REAL ESTATE

Most houses in Mumbai are priced very high, while at least half of Mumbai’s 1.9 million people live in decrepit and squalid conditions

Lack of public housing for low and middle income families has left them with few options in the city. They are forced to move to the peripheries, which lack physical and social infrastructure. Meanwhile, of 193 affordable housing projects listed, only four, including three slum redevelopment projects, are planned for Mumbai city itself.

6.48 lakh houses remained unsold across India’s top seven cities in 2019, and Mumbai alone accounted for nearly a third of these. Yet scarcity of affordable housing pushes people further and further away from the city. What could explain this?

Mumbai currently sources 3.8 billion litres of water per day from seven dams built over lakes in neighbouring districts. It is also familiar with seasonal water cuts. But why does a city with abundant monsoons and flooding every year have such unstable water supply?