Dharavi “Asia’s second largest slum”

Today's Dharavi bears no resemblance to the fishing village it once was. A city within a city, it is one unending stretch of narrow dirty lanes, open sewers and cramped huts. Dharavi has severe problems with public health, due to the lack of toilet facilities. As of November 2006 there was only one toilet per 1,440 residents in Dharavi As a result, a local river called Mahim Creek is frequently used as a toilet by residents which leads to contagious diseases being spread. Both its location and poor drainage systems make Dharavi particularly vulnerable to floods in the monsoon season. No clean drinking water, extreme poverty.

An urban redevelopment plan is proposed for the Dharavi area, managed by American-trained architect Mukesh Mehta. The plan involves the construction of 30 million square feet of housing, schools, parks and roads to serve the existing 57,000 families residing in the area, along with 40 million square feet of residential and commmercial space for sale. “Reality tours and travel” is a unique tour and travel agency, based in Mumbai, India, that specializes in guided tours of Dharavi. 80% of the profits after tax from these slum tours go to local NGOs Community Outreach Programme has two projects for the street children. One a day care and night shelter for the boys and the second a full time shelter home for the girls.. At the day care centre attendance varies from 40 to 50. The services included are: non-formal education which helps them to write their names and learn maths, medical checkups on regular basis, awareness on health and nutrition. The Sharanam shelter for girls is aimed at collecting and protecting those whose joys of childhood and the rights to normal living had been crushed. It is a safe and nurturing home for 30 street girls between the age of 4 and 15 years. The shelter rescues street girls from a life of poverty, ill health, abuse and sexual exploitation

There has been significant local opposition to the urban redevelopment plans, mostly due to the fact that the existing residents are due to receive only 225 square feet (out of the 30 million square feet) of the land. Furthermore, only those families who lived in the area before the year 2000 are included in the resettlement. There is also an argument about numbers as Mukesh Mehta's redevelopment plan is to build new apartments for 57,000 families. However campaigners say there are more like 90,000 families living in Dharavi. The new apartments will be provided free. But some Dharavi residents are suspicious that charges for water and electricity may be more than they can afford. In May 2007 “reality tours and travel” opened a community and education centre in mumbai in alliance with the charity called MESCO. MESCO provides vocational training and aims to provide quality English classes

Sharanam Shelter for Girls; 16 girls go to a private school, 9 attend the Municipal school at Dharavi and 4 are attending English medium school. Besides academic studies, children have computer, classical dance, karate and sports classes. In new children came to the day care centre. About 9 children were returned to their homes, 20 children have been put up in formal schools, and 4 children were sent to Talegaon for vocational training.