Beyond the glitz and glam of Mumbai lies a dirty underbelly where more than half of its citizens are slum dwellers. Often these people live in conditions entirely unsuitable for human habitation. Most of the slum dwellers are forced to use public toilets with very poor sanitation. This inevitability leads to worsening health condition of the primarily poor migrant people residing in those areas. Now an RTI report has only confirmed this notion.
According to the report, Kurla is the unhealthiest ward of the city followed by Andheri. These two wards have recorded the highest number of cases of infectious diseases. Cases of diarrhoea and tuberculosis (TB) are most prevalent in Kurla with around 10,000 people affected in both. The menace of poor sanitation is currently plaguing even parts of South Mumbai. This is evident in the fact that dengue cases are rampant there according to the RTI report. Currently nearly 69 lakh people reside in the 2,000 odd slum pockets in Mumbai.
A survey indicated in 2002 that nearly 30% of the deaths are due to poor sanitation in the city. The condition hasn't changed much in the last decade. The problem has been only compounded with the fact that increasingly people are migrating from other parts of the country to Mumbai in search of better livelihood. But many people, especially those involved in blue collar jobs, are forced to live in extremely pitiable conditions. At present, three in every four slums in Mumbai are dependent on public toilets and 5% of the people are compelled to defecate in the open. While migrants on the one hand do not have access to public distribution system or other benefits due from the government, a major section of those originally hailing from the city too live in despicable state for the lack of low cost hygienic housing conditions. The government has tried to change the situation by bringing about Slum Sanitation Programme. The programme initially got support in a micro level from community members and leaders cutting across different political parties. However SSP scheme faces the hurdle of scaling up to a larger scale for sustainable community sanitation.
The government has also tried to provide low cost housing for slum dwellers to improve their standard of living. But experts believe Slum Rehabilation Authority (SRA) has failed to live up to its promise. Less than 13% of the projects have been completed in the last 18 years. Alongside the usual dilly-dallying by errant builders, there are several problems of litigation that are plaguing the progress of these projects. In the coastal slums, several environmental sanctions has impeded any developmental work. Finally last year the state government decided to overhaul the slum redevelopment project giving special stress on incentivising slum redevelopment. However, in reality situation continues to remain grim.
Elections in Maharashtra are due in few months. Slum development will surely be one of the top issues and politicians will continue to give token assurance to improve the condition of slum dwellers. It is to be seen if the situation changes in reality. Till then news like Kurla being the most unhealthy ward of Mumbai will continue to haunt the people of that part of the city.
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