The unplanned sector of India

July 26, 2005: It began raining at 11 am. In the next 24 hours, India’s most populous city received 944 mm of rainfall. The resultant flood killed 450 people (officially), and caused financial damage worth about Rs 4,000

The National Population Policy (2000) aims at complete protection of all children against vaccine preventable diseases by 2010. Urban poor, many residing in slums, comprise about one-fourth of India’s 285 million urban population. 60% of the children aged 12-23 months in urban India are fully immunized; coverage among urban poor children is a dismal 43%.

Mumbai’s Slum Sanitation Programme that seeks community responsibility and its involvement in the setting up of sanitation facilities in living areas holds out important lessons for similar collaborative endeavours between the government, funding agencies, civil society organisations and the affected community.