Following the death of at least 50 people in a mudslide in Bombay, India, yesterday, a city official pointed to the city's substandard housing as having put people at risk. "We told people to vacate the slums," said city councilor Pravin Chira, "but no one listened" (Ramola Talwar Badam, AP, 13 Jul).

Bombay, India's largest city, will almost double in population by 2015 to more than 27 million people, compared to the 1995 total of 15 million, according to UN projections released during the Urban 21 Conference in Berlin last week.

Drawn to Bombay's financial and entertainment industries, migrants are overtaxing the ability of the aging city's infrastructure to cope with increasing demands for water, health, housing, transport and education. More than half of Bombay residents sleep on the sidewalks or in cramped brick and tin huts lining the streets.

While city workers claim that 60% of Bombay residents are covered by family planning programs, efforts among the growing slum population and rural migrants are hindered by illiteracy and high infant mortality rates. According to the Associated Press, many people either don't understand the information or aren't interested in limiting the number of children they have since so many die young.

"People come here to work because in Bombay they can do any odd job anywhere and their stomach can be filled," said one midwife. "But in a few years, there will not be any place to walk on the streets, there will be so many people and huts" (Badam, Associated Press, 12 Jul).

Meanwhile, the Indian cabinet approved additional funding for a World Bank-assisted population project in the states of Assam, Rajasthan and Karnataka, and extended its completion date six months to the end of next year. The funds will facilitate the completion of the project and ensure full utilization of the bank's assistance (Mumbai Indian Express, 12 Jun).