Real Life in a Delhi Slum

Visit Sanjay Colony with a local guide and gain a closer understanding of everyday life in one of Delhi’s low-income communities.

Duration

1.5-2 Hours

Max People

No limit

Tour Type

Fixed, Guided Walking

Meeting Point

Harkesh Nagar Okhla Metro Station

An Unseen Side of Delhi

Delhi is a city of enormous contrasts, and understanding it means looking beyond its monuments and affluent neighbourhoods.

There are more than 700 slums in Delhi and most reports estimate that somewhere between one third and one half of the 20 million people in Delhi live in slums. Sanjay Colony is a low-income community situated in the Okhla industrial area of South Delhi, and is home to approximately 60,000 residents.

During this walking experience, you’ll learn about everyday life in the neighbourhood, including work and the local clothing industry, homes and community life, and some of the challenges residents face around water, electricity and sanitation.

The purpose isn’t to observe poverty from the outside. It’s to understand more about the realities, resourcefulness and everyday life of a community that forms part of Delhi.

Please note that photography is restricted out of respect for the residents, and guests are advised to wear practical footwear and dress modestly.

Price starting from INR 1500 per person.

Prefer to plan with us first?

Have questions, want to make changes, or combine this tour with another experience? Tell us about your plans and we’ll help you work out the details.

This tour follows an established itinerary, but it can be combined with other Delhi or Agra experiences.

What Your Tour will Include

Walk through the neighbourhood

Explore Sanjay Colony on foot with a guide who can provide context about the community.

Learn about everyday life

Understand more about homes, work, families and daily routines within the neighbourhood.

See local livelihoods

Learn about work and industry within and around the community, including the clothing industry.

Understand the challenges

Hear about some of the practical realities residents face, including access to water, electricity and sanitation.

Travel that gives something back.

Since 2017, Delhi by Locals has supported Learning by Locals, a community initiative helping young people develop skills and opportunities for their future.

When you travel with us, you’re not simply paying for a tour. You’re supporting a business that believes travel can create connections and opportunities beyond the traveller.

100% of profits from this experience support Learning by Locals.

Everything You Need to Explore Comfortably

What's Included

Local professional guide
Mineral water throughout the journey
Toilet stops
Personal support from your guide throughout the day

What's Not Included

Hotel pick-up and drop-off can be arranged for private tours at an additional cost
Anything else is not part of this tour

Good to Know before the Tour

Expect walking

Wear comfortable footwear as you'll be walking through a working residential neighbourhood.

Visiting respectfully

Photography is restricted out of respect for the residents, and guests are advised to wear practical footwear and dress modestly.

Not a tourist attraction!

Sanjay Colony is people's home and community. Follow your guide's directions and respect residents' privacy.

Visit Sanjay Colony With Us

This tour can be a part of your Delhi experience. It can be done privately as well as a part of the group.

Step 1

Tell Us Your Travel Dates

Choose your date and share your basic trip details on the booking link or via the customisable form.

Step 2

We Get Back in 48 Hours

Based on your requirements, we'll respond within 48 hours and connect with you to discuss your itinerary and other details.

Step 3

Customise Your Itinerary

We'll help shape the itinerary around the parts of Delhi you'd most like to experience and include any additional arrangements that you need.

Step 4

Confirm Your Booking

Once everything is finalised, we'll proceed with confirmation. Whether you book via link or form, a 30% non-refundable payment is required to confirm the tour.

Step 5

Get Ready for the Journey

We'll share your tour details and keep you updated. When you arrive on your planned date, your driver will be there to pick you up from the agreed location and your Delhi experience begins.

Want to include this experience as part of a wider day in Delhi?

Here's what our customers say...

The tour is highly recommended, extremely authentic, and provides a very good impression of life in the slum, how people earn money, the living conditions, and also a lot about the education and opportunities for the children. Learning by Locals is an NGO that aims to support youth with education and help them become more self-confident in order to grow. The proceeds from the tour support the program. Our guide Badal did a great job, spoke very good English even though he has only been learning the language for four years, and provided us with a lot of interesting background information. Great tour if you enjoy exploring more than just the typical sights. Highly recommended. The meeting point at the metro station worked very well, with WhatsApp contact on the day of booking.

The afternoon we spent with Salman and Pradeep was uplifting and inspiring. Not at all the reaction I was expecting from a slum tour. I was hesitant to book this tour because I was afraid it would be like doing a disaster tour where everything was sad and depressing. It was just the opposite. We spent some time touring the neighborhood and then the school. After that we did visited the Lotus Center, did a quick tea tasting and did a little shopping. Prandeep can create whatever experience you desire. Our guide Salman answered all our questions honestly and gave us insightful answers. No questions were off limit.Half of the tour fee is reinvested back into the school.Most important, we got to know a part of Delhi that we would never have seen on our own, met the amazing staff at Tour With Locals, spent some time with the children at the school and came away with a better understanding of India. Pradeep is an amazing leader who is inspiring the youth of Delhi. Neither my husband or I expected to be so affected by this experience. If you are considering this type of experience I would urge you to go ahead and book it. You will not regret it.

I wanted to do this tour to see the reality of life in the slums. I had a certain amount of trepidation thinking it might be depressing, would smell or I would be hassled by beggars. OMG I couldnt have been more wrong. The people were happy and vibrant and although they had very little they still wanted to give everything they had. Badal was an excellent guide and very proud of his colony, I can’t recommend this tour highly enough.

We loved our tour hosted by Badal in the Sanjay colony slum tour. Please do not hesitate to do this eye opening tour. The locals here support themselves have pride in themselves and are extremely hardworking. No offense is taken to the word slum here. Our guide answered any and all questions we had about the way of life here we went to the local school which was one of the highlights of the trip. The students were kind and curious , friendly and lovely as were all of the teachers we met. Most of them attended the school themselves including our guide who was clearly beloved by all the people there. There is no pressure to buy anything and there is no begging. It is a beautiful family community with curious kids playing hide and seek and welcoming tourists. Please note half of the profit received from this tour goes back to the local school. This tour makes a real difference to this community of people. We loved it!

Pradeep and Badal are super human beings, selfless, informative, kind hearted; they welcomed us into their community and home, explaining about life in Sanjay and the school they support. The children in the school were happy to show us around, performed a dance they had prepared and we even experienced a birthday celebration for one of the teachers. This was both very humbling and heart warming. A truly memorable time.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does DBL offer a slum tour?

To help travellers understand a part of Delhi and the realities of life in a low-income community that they would otherwise be unlikely to encounter.

Where does the tour take place?

In Sanjay Colony in South Delhi’s Okhla industrial area.

Can I take photographs?

Photography is restricted out of respect for the residents of the community.

Where does the money from my tour go?

100% of profits from this experience support Learning by Locals, DBL’s community initiative focused on education, skills and opportunities for young people.

Can I combine this with another Delhi experience?

Yes. You can combine this tour with experiences such as our Old Delhi Food Tour, tuk-tuk tour or another Delhi experience.

Tell us what you’d like to combine in our custom Plan My Delhi Tour form, and we’ll help work out what is realistic within your available time.

Have more questions? Reach out to us at delhibylocals@gmail.com or Call/WhatsApp at +91 9599679235