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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| January 17, 2004 |
Mumbai – Impact of Globalization: Mumbai's 'Marginal' Areas |
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| One of Mumbai's many marginal areas |
Globalization has sprawled across the world to indiscriminately affect individuals on a global scale and its effects permeate all levels of life. The effects of globalization can visibly be seen driving through the streets of Mumbai - a city where 50 percent of its population lives in marginal areas on the edges of this urban Goliath. As globalization depreciates product prices and disadvantages small private businesses owners, local farmers in rural areas are deprived of the means to support themselves financially. Consequently, they resolve to seek a new life in the city where job opportunities supposedly abound. However, this sudden population increase in urban areas along with the comparatively higher costs of living leads to poverty and housing shortages. |
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A group of Peace Boat participants spent a day visiting the people and communities living the downside reality of economic globalization. Although the Indian government has taken specific measures to mitigate these circumstances by providing subsidies and permanent housing, provision of such aid is limited to families who were formally registered as "slum dwellers" before 1995. This demarcation in the limitations of government policy has left many families without basic shelter, sanitary living conditions, and deprived of the means of social advancement.
The irony lies in the fact that despite these living conditions, the residents of these marginal areas play a vital role in the local economy by contributing labor that many middle and upper class Indian citizens depend on. Despite demands for basic human rights and living conditions by this important, if informal, sector of the economy, the government has been slow to respond. |
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To trigger policy change, many grassroots organizations have come together to voice their pleas for better living conditions. Among these groups is the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centers (SPARC ), which aims to provide permanent and secure housing for families in Dharavi, Asia's largest slum. Mahila Milan, another organization established by 500 pavement dweller women in 1986, appealed to the government and successfully gained its support to improve pavement dweller living conditions by allowing the organization to provide those living in slums with the financial means to affordable permanent housing.
The road to the elimination of slums and inadequate housing conditions is one that may take years or even decades. But we must keep in mind that, in such a globalized world, we are all intricately connected to one another. We must develop an awareness of the effects of globalization and reflect on the unequal trade offs that have been made between the global north and south. India's slum problem is not a far and remote issue. Each conscious decision and action we make, regardless of where we are, can help those struggling for a better life. |
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