Baiganwadi

Baiganwadi
Neighbourhood
Coordinates: 19°03′41″N 72°55′33″E / 19.0613°N 72.9258°E / 19.0613; 72.9258Coordinates: 19°03′41″N 72°55′33″E / 19.0613°N 72.9258°E / 19.0613; 72.9258
Country	India
State	Maharashtra
District	Mumbai Suburban
Metro	Mumbai
Languages
• Official	Marathi
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	400 043

Baiganwadi (Shivaji Nagar No:2) is located in Govandi (West), a suburb of Mumbai, India. Baiganwadi has Mumbai's oldest and largest waste dumping ground, divided in plots by crossing roads and gullies.

Geography

Baiganwadi is located between Shivaji Nagar No :1 and Mankhurd. Mumbai's largest waste dumping ground is to its north, and to the east is the Thane Creek. The Baiganwadi slum is located in the suburb of Mumbai. This densely populated slum houses many people from illegal immigrants from Bangladesh to people who came to Mumbai dreaming of a fortune, but their aspiration failing, resulting in settlement in the slum. Mumbai is often seen as the land where even illiterates can make a fortune.^[1] However, that is not the reality. Many who leave their homes and everything they had in order to purse a fortune in Mumbai could not find a place to sleep on the streets of Mumbai will find themselves in Baiganwadi.^[2] The Baiganwadi slum is located near Mumbai’s oldest and largest trash dumping site, where all of the city’s trash is dumped. Over 200,000 people live in the Baiganwadi slum.^[3] The slum is surrounded by mountains of garbage from the dumping site, which can be hazardous to its residents.

Populace and Cultural

Baiganwadi is a densely populated. Many people may share the same room (10 Ft. X 15 Ft). Most of the population are immigrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. There are also many illegal immigirants from Bangladesh.^[4] Over 200,000 people now reside in the Baiganwadi slum.

Illegal immigrants often find themselves resettling into slums because of the lack of money they have to find other places of residence as well as lack of opportunities for them to work in higher income jobs.

Like some of the other slum residents, illegal immigrants often end up residing in the slum because they had gone to neighboring Mumbai, where it is advertised as even illiterates and beggars could make a fortune, but were disappointed and were met with a different outcome than what they had originally expected. Due to the amount of unemployment in the city, people end up living in slums like Baiganwadi.

Economy

There are no big businesses in Baiganwadi and jobs are scarce. Unlike the rest of Mumbai, Baiganwadi does not have big businesses or various other economic activitiesPeople make money in any way that they can. Some run small family businesses from their homes, such as tailoring, shoemaking and laundry. Others find themselves digging through the ample mounds of trash hoping to find something worth keeping or selling. A large number of the slum’s residents dig through the many mountains of garbage, including children. This has an effect on the health of the residents.^[5] The slum does not offer water, electricity, or good roads.

Besides the home-run businesses in the slum, another trade is arising that is becoming more common and more profitable. The illegal exchange of water is increasingly common, especially in Baiganwadi where less than 5% of the population have safe drinking water at their access. Most people do not have access to clean water, and none of the makeshift homes come with running water taps or basins. The illegal water trade brings water to the residents of the slums for a price. Bags of water are exchanged, though illegally, and a profit is made by selling these bags. This trade is very popular and a necessity because of the high demand and rarity of water in the slum.^[6]

Baiganwadi is one of the worst-hit areas by water shortage in Mumbai. There is no proper water supply in the area. There are plenty of illegal water connections.^[7]

Conditions in the Slum

It is rarely anybody's choice to reside in the slum of Baiganwadi. Often, people find that they are there because they do not have another choice. Many of the people there came to neighboring Mumbai to chase a fortune, but failed, and could find no other place to stay but the slums.

Small shacks are built, often by hand, and many people will share in one. These makeshift homes are technically illegal. With growing population in the slum, shacks are becoming smaller and closer together. These small homes are similar to a one-room house without electricity, air conditioning, or running water. Less than 2% follow proper hygiene, only 5% have access to safe water, and over 80% are living below the poverty line.^[8] Mountains of garbage are scattered throughout the narrow roads of Baiganwadi, sometimes even in their water pipes and where the children play. Children often dig through the trash piles, which sometimes contain disease^[9]

None of the makeshift homes in the slums have plumbing, running water taps, bathtubs or toilets. Without a built-in bathtub, people of the slums often have to look for a place to defecate and often end up publicly defecating somewhere in the slum.^[10] Among the mountains of garbage and the public defecation, the slum smells of human waste and the garbage dumped into the slum.^[11]

References