Slum dwellings pose challenge as Mumbai fights coronavirus outbreak

As coronavirus situation spirals, slum dwellings in Mumbai, where more than half of the city's 12 million population live in crammed space and unhygienic conditions, seem to be posing a daunting challenge in efforts to curb infections. Known as the 'City of Dreams', Mumbai is home to the largest number of billionaires as well as Asia's largest slum Dharavi -- one of the coronavirus hotspots. While area-wise it measures just about 2.4 square kilometres (sq kms), Dharavi alone has more than one million people.

Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata's remarks, earlier this week, that developers and architects are treating slums as residue" of the city and that was one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the pandemic highlighted the current situation. These so-called planners and builders should be ashamed of themselves for forcing a large majority of the people to live in sub-human conditions, he had said. The megacity has reported 4,870 coronavirus cases and 191 deaths. The octogenarian industrialist, also a long time resident of Mumbai, had lambasted realtors for neglecting the poor and creating vertical slums for big gains from high value housing that come up in the areas where slums stood once.

Lack of proper planning, flouting of norms, land cartelisation and rising property prices, are among the factors, that have contributed to the present situation of large number of people living in slums, experts opined. The Maharashtra government and local authorities are taking measures to contain the spread of coronavirus infections and are appealing the citizens to stay home. However, with rooms measuring barely 100-200 sq ft housing 8-10 people in slums, and scores of families sharing common toilets and water taps, the possibility of coronavirus cases going up is always high, they added.