Playing housie with lives: How outstation students are navigating affordable housing in Mumbai

The promise of a big city lies in the opportunities it can offer It has better education better jobs and pay better public transport That is why thousands of students move to Mumbai every year to grab the chance at a better futureWhether here or in Delhi when the students finally arrive they quickly realise a bigger city doesnrsquot mean a better life and it certainly doesnrsquot mean better housingDivija Pandit pays Rs 14700 for her triplesharing room in Marine Lines where she faces cleanliness and hygiene issuesLast week in the Capital seven people including five students died after a paying guest PG building collapsed The 50yearold structure fell because of unauthorised structural alterations water seepage and the inherent weakness of an aging pillarless structureThe tragedy has laid bare the accommodation shortage that outstation students face Even in Delhi Universityrsquos sprawling premises less than 4 per cent students get campus accommodation The rest are left to fend for themselvesSatya Niketan was a PG accommodation building located near Delhi Universityrsquos south campus PicsPTIIn Mumbai the problem grows tenfold especially due to the larger housing crisis that cripples the city There are over 1400 colleges in Mumbai and yet you could count the number of institutes that provide oncampus housing on your fingers This has given rise to a highly unregulated student housing market where PGs and hostels range anywhere from Rs 10000 to Rs 1 lakh for a bed The disparity in living conditions is stark while some share a 2BHK with over 10 people others live with a concierge on callDivija Pandit moved from Kolkata to Mumbai when she was 18 to study in a premiere South Mumbai college She was saddened to learn her college has no oncampus accommodation for girls She now lives at a PG nearby in Marine Lines ldquoThere are heaps of garbage all around our building and the construction is really old But itrsquos the most decent place I could find at this pricerdquo says PanditShe pays Rs 14700 for a threesharing room on the ground floor which is nonAC ldquoOn my floor there are approximately 18 girls with three washrooms between usrdquo she says ldquoItrsquos a bit crammed The rooms are not that spacious Irsquove gotten used to it because Irsquove been living here for so longrdquo Pandit says ldquoThe PG doesnrsquot provide food either Eighteen girls share one kitchen so you have to wait for your turn to cookrdquoPanditrsquos biggest issue is cleanliness ldquoItrsquos unclean outside but even inside the cleaner doesnrsquot come by regularlyrdquo she saysNow 20 Pandit has just entered the third year of her course Each year she looks for another place to live but returns to the same conclusion ldquoEach place I see is worse than where Irsquom staying right nowrdquo she saysRenting an apartment brings its own set of problems brokers high rent cramped homes and the exhaustion of trying to find a place before the next term begins ldquoThe brokers exploit you especially if yoursquore kidsrdquo she says And therersquos always a risk of losing her deposit which is about two monthsrsquo rent close to Rs 30000Dr Rajendra Shinde and Aditi MundhadaPandit has learnt to adjust But reading about what happened in Delhi got to her ldquoThere are a lot of other buildings in this area especially in SoBo which are very much not in a good condition and still therersquos people living there that too above and beyond the capacity of the buildingrdquo she saysldquoNo one cares about these things until someone diesrdquo says 22yearold Tanushree Poddar She moved from Kolkata a yearandahalf ago to a 2BHK flatcumPG in South Bombay which she shares with nine other roommates ldquoI live in a double occupancy room with an attached washroom Therersquos another room with three beds and the hall has five bedsrdquoTanushree PoddarShe pays Rs 20000 for her bed not including rent utilities or food ldquoYou have to pay Rs 3000 per month extra for foodrdquo Poddar tells us ldquoBut I couldnrsquot eat that foodrdquoShe moved here to pursue a masters in advertising and entertainment media from a prominent South Mumbai college ldquoMumbai is a lonely city especially in the beginning Itrsquos a peculiar loneliness when you live with nine other people but still feel alonerdquo she saysSavitridevi Phule Mahila Chhatralaya Girgaon was demolished in 2023 for redevelopment and its 450 occupants were relocated to an SRA tower in Bandra PicXartdecomumbaiBut the biggest problem in her apartment right now are the roaches and rats ldquoEven when Irsquove tried to bring up the issue with my landlord itrsquos been no helprdquo she saysThe only saving grace is the hostelrsquos location ldquoItrsquos a twominute walk to the nearest Metro station and a seveneight minute walk to the train station so connectivity is very easy Thatrsquos why Irsquom still hererdquo she saysldquoI do feel that it is a collegersquos responsibility to provide hostels to its students The problem is that people are desperate for housing in Mumbairdquo she says ldquoAnd landlords also know this so they also get away with itrdquoWith collegeauthorised housing there would be better systems for redressal and accountability Poddar feelsIn a city with such limited real estate oncampus housing might be unrealistic but Aditi Mundhada recalls how a state governmentrun hostel gave her a safe subsidised place to stay when she was studying at Government Law College Churchgate from 201217 ldquoGLC didnrsquot offer any hostels so I enrolled into Savitridevi Phule Mahila Chhatralaya in Girgaonrdquo says Mundhada ldquoIt was the best decision of my liferdquoIt was a fivestorey building with 30 rooms on each floor ldquoEach floor was assigned to a single college So my floor was for GLC and then there were floors for HR College JJ School of Arts and some other town colleges a few from the suburbs toordquo she recallsBack then Mundhada spent about Rs 10000 a year on rent ldquoI got to live in a prime location mdash right on Marine Drive mdash at a very affordable pricerdquo she saysIn 2023 the Savitribai Phule girlsrsquo hostel was demolished for redevelopment and its 450 occupants were relocated to an SRA tower in Bandra The same year an 18yearold was sexually assaulted and strangled to death there by the security guard The hostel is yet to return to Charni Road and therersquos no government information on when that might beWhile it is not mandatory for colleges affiliated to Mumbai University to provide student accommodation the varsity does recommend institutes to do it Educator and exprincipal of a premiere SoBo college Dr Rajendra Shinde has been part of many Local Inquiry Committees LIC that assess colleges applying for fresh MU affiliation course renewals or intake increases During an inquiry Dr Shinde and panel use a prescribed form to check standards of the institution ldquoIf they the college say we donrsquot have a hostel the committee normally puts a comment in their report The college management then gives you an undertaking that they will comply with requirements in future Suppose after four or five years the college applies for another programme at that time the committee is supposed to verify whether the previous recommendations are complied with or notrdquo Dr Shinde explainsHowever since it is merely a recommendation the university does not actively track how many of these colleges meet that commitmentIf colleges donrsquot let students stay oncampus is their safety outside campus still the collegersquos responsibility ldquoIf a student gets harassed at a train station the college should be a safe space for the student to ask for help And then the college can assist them further get them psychological or legal help It is a moral duty but not a legal onerdquo says Dr ShindeHow can colleges ensure housing for students we ask him ldquoA lot of times colleges have an understanding with certain hostels They can also provide a list of trusted PGs and hostels which are affordablerdquo he notesNot having access to affordable housing near the college then forces outstation students to commute long distances in an unfamiliar cityAll of this at the age of 17 or 18 in an unknown land mdash the supposed maya nagri ldquoStudents often get lostrdquo he says ldquoWhen I was a principal there were a few cases when students eventually went back home because they couldnrsquot find hostels Especially in the case of girls because then safety comes into questionrdquoWhat Rs 11 lakh gets you on campus No AC WiFi or foodA student who lives on campus at south Mumbai college is grateful that he doesnrsquot have to commute for hoursThe only real advantage is that I donrsquot have to wake up early for lecturesrdquo says 17year old Keith Drsquosouza name changed who moved from Delhi and now lives on campus in a South Mumbai college He pays 11 lakh an academic year for a triplesharing room ldquothough my third roommate isnrsquot here yetrdquoHerersquos what you get for Rs 11 lakh a bed with no AC WiFi or food But you do get access to a gym ldquoI have installed my own WiFi which I share with four other people at Rs 400 per personrdquoBut he doesnrsquot complain because there are many who have it worse ldquoI have some classmates that commute from VasaiVirar Irsquom glad I donrsquot have to wake up three hours before college to commute especially because my lectures start at 8 amrdquoAbout 60 students live there Hostel allocation is done on the basis of your grade 12 marks ldquoand yoursquore only allowed to live for the first yearrdquo ldquoThe idea is once you get used to the city you can find accommodation outside Though you can come back in the third year based on your second year marksrdquo he addslsquoWe were 14 people in a 2BHKrsquoA student who opted for a Marwari community hostel shares that privacy was hard to come byTwentytwoyearold Kriti Daga name changedmoved to Mumbai when she was pursuing Chartered Accountancy from Rajasthan ldquoI lived in a hostel which is especially for Marwaris from Rajasthan Only CA students can live hererdquo she says ldquoThe hostel has three branches one in Goregaon East and two newer buildings mdash one for girls and one for boys mdash in AndherirdquoThe application process is pretty thorough ldquoItrsquos very competitive Therersquos even a personal interviewrdquo But the rent was only Rs 40000 for six months including utilities ldquoFood was additionalrdquoThe hardest part was how crowded her flat was ldquoIt was a 2BHK with two bathrooms shared by 14 people There were bunk beds in the two bedrooms the hall and even the kitchen which wasnrsquot functional I went from sleeping alone my whole life to suddenly being around so many people I couldnrsquot do much in the hostel room except sleeprdquoBut a community hostel can feel stifling in many other ways ldquoEveryone knew each other from before so some people would badmouth you before you even got there Or they would know your parents Privacy was hard to come byrdquo she saysThe newest hostel at Andheri is much better designed she says ldquoThatrsquos a 12storey building with lifts gyms and recreational areasrdquoWhat she does like about her hostel is the extracurricular activities ldquoSince CAs donrsquot really go to college we donrsquot really get to have a college life But my hostel used to organise a lot of fests dance competitions and talent shows which I loved participating in I also got to network with people who working in my field and make some great connectionsrdquo she says ldquoIn the beginning it took me a long time to adjust But surviving in a city like Mumbai alone is very hard The friends I made in the hostel really helped merdquoHow will foreign universities copeDavid DasA lot of foreign universities are also planning on opening campuses in Mumbai One such university is the University of Western Australia UWA How will they accommodate students we ask them David Das COO at UWA India says ldquoAt UWA India we recognise that accommodation is an important part of the student experience particularly for students relocating to Mumbai We are exploring and developing appropriate support mechanisms to help students identify suitable accommodation options in the city while also providing guidance around settling into Mumbai and accessing the services they needrdquolsquoTherersquos no regulationrsquoFounder of Hive Hostels Bharat Agarwal talks about private hostelsBharat AgarwalMost societies are not welcoming to students and bachelors in Mumbairdquo says Bharat Agarwal founder of student housing company Hive Hostels ldquoSo they have to resort to buildings that are 30ndash40 years old where the roof is falling or the structure is shakyrdquoldquoMost colleges are clustered in South Mumbai or Vile Parle The demandsupply gap in that area is so massive that students end up paying exorbitant rent for substandard homes And then there are issues with landlords deposits not being refunded and so onrdquo he addsTheir aim is to provide an endtoend solution where students get housing food laundry ldquobecause a student spends about four to five hours in college The rest of 20 hours are spent at home So that space canrsquot just be a bed We provide gyms recreation areas study rooms and even workshops to bring a sense of communityrdquo he says They run two brands Hive which is the midrange segment ranging from Rs 4ndash6 lakh a year and Aurus which is the luxury segment ranging from 7ndash15 lakh a year ldquoThe biggest problem right now is that there is absolutely no government regulation For example therersquos no licence to operate a business like ours in India In other countries PurposeBuilt Student Accommodation is a separate category of real estate with different standards different rules to followrdquo he saysMeanwhile in DelhihellipIn the wake of the Satya Niketan PG building crash thinspThe Delhi government has proposed a new Bill to bring PG accommodations under regulation to cap rent and deposits ensure safety and regular inspections thinsp The National Human Rights Commission has sought an action plan from the Delhi government and University Grants Commission to provide outstation with safe and affordable housing by building new hostels and expanding existing onespopcorn number7 descNumber of people who died in Satya Niketanrsquos collapse classDefault