Mumbai Has 2 Lakh Vacant Houses, Then What Explains the Slums?

Two out of every five people in Mumbai live in slums today. The sight of large clusters of blue tarped sheets over tinned walls is one that Indians are largely familiar with, just as we are familiar with the stories of slum residents’ vulnerability to fires, forced evictions, and even the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Why do we have such a large population of Mumbai living in slums, even though Mumbai has over 2 lakh houses lying vacant? How does the government cope with the dilemma of condoning illegal squatters while also having the mandate to provide welfare for the poor? In episode 1 of Land of a Billion, we look at Mumbai’s housing crisis as we speak with Prithviraj Chavan, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and a current member of Legislative Assembly, and Dr Amita Bhide, Professor and Dean of School of Habitat Studies, Centre for Environmental Health, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Tune in now! Host: Abhishek Shah Music: Big Bang Fuzz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You can listen to Mumbai Has 2 Lakh Vacant Houses, Then What Explains the Slums? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Mumbai Has 2 Lakh Vacant Houses, Then What Explains the Slums? is an episode from Land of a Billion by Ideabrew Studios.

This episode is 39:57 long.

This episode was published on Dec 14, 2020.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Land of a Billion when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.