Mumbai’s social fabric is paying the price for its ambition of becoming a ‘world-class city’. Though Mumbai is popularly seen to be a city that shelters and feeds all, a new report now says it is the least homogeneous urban space in the country.
A human development report, prepared for the first time to determine the quality of life in Mumbai, has commented on the city’s changing social fabric and the wide gap between rich and poor. The report finds that the two segments occupy completely different economic, physical, and social spaces even as they share a geographical territory. “The contrasts in living standards are of a magnitude not seen anywhere else in the country,” says the report. “Two distinct cities exist within one.”
The report has been prepared by the All-India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It was released by the BMC last week.
The report says that even as the city of gold remains on top of the country’s income-generation charts, this income is distributed inequitably causing polarisation. “This inequity is the unbecoming spectacle of Mumbai,” it says, calling it India’s least homogenous city.
The income differential spills over to the social and physical sides of the city as well. The report finds wide disparities between the slum and non-slum populations on social and health parameters like literacy, sex ratio, morbidity rate, family space, and mental stress.
While these socio-economic disparities are yet to balloon into social disruption, they are a clear and present danger, the report cautions, and calls for integrated planning and inclusive growth to bridge this gap.
A City DividedThe sex ratio in slums is 750, as against 859 in non-slum parts
The fertility rate in slums is 1.9, compared to 1.4 in non-slum areas
One in four women in slums is a victim of spousal violence. The extent is 15% in non-slum areas
On an average, 81 persons share a toilet seat in slum areas. In some parts, as many as 277 people share one seat. Barely 14% of public toilets in these parts have access to water, forcing people to carry their own pails. To avoid snide remarks, many women wait for nightfall or scurry before dawn for ablutions
One in six slum households has access to piped water supply, far less than the city’s average of 50.7%
