Will they ever live beyond 40?

The boys in the above photograph are playing in the garbage dumping ground. Toxic smoke rises from all around, but these kids have no care in the world. No wonder, they might not live beyond 40.

The dumping ground is in Deonar and is India’s oldest and largest dumping ground. Few of us might think that these children are crazy or their parents are careless to let them hover around such a hazardous place. But what if I tell you that this is the area where they also live? 

Adjacent to this towering garbage dump live thousands in makeshift shanties. With a life expectancy rate at 39 years, Shivaji Nagar, Govandi in the M/E ward of Mumbai Municipal Corporation, ranks the lowest in Mumbai (Mumbai Human Development Report, 2009).

Don’t wonder if you have not heard about this place. Dharavi is quite well known but these slum clusters around Deonar are not. It got my attention and of many others, when tonnes of waste at the ground emitting methane caught fire and made the headlines. Continue reading to know how Give’s partner NGO, Apnalaya is striving to remedy the situation. 

Usual day at Deonar

Numerous garbage trucks line up daily to dump Mumbai’s waste at this ground. Spread over 134-hectares, the ground receives 9,000 metric tonnes of waste every day. According to The Wire’s estimation, it is big enough to accomodate 268 football fields or 30% of the Bandra-Kurla Complex business district. 

Not only India’s but one of Asia’s largest dumping grounds, Deonar is now known for its overflowing sewers, pungent air and smoke rising all around. 

Life Beside Deonar

The slums around the dumping ground, is one of the cheapest living options in Mumbai. Largely populated with migrants, the slum offers 6X6 room at Rs 500-1000. Most of its inhabitants are rag pickers. They ignore several health risks to earn Rs.100 a day by selling plastic, metal or glass items.

Life is at constant risk at this periphery of India’s dream city. Without basic facilities like toilets and sanitation system, health in Indian slums is a constant battle. Prone to toxic flooding during monsoons and unhealthy air all year long, slum clusters around Deonar have remained untouched by basic civic amenities. It lacks proper drainage, pipelines to distribute potable water, public health facilities, government secondary schools and access to decent housing. 

With no other place to play, children often make use of this garbage dump as their playground. This exposes them to various health risks and make them more vulnerable to disease than other children their age. HT reported that 44% of children are underweight, 57% have stunted growth, 29% are out of school and 88% of pregnant women are anemic.

Someone is trying to help

As a reactive precautionary measure, Apnalaya, a Mumbai based NGO is providing basic facilities in the area to improve health in this Indian slum. With government’s failure to reach these slum clusters, maternal and reproductive health care services have been inadequate and ineffective.

Apnalaya works towards improving maternal health care through its healthcare clinics. The AnteNatal Care and Gynaecology clinic run by Apnalaya opens twice a week (on Tuesdays and Fridays) in Padma Nagar, a slum settlement on the edge of Deonar dumping ground in Shivaji Nagar. Apnalaya provides medicines and advice from a consultant Gynecologist.

One of the regular visitors at the clinic was Soleha Ansari. Mother of 3, Soleha lives with her family in a rented house in Padma Nagar. Her husband is the only breadwinner, who works in a garment factory.

When Soleha was pregnant with her third child, she started coming to Apnalaya’s clinic for doctor’s advice. According to her, going to a private hospital used to cost her much more than what she spent at the Apnalaya clinic. The consultation fee and the prescribed medicines used to imbalance her household budget. At Apnalaya clinic, she is able to take care of her three children health related expense in half of the money she used to spend earlier on her one child. At the advice of Apnalaya’s doctor, she also decided to go for birth control after her third baby.

Apnalaya is providing healthcare to these women who otherwise have no access to healthcare. Your donation will help run the clinic to make basic healthcare accessible to these poor mothers. 

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