The problems faced by migrated people in Bombay in the mid nineteenth century were as follows.
Housing: They were forced to live in cheap and unsafe multistoreyed structures called chawls. More than 70 per cent migrants lived in these thickly-populated chawls. They were overcrowded with no toilets and privacy.
Shortage of water and other basic amenities: Water was scarce, which led to daily quarrels at the tap. People had to use streets and neighbourhood for cooking, washing and sleeping.
Caste discrimination: Depressed classes faced difficulties in finding house. They were kept out of chawls and had to live in shelters made of sheets, leaves or bamboo poles.
Fear of spread of **: Being overcrowded and built in an unplanned way, there was a constant danger of spread of epidemic ** like plague and other communicable **** in chawls.
