Good news: Mumbai's child sex ratio of 933 at all-time high

What could be a greater news today than this? A long time skewed statistic in child sex ratio is finally looking up. The densely populated city of India -Mumbai has shown a massive improvement in the sex ratio. Mumbai stands iconic from a recent survey - there are 933 girls born per 1,000 boys. This is an improvement a number of 918.

Recently released BMC data says:

• The ratio also showed a good number in the posh neighbourhoods of Colaba, Nariman Point and Fort to the slum pockets of Govandi, Mankhurd and Bandra (East). It includes even the prosperous belts of Borivli and Magathane.

• The sex ratio in the city is 943 which  indicates a better result than the western (932) and eastern suburbs (927)

• Meanwhile, it’s time to set an alarm for Bandra, Khar and Santacruz (East). A deeper look at the sex ratio as it dropped down from 949 in 2014 to 903 last year. Similarly, Deonar, Anushakti Nagar, Govandi and Mankhurd, too, have a decreasing number from 935 in 2014 to 909 in 2015.

Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer at BMC explained it to TOI, "The decline is not justifiable in several pockets of the city and we will be looking into the reasons. Our previous trends indicate that sex selection is not that common among slum dwellers. For certain areas in south Mumbai like ward A, a population shift to the suburbs is mainly to blame".

Keskar insisted in the TOI report that all was not gloomy about the city's sex ratio, as certain areas have shown incredible change. Worli, Lower Parel, Prabhadevi and Mahalaxmi scored a near perfect ratio of 991 in 2015, a commendable increase from 968 in 2014. Even Dongri has shown a jump from 926 in 2014 to 974 last year.

Picture Credit: GDeichmann