Times of India
29 April 2011
By Lata Mishra

This is just a glimpse of the city’s ugly underbelly. A civic body survey of the slums in Govandi and Mankhurd, where almost 90 per cent of slum dwellers are rehabilitated, reveal children there start smoking, consuming alcohol and sniffing glue and drugs by the time they are seven.

A team of 12 doctors from civic hospitals interviewed 1,500 children from around 300 families. Almost every kid indulged in substance abuse, and suffered various ailments. Dr Ravikant Singh, who led the team of doctors, said: "More than 80 per cent kids smoked and consumed alcohol, while the percentage of those sniffing glue to get a high was almost 90 per cent. Most of these kids are pushed into crime by the time they are 10."

The survey revealed around 1,000 children suffered serious dental problems, all of them were found to be malnourished, and more than 200 suffered respiratory ailments. "The condition of Project Affected Persons (PAPs) in the Govandi-Mankhurd belt is scary," Singh said, "We have submitted a report to State Secretary Ratnakar Gaikwad. MMRDA recently started a dental health care centre in the area following our survey."

The centre was launched at Natwar Parikh Compound near Indian Oil Nagar in Govandi, where around 5,000 people have settled in. Additional Metropolitan Commissioner (MMRDA) Ashwini Bhide said, "The task is challenging. Most of the settlers are unemployed, and live in filthy conditions. Often, parents don’t care what the children are up to. It is extremely difficult for the children, who inadvertently fall in bad company."

Singh said counselling centres in such areas are the need of the hour. "For the underworld, these kids are there for the taking, provided they don’t die of substance abuse by the time they reach their 20s," he said.