question_answer 14)

Give explanations for the following   (a) Why did the well off Londoners supported the need to build housing for the poor in the nineteenth century?   (b) Why a number of Bombay films were about the lives of migrations?   (c) What led to the major expansion of Bombay's population in the mid-nineteenth century?  

Answer:

(a) Well-off Londoners supported the need to build housing for the poor in the nineteenth century for the following reasons • One-room houses in which the poor lived were seen as the breeding ground of diseases, and hence, a threat to public health. They did not have proper sanitation.   • They were thought of as fire hazards because they were over-crowded and badly ventilated.   • There was a widespread fear of social disorder, especially after the 1917 Russian Revolution. So, housing schemes were undertaken to avoid a rebellion by the poor, which was supported by the well-off people.   (b) After the British administration replaced Surat with Bombay as its principal Western port, there was a consequent increase in trade and industries, leading to a great influx of people. Thus, migrants were  (and still are) an important facet of Bombay. Most of the people in the film industry were migrants themselves from Punjab, Gujarat, Madras, Calcutta and other areas of India. They wanted to portray the plight of this class of people through films. Thus, a number of Bombay films were about the lives of migrants.   (c) In the mid-seventeenth century, Bombay became East India Company's principal Western port, replacing Surat. Later, by the end of the nineteenth century, it had become an important administrative as well as industrial centre. A large number of textile mills had started, which gave jobs to people. All through these years, the prospects for trade and commerce as well as employment kept increasing, leading to a major expansion of Bombay's population.