In Dharavi’s Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, 11 am is laundry time. With everyone off to work, the women fight for space in the narrow lanes that double up as a dhobi ghat. Twenty three-year-old Samya Korde, an LLB student at the New Law College in Mahim, trudges through the soapy water that runs into an open sewage, while making small talk with the women.

As she moves from one lane to the other, she is swallowed by a slew of requests. A lady wearing a harrowed expression, tells her that she is trying to apply for an Aadhar Card, but can’t figure out what document is missing. Another person is worried about sewage entering her home. An agitated man complains about how he is “tired of cleaning the filth in these lanes”.