Indian slum dwellers in Dharavi express dreams, fears as Adani Group plans facelift
- Dharavi is India’s largest slum, home to more than half a million people, but it also sits on prime land in the country’s financial hub of Mumbai
- While some residents are excited about the area’s makeover, others are worried the transformation will leave them worse off than they are now
The settlement, with its narrow lanes and dilapidated buildings, has long been considered an eyesore in central Mumbai. But the area sits on prime real estate in India’s financial and business capital, right near the Bandra Kurla complex, a business hub between two major railway lines.
While residents have long waited for the day their community would be cleaned up, some are worried about the potential consequences the changes could have on their lives and livelihoods.
Ramakant Gupta, President of Dharavi Bachao Andolan (Save Dharavi Movement), said people were supportive of the facelift, but wanted Adani Group to put their needs and interests first.
“We want the redevelopment to be equitable, and include everyone living here, and no evictions,” he said. “The residents are desirous of a change of image of the area so that their children can aspire for higher education, and better jobs.”
Dharavi has been highlighted by experts as an example of poor planning policies.
Author Kalpana Sharma, in her book Rediscovering Dharavi, Stories from Asia’s Largest Slum, said the growth of the Mumbai slum was illustrative of “the problems with urban planning, where the government first ignores the existence of slums and later gets rid of them through demolitions”.
Under the proposed Dharavi Redevelopment Project, Adani Group’s real estate arm will work with the government to replace the area’s slum housing with high-rise apartment blocks, in a “first big step towards a slum-free Mumbai”, said project chief S.V.R. Srinivas.
But Samya Korde, president of the Peasants and Workers Party of India – Student Wing, who grew up in the slum, noted that the Adani Group’s proposal lacked details, including the timeline of the changes.
“The terms of acquiring the railway land from the central government and its future status is still unclear,” she said, adding that the deadlines for all the parties involved in the redevelopment “should be clearly laid down and defined”.
The Adani Group has also said it would relocate all current residents at its expense, and that the surplus land could be sold to other developers for profit.
But many analysts feel that the conglomerate, owned by India’s richest man Gautam Adani, should not profit from land where generations of Dharavi residents had lived and established roots.
In the 18th century, Dharavi was merely a mangrove swamp, which later became a fishing village. When Mumbai started to become industrialised, tanners began settling in the area. They were soon followed by potters from Saurashtra and Kutch. With railway lines on two sides, and a river on the third, the densely populated Dharavi is now a melting pot of cultures and migrant communities from across India.
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Rehman Shaikh, who owns a small plastic recycling business, said what defined the area was its unique community and multicultural nature, which would likely be destroyed by the homogeneous structures that would come with the new development.
Dharavi is also home to more than 5,000 small-scale businesses making everything from leather and soap to pottery and footwear.
Bharat Dordia is a resident of Dharavi’s Kumbharwada area, a pottery quarter with narrow lanes and dense smoke from kilns which his family has called home for the past six decades. His house has two floors, large by local standards, and his extended family is worried about the potential of his future earnings due to the small space offered in the redevelopment.
Shaikh Anjum, a tailor with a large terraced-unit that employs 10 workers, said the redevelopment would kill his business by not providing him sufficient space to ply his trade.
Some young residents however are excited, like student Shabana Khan, 18, who lives in a small one-bedroom house with six family members and has to use a public bathroom.
“I can’t wait to have a modern home with a bathroom attached,” she said.
