MUMBAI // Dharavi, which inspired the film Slumdog Millionaire, is no longer the largest slum in Mumbai, as other shantytowns in India's financial capital have grown and merged, researchers said yesterday.
The architect PK Das, who conducted a survey of the city based on satellite maps and development planning studies, said smaller slums in northern suburbs had expanded over the years to the extent where they have started to run into one another.
"The slums are bigger than Dharavi. There are hundreds of societies which have come together to merge to form a contiguous land area," he said.
Dharavi, situated on 215 hectares of prime building land in Mumbai and the most famous symbol of the city's wealth divide, has often been called Asia's largest slum, although studies have disputed the claim.
The United Nations-backed Mumbai Human Development Report 2009 said Karachi's Orangi Township was Asia's largest and noted that "even in Mumbai other slum pockets rival Dharavi in size and squalor".
Dharavi is a filthy and cramped sprawl of ramshackle brick houses, bamboo and corrugated iron-roofed huts and noisy, dusty workshops of potteries, tanneries and other micro-industries.
But its informal organisation and community spirit has won praise from Britain's Prince Charles and was the setting for Vikas Swarup's novel Q and A, which was later turned into the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.
Mr Das said Dharavi continues to play an important role to Mumbai's economy, calling it a "huge factory of production", but city planners needed to take into account its problems when drawing up a slum redevelopment plan.
Provisional data from this year's national census suggests that about nine million people, or 63 per cent of Mumbai's official 14.3 million population, live in slums.
Das said that the growth of Mumbai's shantytowns showed that the city authorities' current regeneration programme was not working and more focus was needed on improving quality of life as well as providing affordable housing.
"There must be town planning principles with the slums. They're no longer little. They need to ensure that there are open spaces and amenities," he said.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Surianah's top five jazz artists
Billie Holliday: for the burn and also the way she told stories.
Thelonius Monk: for his earnestness.
Duke Ellington: for his edge and spirituality.
Louis Armstrong: his legacy is undeniable. He is considered as one of the most revolutionary and influential musicians.
Terence Blanchard: very political - a lot of jazz musicians are making protest music right now.
Company%20Profile
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The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2a)
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Company%20Profile
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Founder: Ayman Badawi
Date started: Test product September 2016, paid launch January 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Software
Size: Seven employees
Funding: $170,000 in angel investment
Funders: friends
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz S 450
Price, base / as tested Dh525,000 / Dh559,000
Engine: 3.0L V6 biturbo
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 369hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm at 1,800rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.0L / 100km
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
Quick%20facts
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Our House, Louise Candlish,
Simon & Schuster
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Essentials
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Windhoek, with a combination of Emirates and Air Namibia, cost from US$790 (Dh2,902) via Johannesburg.
The trip
A 10-day self-drive in Namibia staying at a combination of the safari camps mentioned – Okonjima AfriCat, Little Kulala, Desert Rhino/Damaraland, Ongava – costs from $7,000 (Dh25,711) per person, including car hire (Toyota 4x4 or similar), but excluding international flights, with The Luxury Safari Company.
When to go
The cooler winter months, from June to September, are best, especially for game viewing.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
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