Black and yellow-metered taxis, accommodating up to four passengers, cover most of the metropolis. Auto rickshaws, allowed to operate only in the suburban areas, are the main form of hired transport there. These three-wheeled vehicles can accommodate up to three passengers.

Mumbai’s Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport (formerly, Sahar International Airport) is the busiest airport in India, and caters to cargo and international flights while Santacruz Airport caters to domestic flights. The nearby Juhu aerodrome was India’s first airport, and now hosts a flying club and a heliport.

With its unique topography, Mumbai has one of the best natural harbours in the world, handling 50% of the country’s passenger traffic, and much of India’s cargo. It is also an important base for the Indian Navy.

Utility services

The BMC supplies potable water to the city, most of which come from the Tulsi and Vihar lakes, as well as a few lakes further north. The water is filtered at Bhandup, which is also Asia’s largest water filtration plant. The BMC is also responsible for the road maintenance and garbage collection in the city. Almost all of Mumbai’s daily refuse of 7,800 metric tonnes is transported to dumping grounds in Gorai in the northwest, Mulund in the northeast and Deonar in the east. Sewage treatment is carried out in Worli and Bandra.

Electricity is provided by the BEST in the city, and by Reliance Energy and MSEB (Maharashtra State Electricity Board) in the suburbs. Most of the city’s electricity is hydroelectric and nuclear based. The largest telephone service provider is the state-owned MTNL, which held a monopoly over fixed line and cellular services up until 2000, and provides fixed line as well as mobile WLL services. Cell phone coverage is extensive, and the main service providers are Hutch, Airtel, BPL group, Reliance Infocomm and Tata Indicom. Both GSM and CDMA services are available in the city. Broadband internet penetration is increasing in the city, with MTNL and Tata being the leading service providers.

Demographics

The population of Mumbai is about 18 million, with a density of 4,205 persons per square kilometre. There are 811 females to every 1,000 males - which is lower than the national average, because many working males come from rural areas, where they leave behind their families. The overall literacy rate of the city is 77%, which is higher than the national average (82% of adult males and 71.6% of adult females are literate). The religions represented in Mumbai include Hindus (68% of the population), Muslims (17% of the population), and Christians and Buddhist (4% each). The remainder are Parsis, Jains, Sikhs, Jews and atheists .

For a city of its size, Mumbai has a moderate crime rate. Mumbai recorded 27,577 incidents of crime in 2004, which is down 11% from 30,991 in 2001. The city’s main jail is the Arthur Road Jail[9].

Mumbai has a large polyglot population, but the most common language spoken on the city streets is a colloquial form of Hindi, known as Bambaiya Hindi - a blend of Hindi, Marathi, Indian English and some invented colloquial words. Marathi is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. English is also extensively spoken, and is the principal language of the city’s white collar workforce. Most languages spoken in India have some degree of representation in the demographic fabric of Mumbai; the most widely spoken of these are Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Urdu and Konkani.

Like other large cities in the world, Mumbai suffers from the same major urbanisation problems seen in many fast growing cities in developing countries - widespread poverty and poor public health, employment, civic and educational standards for a large section of the population. With available space at a premium, Mumbai residents often reside in cramped, relatively expensive housing, usually far from workplaces, and therefore requiring long commutes on crowded mass transit, or clogged roadways. According to the Business Week, around 45-48% of the population lives in shantytowns and slums.