Surrounded by chemical factories, more than 5,000 families live in Mahul and many report health problems.

Mumbai, India – After a year of living in her one-bedroom apartment in Mahul, a housing colony on the eastern front of Mumbai, Anita Dhole moved out – to live on a footpath.

The 30-year-old now sleeps on the pavement under a makeshift plastic roof. She cooks in the presence of flies and the occasional rat and walks a fair distance to use a public toilet, an uneasy task for someone who has suffered from polio.

“Staying here is better, at least I can breathe,” said Dhole, who used to be a manager at a private bank. “How could the government dump us there to die?”

Mahul is a housing colony which was built between 2006and 2009 by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the governing civic body of Mumbai, to place slum dwellers under the government’s “Project Affected People” (PAP) scheme.

The colony is surrounded by 15 chemical factories and two oil refineries.

According to the Indian Express, over the years, 10,000 to 15,000 families, roughly 60,000 people, were moved to Mahul as part of various rehabilitation projects in the city.

Now, the cluster of 72 buildings, holds an estimated 5,500 families, all in 125sq-foot (11.6sq-metre) flats.

On September 3, after hearing writ petitions filed by Mahul residents, the Bombay High Court asked the BMC to stop new residents from moving in and providing financial compensation for existing tenants, so they could seek alternative accommodation.

The court based its verdict on several reports into pollution .

Anita Dhole, second