In the Heart of Mumbai
Over half of Mumbai’s 16 million people live in one of 200 informal settlements known as slums, the largest of which is called Dharavi. A former fishing town, today between 600,000 and 1 million people call Dharavi home. For many, it is also their place of business, the site of approximately 15,000 small, illegal, and unregulated cottage-industry factories powered by tenacious entrepreneurial spirit.
Due to rising real estate prices in Mumbai slums like Dharavi are a cheap alternative for many migrant workers, families, and individuals. Dharavi represents a minimal level of existence for the urban residents, whose poverty gives them no choice of living in areas which are better provided with good quality housing, piped water, sanitation, and other essential services.
Rupal Shah Photography 