Last year when Covid-19 made its entry into India most people, especially in Mumbai, were in a state of trepidation as what would be the outcome if Dharavi was to bear the brunt of the virus.
There were predictions that the number of casualties and fatalities would be in hundreds this is because people live cheek-by-jowl in so-called squalor conditions.
Again, this year during the 2nd wave people were worried of the outcome. Fortunately, during both the waves the number of cases were less as compared to other areas in Mumbai in particular and Maharashtra in general. Hats off to the authorities, health care workers and volunteers for taking preventive and innovative actions and going all-out to help the people.
The world is stunned that Dharavi escaped unscathed from the virus and all the doomsday scenarios went kaput.
Considering the population, environment and ethnicities of the people in Dharavi, a case study could be made to address the enigmatic questions as to how and why the people were not severely affected. By accessing different datasets, doctors, bio-statisticians and other experts could evolve a model that would be of immense benefit for any (God forbid) pandemic in the future.
