. Chawls were multi-storeyed structures built and owned by private landlords such as . merchants, bankers and building contractors. - . Each chawl was divided into smaller one-room tenements, which had no private toilets. . Many families could reside at a time in a tenement. . People had to keep the windows of their rooms closed even in humid weather due to close proximity of filthy gutters, buffalo stables, etc. . Though water was scarce, and people often quarrelled every morning for a turn at the tap, observers found that houses were kept quite clean.