by Ankur Lakhani 16 years ago
1050
Mumbai, India
by Ankur Lakhani 16 years ago
1050
In 1976 the Urban Land Act was enacted by the government to enlarge the area where middle and lower class homes were being built but lead to more upper-class homes being built, as usual, for the elite. In 1985 the government tried once again to address their housing issues by passing the Slum Upgradation Project. However, this project only addresses 10-12% of the population and it did nothing for those who had no homes at all.
These attempts have only continued to worsen the slum problem. Today those living in the slums account for 60% of Mumbai's population, which equals about 7 million people. The slums of Mumbai have now spread into other surrounding neighborhoods such as: Mahim Creek, Parel, Dadar and Matunga and wherever else space is available.
Sources
http://www.macalester.edu/courses/GEOG61/espencer/slums.html
According to India's Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation there is a housing shortage of 24.7 million units in the country. 99 percent of this applies to low income households. In Mumbai, India, the slums have risen drastically since the 1950's, due to the fact that Mumbai has tripled since India's independences in 1947. From 1950 to 1968 Mumbai's slums increased by 18%. By the 1980's slums comprised half of the city's population. Housing for residents of Mumbai isn't cheap; it is rather scarce and expensive.
Issues that Mumbai is now faced with because of the housing problem are constant migration, lack of water, no sewage or solid waste facilities, lack of public transit, pollution and housing shortages. Infant mortality is high in Mumbai as it is in all of rural India where all of these concerns are addressed. A large population also allows for general hospitals to be over crowded and understaffed. Those who use private hospitals can not guarantee that the doctors are official trained or qualified.
Sources
http://www.macalester.edu/courses/GEOG61/espencer/slums.html
Maharashtra's state government (Mumbai’s government) has recently launched a road and rail modernization program for $60 billion. It will be primarily funded by private capital. It has been delayed due to government corruption. The government has set goals to help alleviate other poverty issues. The first is to build the infrastructure that makes the difference between slum living and tolerable safety. The second is to educate children in poverty. The government has failed at both. India's percentage of GDP spent on education is half that of Kenya's.
and schools are extremely under-resourced.
In 2001 just 61 per cent of Indians (adults) could read.
The National Slum Dwellers federation was developed in 1975. Its first purpose was to demand resettlement by protesting with slum dwellers. The organization feels that housing is the key to fighting poverty in Mumbai.
Prathan is the largest NGO in Mumbai as well as India overall. Their primary focus in on education and child labor. They works with state and local government to organize volunteering to promote education.
The organization spent 15 million dollars and then another 20 million over the past two years.
Private developers have promised to demolish Dharavi and rebuild apartments and create workshop spaces. The apartments are only going to be 225 Sq. ft. Interest rate hikes in Mumbai make the financial market volatile.
If there was a dispute regulation system in place as a regulatory function, Western investors would be more willing to invest.
Banks and developers have long been wary of investing in low-income housing, worried they would not be able to sell many units.
The private sector along with government are trying to set aside 20-25% of the land for development.
Sources:
The Time (London); Build and Learn, The routes out of poverty for India’s real slumdogs are surprisingly straightforward, February 24th, 2009 Editorial.
Qualified to help; Business Education
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), May 16, 2009 Saturday, SUPPLEMENT; Pg. 10, 372 words, Sarah Thomas
Spelling out the illiteracy challenge
South China Morning Post, September 20, 2008 Saturday, EDUCATION; Pg. 6, 1621 words, Charity aims to give basic education to millions in India, writes Mimi Lau
Poverty gap widening in Asia
The Gazette (Montreal), October 31, 2007 Wednesday, BUSINESS; En Ville; Pg. B1 , 688 words, PETER HADEKEL, FREELANCE
Dharavi is located in Mumbai. It is home to a million people, and is roughly 164 times the populations of Manhattan. Dharavi is an archipelago.
An archipelago is a group of many islands in a large body of water. This is the largest concentration of Indian slums that house half the total population located near Mumbai's business district
Archipelagos have roughly 100 million people trapped in urban poverty, and it produces a quarter of all the child deaths reported globally each year.
400,000 children work in prostitution in Mumbai alone.
Tens of thousands more work in sweatshops or beg for a living, some mutilated to boost their takings.
Just under half of India's population is in poverty.
India’s poverty line is the equivalent of making less the $75 US dollars annually. The World Bank defines the poverty line for undeveloped countries as being earning less then one US dollar per day ($365 yearly)
Residents that live in Slums pays 25 times the amount that the rich pay for services and products.
Sources:
The Time (London); Build and Learn, The routes out of poverty for India’s real slumdogs are surprisingly straightforward, February 24th, 2009 Editorial.
Qualified to help; Business Education
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), May 16, 2009 Saturday, SUPPLEMENT; Pg. 10, 372 words, Sarah Thomas
Spelling out the illiteracy challenge
South China Morning Post, September 20, 2008 Saturday, EDUCATION; Pg. 6, 1621 words, Charity aims to give basic education to millions in India, writes Mimi Lau
Poverty gap widening in Asia
The Gazette (Montreal), October 31, 2007 Wednesday, BUSINESS; En Ville; Pg. B1 , 688 words, PETER HADEKEL, FREELANCE
One solution that is present is the various privately owned bus systems in the city. One of the biggest ones has over 3000 buses that commute around 5 million people per day. This in addition to a rail system is currently the best solution to the traffic problem.
The government has highly considered a congestion tax for many years to help combat Mumbai’s traffic problem. A congestion fee is a type of road pricing that implemented during specific times and locations, usually the most congested areas during peak travel times. This fee encourages road travelers to change travel times, routes , or the type of transportation used. Congestion fees can either be a flat rate or updated regularly depending on traffic conditions. Currently Singapore, Stockholm, and London have congestion fees with Singapore being the first to do so in 1975. When first introduced traffic levels dropped 50% in Singapore, 25% in Stockholm, and 30% in London. No type of fee like this has yet to be imposed.
The president of Bombay Environmental Action Group thinks the only way to restrict people from bringing cars into the city is to implement fees, banning cars that are over ten years old, and requiring European environmental standards for all cars. Many people think that this will just cause people to register the car in another state.
Sources:
http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/espencer/transportation.html
http://thecityfix.com/what-is-congestion-charging/
ttp://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA4LzEyLzE2I0FyMDA0MDA=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom)
Mumbai faces terrible street congestion problems. The city contains a road system of over 1400 kilometers with around six million people traveling these roads everyday. )With this many vehicles the car air pollution rate has soared to 35%, as measured by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board.
Sources:
http://www.macalester.edu/courses/geog61/espencer/transportation.html
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA4LzEyLzE2I0FyMDA0MDA=&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
Mumbai is today one of the biggest cities in the world, the commercial and entertainment capital of India. Yet sanitation is a subject that has been completely neglected.
Mumbai produces the most garbage in India. It produces 6,000-7,000 tons. Mumbai has no hinterland for large dumping grounds and no agricultural land to absorb processed waste. Mumbai's unsanitary slums serve as habitats for its poverty stuck residents.
Sources:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/42604934.cms
Sanitation has become such a large problem that more recently, the government and private organizations and have been getting involved. NGO's have helped a lot over the years but generally lack in funding. Public toilet blocks seen alongside highways and roads at commercially prominent and tourist spots across the city cater to those that are working in the area. These are built, operated and maintained by organizations like the MHADA or private firms like the Sulabh International and Non-Governmant Organizations (NGO) but their cost of construction, electricity and water supply are all borne by the BMC. Organizations that provide services to slum dwellers in Mumbai are (1) MLA or Corporaters (Local Area Development Fund (2) MHADA (3) The Municipal Corporation (4) MMRDA and (5) Private organizations and NGOs.
Some of these toilet blocks are decently maintained, have electricity and continuous water supply, but some lie neglected. The MHADA have built toilet blocks in several slums but they lie unmaintained and unusable with no electricity or water supply. Slum sanitation is a growing concern concern in Mumbai and with an exponentially growing population Mumbai needs government support keep Mumbai in a livable condition.
Sources:
http://www.karmayog.org/news/news_17728.htm
