The financial capital with its booming economy has a shocking revelation: Of the 1.3 crore people living in the city, around 60 lakh have claimed that their monthly expenditure is less than Rs 591.75. Worse, they’ve said they do not own a telephone or fridge and that they find it difficult to access basic services such as toilets, schools and shelter.

In short, 12.2 lakh families in Mumbai have claimed to be Below Poverty Line families.

The survey, carried out by the state’s Urban Development department in 225 towns and 18 big cities, has revealed that BPL families have reduced by 9.03 per cent statewide, but in smaller towns, the number of BPL families has risen by 12.52 per cent in the last decade.

However, Mumbai’s figures are in sharp contrast. The door-to-door survey here was conducted by the civic body over the last year, and comprised 16.7 lakh families living in slum areas, adivasi padas, slum rehabilitation buildings, gaothan areas and on footpaths.

Chief Community Development Officer Jyoti Panda, also project officer in charge of urban poverty eradication, said that the survey had a questionnaire including 54 socio-economic parameters, such as housing, profession, education, infrastructure availability and family background. “Around 12,02,355 families have declared, or rather claimed, that they are BPL families on the basis of these parameters,” she said.

The survey has revealed that the suburban heart of Andheri — where property prices hover at more than Rs 6,000 per square foot on an average and where vast pockets of slums and slum rehabilitation constructions exist — has the maximum BPL families, at 1.8 lakh families.

The eastern suburb of Bhandup, comes a close second, with around 1 lakh families. Survey official and deputy director of municipal administration, Prachi Jambhekar, said that the figures might appear high since the intention was to include the majority. “People make claims of being BPL in order to get the benefits. However, the survey will be revised, especially to find the poorest of the poor. We will then undertake programmes and policies to raise their standard of living,” she said.

However, experts rubbished this data regarding the urban poor in Mumbai. Dean, School of Social Science at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, R N Sharma, said: “It is true that Mumbai has a layer of silky rich people and a huge middle class followed by the lower class and the poor. But the number of BPL cannot be more than 20 lakh people as there is an economic boom with reconstruction activities and it offers enough scope for even the unorganised sector to make two ends meet,” he said. However, if the figures are to be believed, Sharma said, it will be shocking for the city. “It might mean that affordability is eroding,” said Sharma, a specialist in urban studies.