The Old Collectors Compound is a large re-settlement colony in Malvani, comprising 80 "plots" as they are called with 133 houses per plot. (Table A).

The constricted space of the 10" x 15" pitches engendered encroachments. Streets became narrow ribbons of road and tenements hugged a maze of gullies (lanes). (Exhibit A). Public spaces decreased in area over the years. (Table B)

The burgeoning population stretched the meagre facilities available. An indicator is the toilet facilities (Table C). Each plot has a 10 seat toilet block catering to a population of 200 families. The average density per seat is therefore 1:100 which is much higher than the 1:35 prescribed by the Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) and the 1:50 specified by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Plot Nos. 23 and 31 are situated in the middle of the Collectors Compound. The houses made of bricks have a front access to the narrow road and a rear access to a small service lane which receives the waste and storm water drainage. (Annex II) Each gully has 9 houses with the toilet in the centre of the plot with access from all sides. The garbage collection point is a huge playground which doubles as a dumping yard, cricket field, grazing ground for cattle and an open-air toilet at night. (Exhibit B)

Men work largely in construction or private/public companies. Most of the women are home-makers. Each household earns on an average Rs.3000-Rs.4000 per month. Plot No. 31 is comparatively more affluent than Plot No.23. The residents being part of a re-settlement colony are free lease holders of the government and are relatively secure from the threat of evictions. Hence, unlike other slums, the houses are made of bricks reflecting the permanence of residence. People from different religious backgrounds co-exist together, with the attendant tensions. On Plot No.31, for instance, petty resentments take on communal overtones. For the Hindu and Muslim tenements are separated from each other and dubbed "India-Pakistan" respectively.