Every night, the pavement dwellers sleep on the roads with the fear of getting run over by those driving recklessly
The Maximum City has very little to offer to pavement dwellers who constitute a sizeable portion of its population. After the announcement of the verdict by the Bombay High Court on the 2002 hit-and-run case in which actor Salman Khan was acquitted, the focus has turned towards these people for whom a good night's sleep is only a faraway dream.
These people, approximately 3 lakh in number, cannot even afford to stay in slums. Every night they sleep on the roads with the fear of getting run over by those driving recklessly.
The NDTV team spent a night travelling the streets of Mumbai to get a sense of the struggles of these people.
For 42-year-old Sheikh Mehboob, a rag picker, in Lower Parel, sleeping on the road every night is a life threatening experience. He lost a family member a few years ago. A taxi driver ran over him.
"Where should we go now? If I come to your area to stay, you'll definitely ask me where I'm from and why am I living here. In a city like Bombay, who will let anyone live in their area?" Mehboob told NDTV.
In Matunga, another family speak of their woes as they sit down for their only cooked meal of the day.
Meera Vaghela told NDTV, "It is very scary to sleep with children on the road. Many a time, a speeding tempo stops near us, or a biker stops near us... It has happened in the past."
The situation at Byculla is worse, as the area witnesses heavy traffic at night.
The homeless are compelled to take shelter inside pipes that are to be installed and as a preventive measure, some families make one person stay awake and keep watch.
The 2011 census said 58,000 people live on Mumbai's streets, but Non-Governmental Organisations working in the field say the figure now is far higher.