BOMBAY
The major industrial and financial
centre and the most populous city in India, Bombay traces its
roots to the small settlement of the East India Company. After it ceded to the
British crown in 1661, little growth was witnessed until the development of a
stimulating economic environment in the nineteenth century. Factors that
spurred the growth of Bombay include: the development of foreign shipping
services to exploit its location on the Arabian Sea; the extension of a railway
line to the cotton-growing areas in the hinterland of Bombay in the 1860's; and
the boost in cotton prices as a result of shortages caused by the American
Civil War. This economic growth resulted in an increase of population from only
Conditions such as
famine in the country side and epidemics in the city have created an unbalanced
demographic profile throughout the city's history. The 1990 United Nations
population estimate for the urban agglomeration of Bombay was 12.2 million,
making it the sixth largest city in the world.
The economy in
Bombay is rooted in a mixture of light and medium engineering industries, as
compared with heavy engineering found in Calcutta. Other manufacturing
activities in Bombay include: oil refining and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals,
publishing, tobacco, leather, timber, ceramics and jewelry.
Bombay is
considered the most congested of any city in India. The 1981 census estimated
that 2.8 million people lived in slums or near-slums. In spite of several
programmes, the slums in Bombay continue to grow with the rapid increase in
population. Slums have encroached on private and public land and overwhelmed
all attempts at providing services.
The water supply
situation in Bombay is critical, with the level of supply so much below demand
that water use is restricted and reaches emergency proportions when the monsoon
fails. Bombay is also one of the noisiest cities in the world and suffers from
serious air pollution, both from noxious industries and automobile emissions.
Despite a substantial public transport system, congestion in the metropolitan
area continues. More than 2 million Bombay residents have no sanitary
facilities, and most sewage collected in Bombay is discharged untreated or
partially treated into creeks or coastal waters. Attempts have been made to
relocate industries outside the island city, but industrial pollution remains a
serious problem.