered

family within the Dharavi slum, 87,000 in total. The scheme allows for families to

reside in a structurally safe building, equipped with efficient sanitation. Along with

this the Indian government have agreed the provision of schooling and other

public services we in MEDCs take for granted.

1 Research shows that the pottery and leather tanning industry within the Dhavari slumalone contributes to the tune of $1billion USD to the Indian economy.