The Deonar Dumping Ground in Mumbai is the largest dumping ground in Asia. Every day, thousands of trucks deposit half of all the garbage that the city produces. And everyday most of it finds its way back – picked and processed by the many men, women and children who make a living off the waste of the city. In the film, the dump is a powerful symbol of most of the city’s people who are constantly dumped, recycled, and dumped again, while perpetually remaining out of sight. The film explores this space through Mohammad Hussain aka Babu, a young ragpicker and Haroon, a local scrap dealer.
To see the film click here
Filed under: Poverty Tagged: | Deonar Dumping Ground Mumbai
We have something similar here, albeit nowhere near as big.
http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Mae-Sot/blog-495855.html
I know a few of the kids who frequent the dump. Many of them also collect recyclable rubbish from the town’s dustbins to sell. Just lately a lot of money has come into the town as the Burma border has re-opened. This has meant extensive new building and a clearing away of most of the street kids, which is a bit worrying.
It’s a hellish situation but people do what they can to survive.
There are NGO’S and charitable religious groups here but they seem to be mostly self-serving. I was speaking to a chap from the Karen tribe and he was withering about the foreign aid doctors and assistants who only stay for a week or so. Just enough to get their involvement on their cv I guess.
As for the Christian groups, it’s the same old story. Cherry-picking the vulnerable for assimilation into their religion. They find it very hard with the Thais though.
But I digress. Getting back to rubbish dumps I watched a programme a while ago on Beijing’s waste which now circles the entire city. That might be the largest collection of waste now.