As portrayed in the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, Mumbai is home to one of Asia's largest slums- Dharavi. Here as many as 18,000 people crowd into a single acre. Almost half of Mumbai's population reside in these slums or chawls. The conditions in these slums are horrible because the inhabitants have to face constant migration, lack of water, pollution, and no sewage or waste disposals. During monsoon seasons, most of the slums become flooded with water.
Attempts have been made to alleviate these slums. The World Bank has funded the development of 176 Primary Care Dispensaries, but these efforts are underused as result of the insufficient water supply. In 1985, the government tried relieve the slum problem by passing the Slum Upgradation Project. The goals of this project was to offer people long-term legal plot tenure if they invested in home ownership. However, only 10% of the slum inhabitants could actually afford this and so, the project was unsuccessful. As of today, slums are still highly prominent. Some people have even begun to nickname Mumbai as “Slumbay”.
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