A Day in Dharavi, April 2012.

In the center of Bombay lies Dharavi, one of the largest slums in Asia. An estimated one million people live in Dharavi at a density of 4 per square meter. Dharavi is a fully functioning community with hundreds of small businesses and industries that produce an estimated half billion Euro worth of goods each year. Shantytowns like Dharavi are scattered all over Bombay and are home to about half of the city’s 16 million residents. The one day I spent in Dharavi with my guide Dinesh was an amazingly positive experience. Everywhere we came we were kindly welcomed and people were proud to be photographed doing their business. For more on the politics and longer term plans with Dharavi see this interesting National Geographic article.