Virus casts long shadow over Mumbai as 42% live in slums
Maharashtra records 2,033 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 35,058
MUMBAI: In 1898, colonial authorities created the Bombay Improvement Trust on the heels of a devastating plague to upgrade living conditions in the city. The trust opened up congested neighbourhoods, built housing for workers, and laid down strict rules for ventilation and sanitation. Their measures shaped modern Bombay.
Amidst a new pandemic, it's clear the lessons of the last have been long forgotten. The Coronavirus that entered the city largely through its elite is now a threat to its most vulnerable, many of whom live in conditions not too distant from those of the 1890s.
Recent data shows the wards with the most cases are mostly those with the largest slum populations (Dharavi, Kurla, Govandi) or highest population densities (Byculla, Worli).
Meanwhile, the outbreak is beginning to slow down in some affluent areas that saw the first cases –like parts of D ward –as the middle-class have sealed themselves into apartments and gated communities.
The spillover from highrises to slums isn't surprising–42% of Mumbaikars live in slums, as per the 2011 census. When other low-income housing are included, up to 57% families live in one-room homes where physical distancing is impossible. Public housing, sanitation, and health infrastructure for the poor has been largely stagnant in the past few decades. Despite high-profile programmes, there is a 1 lakh shortfall in community toilets and an estimated 11 lakh shortfall in affordable homes.
The neglect reflects in the delayed measures in poorer areas. “Migrant workers and slum-dwellers have been an afterthought,” says Arun Kumar, CEO of Apnalaya, an NGO that works in slums.
Dharavi is the hotspot of the epidemic but the decadesold settlement is relatively well-supported by NGOS and the municipality. By comparison, slums in the sprawling suburbs of Malad, Bhandup, and Govandi have fewer resources and get less attention. The M/east ward that includes Govandi, for instance, has close to 80% living in slums. The ward ranks bottom on the human development index and could be the next hotspot, says Amita Bhide of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. (However, M/east assistant municipal commissioner S M Dwivedi said testing and facilities are expanding and fatality rates declining.)
Slum cases may be limited to a degree by the exodus of poor migrants–an echo of the mass departures during the 1890s plague. Thousands have already left Govandi and Kurla for their distant villages, say local representatives. Still, many who remain are at risk.
The very discipline of town planning was founded to deal with epidemics like the plague, notes urban planner Kedar Ghorpade. Even in the 1960s, he recalls, the government department was called ‘Health and Town Planning'. Sanitation, solid waste, and housing were always considered the bedrock of a prosperous city. But “somewhere along the way, the focus moved from health to real estate,” Ghorpade says.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra recorded 2,033 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 35,058 on Monday, said the health department. This was the second consecutive day when the state has reported more than 2,000 COVID-19 cases, said a health department official.
Also, 51 fresh deaths took the toll in the state to 1,249, he said.
Maharashtra COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 35,058, new cases 2,033, deaths 1,249, discharged 8,437, active cases 25,392, people tested so far 2,82,194.