AFP Forum

INDIA - ECONOMY - SLUM - HOUSING - SOCIAL

INDIA - ECONOMY - SLUM - HOUSING - SOCIAL
TO GO WITH AFP STORY 'India-economy-slum-housing-social' by Penny MACRAE
(FILES) File picture taken on June 17, 2007 shows office blocks and residential buildings (background) towering above the notorious slum colony of Dharavi in Mumbai. John James gestures from his rooftop terrace offering a panoramic view of Asia's largest slum -- a labyrinthe of lanes containing one- and two storey shacks in India's financial capital Mumbai. "Do you believe they'd be interested in rehousing us if we weren't sitting on prime real estate?" asked James, 71, a retired steel contractor who arrived in Dharavi 40 years ago and built his own business. The first inhabitants of Asia's biggest slum in Mumbai are expected to be rehoused within the next 18 to 20 months, said Mukesh Mehta, the government-appointed architect in charge of the 2.3-billion-dollar project which he calls a "pioneering effort" to give people decent living conditions. AFP PHOTO/Sajjad HUSSAIN
SAJJAD HUSSAIN / AFP