For most cities in India, slums are an indispensable attribute and look quite harmonious. But Mumbai is a successful and large metropolis at all, which means that the size of the slums here is fully consistent with its size. Most tourists are mistaken in believing that the slums of Dharavi in Mumbai (India) are necessarily filled with immoral personalities and other destructive residents - this is not at all the case.
Not so long ago, this area was the largest in Southeast Asia. Its area is 217 hectares, while the population reaches 3 million people (they are difficult to accurately calculate due to constant migration). For a long time among such agglomerations on the planet, he rightfully occupied the palm. In this article we will consider how life is arranged in the slums of Mumbai (Dharavi), how they arose, what their residents do, etc.
Mumbai Slum History
This Western invention perfectly stuck here and took on its own unique form. Due to this, the history of slums in Mumbai (India) is quite interesting. With the beginning of the industrial revolution in America and Europe, the masses of people began to move to cities from villages in order to find financial prosperity, and, accordingly, not to starve to death. Thus crowds of homeless seekers of a good share arose. They needed to live somewhere, and since most of them were outright proletarians, they were looking for housing for themselves, therefore, in every large city, slum ghettos appeared, most of which feel great today.
In Mumbai, the story was similar. The modern city was built on the islands, while in the XVIII century, most of them were on their own, and there were much fewer inhabitants than today. Mumbai grew, while it required more inexpensive labor, only in the 19th century the population of the city was able to exceed the mark of 500 thousand people, only 50 thousand lived in London.
Peasants who came here began to settle anywhere, including settled in the fishing village of Kolivadas - now there are the famous slums of Dharavi in India (Dharavi Mumbai Slum). Soon fishing became irrelevant here, and a slum area began to grow slowly on the site of the village. The then owners of the country (the British) did not care what was happening in the area, since it was located outside the city. The European part of Mumbai was actively built according to interesting architectural plans and corresponded to European cities. At the same time, slum areas had absolute freedom of action.
At the same time, the slums of Mumbai Dharavi were not the only place in which the Mumbai poor lived. She compactly lived in various parts of the city. At some point, the time for change came - an epidemic of the bubonic plague began, which significantly reduced the number of local residents. The British were very worried about the sanitary conditions in the compact living areas of the cheap Mumbai labor force, it was necessary to quickly localize their spontaneous settlements and somehow streamline this process. It was decided to relocate all the hard workers to one remote place - in Dharavi. At this moment, the area began to live a full life and became more and more beautiful every year. The Dharavi slum area appeared in this way, perfectly preserved to the present moment.
The government of this city has a huge interest in a large piece of land in this expensive city on which shacks are located, and, probably, very soon the inhabitants of these slums will have chances to be thrown out into the street - this is exactly what happened with similar slums located in Delhi. Of course, the government has plans to relocate local residents to comfortable homes, only such an outcome causes all people, including those who invented such a plan, only a smile.
Slum dwellers
Wrong, it cannot be argued that the slums of Mumbai are the place of residence of non-humans, as well as other indecent public - the phrase “city in city” is more suitable here. In fact, young people who come from the whole vast country to live here can also live here for a month in a room of 10 m2 for just $ 3. At the same time, Mumbai is the most expensive city in the whole country. Big, real Indian families live in the local slums, and they settled here from the very beginning of the slum.
Mumbai residents are trying to live a full life and keep up with the population of prosperous areas - there are schools (private and public), there is even a street for carnal pleasures, where for 2 US dollars you can get to know better Indian boys and girls. There is also a choice for the advanced ones - acquaintance with the hijra (“third sex”, that is, transvestites).
What is life like in the slums of Mumbai?
Slums, like other areas of Indian cities, are divided into small settlements. In some place there are workshops of tanners, in another live garbage sorters, in the third there are shops. Muslims and Hindus also traditionally live in different areas.
Slum dwellers can do anything - collect garbage and beg, or even open their own small business. In everyday life, Indians are really very unpretentious, and often the owners of shops that work away from home do not bother with the acquisition or rental of housing, but rest right in the shop.
It is worth noting that slums are not the place where only the poor live. For local residents, the average monthly income is about $ 500. Of course, the salaries here are very different. For example, servants earn about $ 50 a month (about 3,000 rupees).
Problems
Poverty, unsanitary conditions, one toilet for a huge number of families, lack of drinking water - these living conditions can hardly be called pleasant. And all this is characteristic of the slums of Mumbai. The government is trying to solve these problems as it can. For example, the famous slums were demolished in Delhi off the coast of the Yamuna, in which about a million people lived. True, the government did not build and did not provide new housing, while the fate of a million people seeped through the fingers of officials like sand. After that, many went to their homeland, others remained to live right on the street.
Slum Benefits
Oddly enough, but life in the slums of Mumbai has its advantages. Describing all kinds of horrors and problems, you can understand how lucky you are, living in an apartment on the 10th floor. But India, with its slums, is teaching a lesson to all Western civilization. So, the locals, when meeting each other, smile, treat carefully and politely. Living conditions fade into the background, while human relations come to the fore.
At the same time, it is so incomprehensible and strange why living in a city where the air is saturated with poisonous fumes and the space is so small that you have to share a room with strangers is preferable to living on the ocean, in the midst of a snow-white beach and surrounded by palm trees? We probably won’t know this.
Economy
Civilians are very surprised to find out what amounts are circulating in the slums of Dharavi. At the moment, the turnover here is about 650 million dollars annually, while the average person’s income is 500 dollars (as mentioned above, it depends on what the person does).
So, what else are Mumbai slums interesting for? Here they sew clothes, produce ceramic pots and lamps, bake bread for city cafes, and grow all kinds of vegetables in small fields, which will also go to the tables of city residents. There is a high probability that the T-shirt in which you are currently sitting at the monitor, bought in one of the city’s supermarkets, was made in these slums.
The Dharavi region is conditionally divided into various zones according to the field of activity of representatives of different specialties, as we discussed above. At the same time, Indians and Muslims also have different habitats in the Dharavi region.
Tour and tourists
Thanks to the famous film “Slumdog Millionaire”, filmed here, tourists wanted to see everything with their own eyes, walk along the large pipe that locals use instead of the road, plunge into the true Indian atmosphere, look at all the houses, etc.
Many tourists book excursions and go to the slums as a kind of human zoo. Having paid a fairly decent amount, a person expects adventures like a safari, but instead of animals there are people here. Yes, in fact, poverty, poor sanitation, water problems, and 1 toilet per 1000 rooms reign here - these living conditions cannot be called pleasant or even acceptable, only the locals remain human beings.
From the point of view of modern inhabitants, accustomed to a mortgage cozy apartment, idle in traffic jams on a credit Hyundai, these are terrible conditions, only they, oddly enough, do not make people unhappy. In dirty courtyards unwashed kids have fun and run around, women in colorful saris sit on the porch and lively discuss home joys, while men drink tea while playing chess.
Slum dwellers do not look embittered, but rather seem open and polite. Drop by a visit to someone (you will be allowed into the house with joy) and see for yourself how people live. Mostly inside the home is incredibly poor, crowded, but surprisingly clean enough.
Some tourists who have been here rethink a lot, including their attitude to each other and to comfort. Terrible living conditions go to the 2nd plan, while human relations remain in the 1st place instead of the eternal calculation of money and other modern tinsel.
Although there are still tourists who sincerely want to burn everything with a napalm in the hope of making life easier for the unfortunate Indians. Do you need this tour - decide for yourself.
How to get here?
Potential tourists do not have to overpay for escorts and take an excursion, you can get here on your own and cheaply. You need to take the Mumbai surface metro (local train) to the Sion Railway, Maxim Junction or Chunnabhatti station, adjacent to this area, and walk a little.
Dharavi slums in Mumbai: reviews
Of course, reviews about this place are very controversial. Someone is full of horror from the living conditions of people, unsanitary conditions and incredible overcrowding. Others understand at some point that all their “problems” are nothing more than empty vanity, behind which they cease to see the main thing. If you want to get acquainted with India and make sure that this is a real country of contrasts, you do not need to read reviews of other people. The best way to form your own opinion is to come here yourself and take a look at everything with your own eyes.