introduction A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area o f a city characterized by substandard housing and

squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the proportion of urban dwellers livi ng in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the developing world betw een 1990 and 2005.[3] However, due to rising population, the number of slum dwel lers is rising. One billion people worldwide live in slums[4] and the figure wil l likely grow to 2 billion by 2030.[5] The term has traditionally referred to housing areas that were once relatively a ffluent but which deteriorated as the original dwellers moved on to newer and be tter parts of the city, but has come to include the vast informal settlements fo und in cities in the developing world.[6] Many shack dwellers vigorously oppose the description of their communities as 's lums' arguing that this results in them being pathologised and then, often, subj ect to threats of evictions.[7] Many academics have vigorously criticized UN-Hab itat and the World Bank arguing that their 'Cities Without Slums' Campaign has l ed directly to a massive increase in forced evictions.[8] Although their characteristics vary between geographic regions, they are usually inhabited by the very poor or socially disadvantaged. Slum buildings vary from simple shacks to permanent and well-maintained structures. Most slums lack clean water, electricity, sanitation and other basic services.[6] dharavi In the 18th century, Dharavi was an island.[12] In February 1739, Chimnaji Appa attacked Bassein. Before that, he took possession of Dharavi. The area of present-day Dharavi was predominantly mangrove swamp prior to the la te 19th century, inhabited by Koli fishermen.[13] However, the fishing industry disappeared when the swamp areas filled in. A dam at Sion, adjacent to Dharavi, hastened the process of joining separate islands into one long, tapered mass. Th us began the transformation of the island city of Bombay. In the process, the cr eek dried up, and Dharavi's fishing town was deprived of its traditional sustena nce, but the newly drained marshes provided space for new communities to move in . Migrants from Gujarat established a potters' colony, and Maharashtrian tanners belonging to the Charmarkar caste migrated to Dharavi and set up the leather ta nning industry. Other artisans, like the embroidery workers from Uttar Pradesh, started the ready-made garments trade.[13] Bombay's first Tamil school and Dharavi's first school was constructed in 1924.[ 14] Dharavi's Co-operative Housing Society was formed in 1960's to uplift the lives of thousands of Slum dwellers by the initiative of Shri.M.V.Duraiswamy,a well kn own social worker and congress leader of that region. The Dharavi co-operative h ousing society promoted 338 flats and 97 shops and was named "Dr.Baliga nagar". http://www.iipsenvis.nic.in/Newsletters/vol3no2/DPSingh_files/image002.gif