Topic 1 - Dharavi

Question 1

Where is Dharavi?

Answer 1

• Situated at the heart of Mumbai’s central business district on the west coast of India
• Built on a swampy marsh land, leading to lots of flooding in Mumbai
• Dharavi also has a designated police station, highlights the size of the area and the city’s government’s response to Dharavi despite it being a squatter settlement

Question 2

What are the features of Dharavi?

Answer 2

• Over 1 million people inhabit, many are second-generation families, overcrowded
• Many houses are made of cardboard, wood, corrugated iron, plastic sheeting or metal oil drums
• Lack of sanitation and clean drinking water for most - 5% have access to individual toilets
• Pollution and disease are common from open sewers; average of 4000 cases of typhoid and diptheria each day
• 75% of people have a job and most work locally, annual turnover of £350 million

Question 3

What is the literacy rate in Dharavi?

Answer 3

69%, most literate slum in the world

Question 4

What is the culture in Dharavi?

Answer 4

• In the past, Dharavi was a fishing village home to koli fishermen
• Mumbai is now considered a melting pot of cultures due to all the migrants that relocated to the city during the textile industrial boom; settled there after industrial decline, and continue to arrive from rural areas in search of employment opportunities

Question 5

How has Dharavi’s population changed?

Answer 5

• First begun as a sparsely populated fishing village
• Dharavi now has 277,136 people per km
• Dharavi’s population was originally mostly male fishermen
• Today, Dharavi’s gender structure is unbalanced with 10%more males than females - due to more males moving to Mumbai to seek employment as well as sex-selective abortions

Question 6

How has Dharavi’s economy changed?

Answer 6

• In the past, Dharavi was a mangrove swamp inhabited by fishermen
• Urban sprawl eventually surronded Dharavi and economy developed with an estimated $10 billion
• Low - skilled workers in Dharavi - small workshops producing cheap products e.g. plastic toys contribute to $1 billion of the economy
• Leather is the main product exported to the middle east
• A local group branded leather production under ‘Dharavi’ - a retail and online store; with profits already improving sanitation in six lanes of Dharavi