HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, IITB

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Under the guidance of D. PARTHASARATHY

Dharavi: Plans and Alternatives

Analyzing the literature and proposals

Sonam Ambe, 118080002

May 2nd, 2012

The paper compiles a review of literature on Dharavi. Observations and interactions with the locals in a Go-Along journey are recorded and used to prove the inadequacy of current proposals. The

paper concludes with the gaps in literature and notes suggestions for holistic development.

2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 5

2. Review of Literature ............................................................................................ 9

2.1 Discovering Dharavi .......................................................................................................... 9

2.2 Informal Economy and Informal housing.......................................................................... 11

2.3 Government Initiatives: Plans, Proposals and Alternatives for Dharavi ............................. 12

2.4 The Dharavi Redevelopment Plan .................................................................................... 15

2.5 Alternatives to the Proposal .............................................................................................. 16

2.6 Criticism and other Alternatives ....................................................................................... 20

3. Observations and Interactions ............................................................................ 22

3.1 Issues of the Kumbhars .................................................................................................... 22

3.2 Koliwada and its self initiated development: ..................................................................... 24

3.3 Industries at 13th compound ............................................................................................. 25

3.3.1 Plastic Industry ......................................................................................................... 25

3.3.2 Aluminium Recycling Industry ................................................................................ 25

3.3.3 Sand and Wax Cloth Dyeing Industry ....................................................................... 26

3.3.4 Readymade Garments and Zari Workskop ................................................................ 26

3.3.5 Bakeries and Tin Cleaning Industry ......................................................................... 26

3.3.6 Leather Goods Industry ............................................................................................ 27

3.3.7 Accommodations for the Workers............................................................................. 27

3.4 Slum Tourism and post DRP substitute:............................................................................ 27

3.5 Second wage earning and networking in Dharavi .............................................................. 28

4. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 36

Bibliography ............................................................................................................. 40

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List of Figures

Figure 1: Satellite map of Dharavi ...................................................................................................... 4

Figure 2: Modak and Mayer, Dharavi Neighbourhood Plan 1948 ..................................................... 13

Figure 3: Municipal Redevelopment Plan for Dharavi ....................................................................... 13

Figure 4: Masterplan of Dharvi, presented by Mukesh Mehta .......................................................... 16

Figure 5: Proposed by DESIGN ARCHITECT, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture LLP ................... 18

Figure 6: Proposed by Developer HOK .............................................................................................. 18

Figure 7: Waterfront development for Dharavi by the delegation from Columbia University ............ 18

Figure 8:High-rise Development by CEPT .......................................................................................... 19

Figure 9: Combination of High and Low-rise Development by CEPT .................................................. 20

Figure 10: Bunds for fishing in the Mahim creek ............................................................................... 24

Abbreviations:

BKC Bandra Kurla Complex

DRP Dharavi Redevelopment Project

NSDF National Slum Dwellers Federation

PROUD People’s Responsible Organization for United Dharavi

SPARC Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres

SRA Slum Rehabilitation Authority

SRS Slum Rehabilitation Scheme

4

Figure 1: Satellite map of Dharavi

5

1. Introduction

Dharavi is not Asia‟s largest Slum; Dharavi is World‟s largest Informal multi-sector

Industrial (small scale) Township.

Dharavi is a unique multicultural agglomeration of intertwined livelihoods engaging

in global and local productions in the absence of „world class‟ services or state of the art

setups. It accommodates both natives and migrants from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Bihar, and Rajasthan, into the

businesses1 of leather processing, garments manufacturing, jari/jardosi work, food

processing, plastic recycling, pot making and countless others. The milieu of the Slum

however, affects neither the quality nor the quantity of production. Sharma (2000) notes “If

you want to eat the best gulab jamuns in town, buy the best chikki, acquire an export quality

leather handbag, order World Health Organization (WHO) certified sutures for surgery, see

the latest design in ready-made garments being manufactured for export, get a new suitcase

or an old one repaired, taste food from the north and the south, see traditional south Indian

gold jewellery - there are few better places in all of Mumbai than Dharavi,”

The most puzzling aspect of production in Dharavi is, how does a high density (18000

people per acre) Slum, manufacture for quality (and quantity) in a large diversity of

businesses? Dharavi‟s answer to this is, Creative Decentralization. These decentralized

networks reduce cost and efficiently use the „lack of space‟. One of the best examples of a

decentralised process would be the plastic recycling industry. Here the decentralisation lies in

the processes; the rag pickers bring plastic from all around the city; the plastic is bought by

the scrap dealers, the dealers sort it according to colour and quality; segregated plastic is

shredded and cleaned by another unit, after cleaning the plastic is dried on the roof top; clean,

dry shreds of plastic are used by the last unit where molten plastic is reformed into pellets.

The pellets are packed and delivered just in time to start processing the next batch. Much of

its productivity is thus rooted in a decentralized production process relying on a labyrinth of

production units which indigenously follow Toyota „Just in Time‟ model for production.

These networks are now being strengthened by the use of mobile phones, and there are plans

to establish community computing centres where small entrepreneurs can reach out to the

1 There are 1,036 textile units, 932 pottery , 567 leather, 478 plastic, 498 Jari stitching , 244 small scale manufactures, 50 printing presses, 25 bakeries, 152 food processing units, 111 restaurants in Dharavi (Sharma, 2000)

6

local and international markets directly (Nijman, 2009). There are more than 135

entrepreneurs from Dharavi on Just Dial2. The GDP of these businesses, global, local, legal,

illegal, home based, industry based, was estimated at 1500–2000 crores or about US$ 360

million (Sharma, 2000) as much as any (formally deregulated) SEZ in India is expected to

produce. Dharavi is a story of ingenuity and enterprise; it is a story of survival (and success)

without subsidies or welfare; it is a story that illustrates how limited is the term slum to

describe a place that produces everything from suitcases to leather goods, Indian sweets and

gold jewellery (Sharma, 2000).

Most of Dharavi combines a whole range of functions of living, retailing,

wholesaling, manufacturing, consumer services, producer services, including public functions

like schools, houses of worship, civic organisations and so on (Nijman, 2009), evolved in a

spatial diversity of ghettoised nagars. Some of these nagars have emerged besides historical

heritage. The written history of Dharavi dates back to the 17th century when it was noted as a

fishing village of Bombay. The oldest structure of Dharavi is the Kala Killa (Rewah Fort). It

constructed by the Portuguese in 1737. The cross in Koliwada dates back to 1850. The oldest

mosque is the Badi Masjid built in1887 by Hassan Kutti who had migrated from Kerela.

Khambadeo Mandir is around 200 years old, where as the Ganesh Mandir is 100 years old.

Dharavi has since evolved into the industrious enterprise of that we see today but its history

and faith in religion is undeterred. This densely packed area houses twenty-seven temples,

eleven mosques and six churches. The history, the lively culture, the economic innovations,

the social networks make Dharavi a unique township.

In 2002, Dharavi was integrated into the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS) and plans

to aestheticise and upgrade the slum environs were proposed. The Dharavi Redevelopment

Plan (DRP) is one such attempt. The academic appraisal of the planned development

predominantly discusses loss of livelihood, loss of social-personnel ties and the imposed

aestheticisation of the slum precincts to suit a world class metropolis. A place like Dharavi

poses several difficult challenges for the government (ungovernability of the informal):

Should it be left alone, developed, or pulled down and developed? Should the state recognise

its industrial nature and provide it with facilities that will, at the least, make working

2 . They can be searched under tag of manufacturer of shervani, kurta, T-Shirt and jeans, readymade garments, leather goods, belt buckle, pots and diya, bags (paper, plastic), safety hand glove, paper box, sticker, rubber stamp, jewellery, etc.

7

conditions for thousands of workers safer and cleaner? Or will doing that kill their

enterprises? (Sharma, 2000) Should the existing socio-cultural segregation of neighbourhoods

be reflected in the plans? Or should Dharavi sacrifice for the greater good of a World class

metropolis and lose its identity? The questions seem rhetoric!

Grass root organisations like Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres

(SPARC) and National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) came down heavily on the state‟s

proposal for redevelopment (DRP). The strong negative reaction to the „world class‟ DRP

came on the grounds of lack of transperancy and lack of concern for the livelihoods of the

people affected by the project. SPARC activist Sheela Patel and Jockin Arputham from

NSDF questioned this forced redevelopment.

“Will Dharavi’s redevelopment be done in partnership with its

hundreds of thousands of inhabitants and tens of thousands of

enterprises? Or will it be imposed on them, without their

involvement, without consultation? Will the needs of the resident

homes and businesses be the basis for redevelopment?

The residents recognize that the redevelopment must include new

residential buildings with units for sale to outsiders and some

commercial developments as a way of helping finance Dharavi’s

redevelopment – all they are asking is to be fully involved in its

design and implementation,.... consideration for aspirations and

entitlements of the wide spectrum of work and residential

arrangements that currently exist in Dharavi and to create a process

for its formalization.....enhances this for the neighbourhood and the

city.

Can the state and the residents co-create a mechanism that respects

the present small neighbourhoods in Dharavi, ......working through

how redevelopment can accommodate local businesses and not

disrupt livelihoods? Why is it that “city development” plans almost

always impoverish slum dwellers?.....” (Arputham & Patel, 2007)

The opposition to the proposals, followed by delay in implementation, are common to

slum rehabilitation plans. However, strong (collective) reaction from institutions, social

scientists, social workers, journalists, urban planners and architects, are rare. This paper is

8

also an account of the plans and solutions suggested for Dharavi by a wide spectrum of

professionals.

A comprehensive literature review of the situation in Dharavi and assessment of the

ground reality is pursued. This paper is an account of previous studies and proposals for

Dharavi. Gaps in studies are identified and facts overlooked by policies are noted. Some are

verified by onsite research. Observations, interviews and transect walk (A go-along mapping

of the activities, businesses and environment) are used as tools of data gathering. The

fieldwork initiates a dialogue with Dharavi by „experiencing‟ the literature. It also supports

the evaluation of the literature, based on a methodological study. This initial field work is

limited (in time and scope); however it forms a base for research design and guides the

direction of the M.Phil Dissertation.

This paper is divided into four sections;

ö Section I, introduces Dharavi;

ö Section II, compiles the literature on informal economy, urban slums and

interventions and plans for Dharavi. The literature follows the history and evolution

of Dharavi unto the recent governmental and non-governmental interventions to

formalise Dharavi. Government plans, their criticism and alternate plans are studied.

This review forms the foundation for primary data collection, assembled in the next

section;

ö Section III, gathers the data from observations, interviews and transect. The fieldwork

imagines the „city within the city‟ while walking with de Certeau‟s image of space

and its utilisation by procedures. It draws from interactions with the workers and

entrepreneurs of both traditional and modern industries and supports an empirical

criticism of the literature;

ö Section IV, concludes with the gaps in literature and suggestions for integrated

development of Dharavi. It questions the various approaches initiated by paternalistic

agencies and closes with propositions for holistic development.

9

2. Review of Literature

This literature review primarily draws form research on Dharavi. Issues of urban

informality (both residential and economic) and ungovernability of informal are also raised.

Details of the plans and proposals for Dharavi since independence are studied and

reconnected to the literature. The criticism and alternate proposals are also studied. This

section concludes with sugestions and recommendations towards a holistic redevelopment

which re-integrates the residents into the planing process.

2.1 Discovering Dharavi

Rediscovering Dharavi (Sharma, 2000) is a thorough account of the urban agglomeration

of hard working, innovative, globally integrated production units and home based enterprises.

It reads out the journey of Dharavi through its history and geography in relation to the growth

of Mumbai. Dharavi is an informal settlement barring the Koliwada Gaothan3, the

Kumbharwada, (a planned relocation) and the Matunga Labour Camp. The rest of the

settlements developed over time and as the politics of slums changed, parts of Dharavi were

„recognised‟ piecemeal and „regularised‟.

It is a settlement with more than a million population spread over 239 hectares, living in a

bustling collection of contiguous settlement, each with its own distinct identity. The real

dividing lines between these ghettos (more than eighty in number) are based on the history of

migration patterns in Mumbai, on village industries4 that have translocated in an urban setting

and on language, region and religion (Weinstein, 2009).

Nijman (2009) sketched the spatial identity of Dharavi. He notes the use of space, both

deliberate and intense, confirming de Certeau‟s (1984) analogy of Space: Procedures. De

Certeau relates the concept of a city to urban practices and describes space via the presence or

absence of procedures. Every bit of space in Dharavi is allocated and it purpose is known

exactly by the locals: they know who belong where, what belongs to whom, what is private

and who has the rights to it, and what is public (and for which public). There is a great deal of

3 Gaothans are villages with ‘original inhabitants’ that existed before the development control rules were implemented. 4 Kumbhars from Saurashtra settled in Kumbharwada; Chamda bazaar was set up by the Muslim tanners from both Tirunelvelli, Tamil Nadu and Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, embroidery workers from Uttar Pradesh started the Zari industries, South Indians have food processing units for mysore pak and chakli etc.

10

tolerance in terms of human density and movement, but at the same time have a powerful

realisation that territorial control is fundamental to long-term survival and identity.

This neighbourhood identity is exemplified by Sharma. She believes that a special socio-

economic „pull‟ factor created by the early success of manufacturing units in Dharavi set the

stage for migration to Dharavi. Despite its unsanitary environment, people were pulled

towards Dharavi as they found work here. This pull factor however, worked best for migrants

from village industries already settled in Dharavi. As people lived where they worked,

inevitably, Dharavi developed with enclaves that were exclusively inhabited by people from a

particular region. The overwhelming majority of Dharavi residents are Dalits who combine

material poverty with social stigma as soon as they move outside of their circles. They reside

in tight community clusters within the slum- generally based on regional origin and

professional status (Nijman, 2009).

As a result Dharavi sports rural copies of duplicate districts in specific settlements. There

is a duplicate Tirunelvelli at Kamraj nagar, where each house has a sit-out doled with

rangolis; a duplicate Jaunpur; a duplicate Haryana at the Matunga labour camp, where you

will see women with their heads covered, cooking on open stoves, goats tethered to side and

men sitting on khatiya smoking hookah; a duplicate Saurashtra by Kumbhars who celebrate

Gujarati festivals and customs within their tightly knit community; transit camps are

dominated by the Konchikoris- a group of itinerant magicians and performers from Solapur.

Even with the spatial proximity and high human density, the communities mostly keep to

themselves and there are rarely cases of inter-community marriages.

Different communities find different purpose in Dharavi; similarly different genders have

different purpose in Dharavi. For men, Dharavi provides livelihood and sustenance. For

women, it means living in a crammed surroundings, lack of privacy, difficulties of water and

sanitation and often more burden of work. The narratives by women (Sharma, 2000) brought

out their preference to rural lives than the slums of the „city of Dreams‟, unlike the men who

believed someday their „dreams‟ of a pucca house in the „city‟ will come true.

Dharavi is a compact spread of energy, enterprise, deprivation and desperation which

epitomizes the crisis of all fast growing Indian cities. It draws attention to the need to find

space and solutions for the growing number of urban poor. Dharavi‟s history and growth

11

illustrate graphically the problems with urban planning, i.e. employment should also be

guarded in the proposals. The crisis of housing urban poor in India is because employment is

not valued during planning (Sharma, 2000). The reality, however, is that people live

(housing) where they find work (employment). Surveys have established that 70 % of people

living in Dharavi work here (Sharma 2000).This employment/ housing debate is discussed

next in the context of informal production and informal accommodation in Dharavi.

2.2 Informal Economy and Informal housing

The term „formal economy‟ may be used to define the production processes and exchange

of goods and services regulated by the market and typically formed by profit oriented

commercial enterprises acting in compliance with trading, tax and labour laws. Informal

economy may thus refer to all those production and exchange processes which, in some way,

fail to comply with the distinctive features described above. (Bagnasco, 1990) Nevertheless

the market does regulate the production and exchange of the informal sector. The economic

content of the rules and exchanges of the informal economy although not made explicit, are a

part of more complex cultural contexts in Dharavi.

However, a central question for theory and policy is whether the formation and expansion

of informal sectors is the result of conditions created by advanced capitalism (Sassen, June

1988) and outsourcing (both global and local) production to cheaper destinations? The

proliferation of small scale industries in Dharavi and the expansion of its global services,

reply in affirmation. Global production for Adidas, Levis, D &G, etc. showcases the link

between the formal multinational corporations and the informal small scale manufacturing

units. On the other hand, all the worst sins of production in the developing countries can be

found here- sweatshops, hazardous industries, insanitary work conditions, and exploitatively

low wages. However, correspondingly, unemployment is a rare occasion in Dharavi (Sharma,

2000).

The informality of Dharavi is both entrepreneurial and residential. The literature however

focuses on the informality of the slums. The economic prospects of the informal global Node

are very rarely examined. Hidden from conventional economic data and missing from the

bulk of social research, the informal economy of Dharavi is imbued mysteriously with a

unique set of identities and system of non-monetary reciprocity, „„trust‟‟ (Samers, 2005 ), and

its ability to act as a coping mechanism to the formal. The informal enterprises of Dharavi,

12

the historicity of rise of enterprise and the impact of liberalisation on the industries, the global

and local corporate links of the manufacturers, the spill over effect of shutdown of industries

on global and local markets, has not been a part of academic research.

Historically speaking, Mumbai experienced its most significant expansion of residential

informality during the height of industrial employment in the decades preceding India‟s

adoption of structural adjustment reforms and deeper integration in the global economy. The

connections between globalization and Mumbai‟s slums are rooted in the state‟s changing

response to slums and the formulation of new policies to intervene in residential informality

(Weinstein, 2009). The changing politics of slum redevelopment can be tracked by the

development processes in Dharavi.

Ananya Roy (2005) in Urban Informality discussed the theme of informality and policy

responses to informality, such as slum upgrading and land titling. In the article she compared

on one hand the ungovernability of the informal and on the other an image of "heroic

entrepreneurship" by Hernando De Soto (2000). De Soto had previously remarked in The

Other Path (1989) that "informal economy is the people's spontaneous and creative response

to the state's incapacity to satisfy the basic needs of the impoverished masses". Dharavi is in

fact a self initiated response to market demands coupled with states‟ „supportive neglect‟

(Weinstein, 2009) towards the urban poor. Ananya Roy‟s judgment that both frames (crisis in

planning and heroic entrepreneurship) conceptualize informality and poverty, caused by

isolation from global capitalism, would be inaccurate in Dharavi‟s context. Dharavi outlines

some seminal theories in the literature as it is a unique mix of informal promoted by the

formal, where the global and local markets are equally served, where the informal is accepted

by the authorities (vote bank) and infrastructure is extended as a temporary support.

2.3 Government Initiatives: Plans, Proposals and Alternatives for Dharavi

Dharavi as narrated by Sharma is a bursting, lively, hard working settlement of natives

and migrants. It‟s previously inactive geographical location squeezed in an unused land

between two railways lines and a polluted creek made the unchecked proliferation of

informal settlements possible. Development and planning for Dharavi has a long history.

Being one of the oldest fishing villages in island city, it has been settled upon ever since by

the Son Kolis. Industrialisation in Bombay and the boom of textile and chemical dyeing

13

Figure 2: Modak and Mayer, Dharavi Neighbourhood Plan 1948

industry driven by migration were not facilitated by adequate housing facilities. Jasmine mills

near the Mahim Station received the first group of migrants. Slowly the settlements

expanded, from the

Koliwada gaothan to

Matunga labour camp,

Kumbharwada and

Chamda Bazaar. One of

the first plans for

Dharavi was by Modak

and Mayer (Figure 1),

who proposed the

removal of industry

from Dharavi, and from

other parts of the island

city, with their relocation to outlying areas of Greater Bombay. The tanneries were to be

removed in the first phase, followed by the removal of other industries from the island city in

phases two and three, thus freeing up at least 500 acres of land for housing, roads, and parks

(Modak & Mayer, 1948). The plan was never implemented, neither for Dharavi nor for the

rest of the city.

The next planned proposal came in 1963 under the Town Planning Act of 1954 (Figure 2).

It marked Dharavi for upgrades like colleges, hostels, library, shopping centre, etc. The

proposal planned to de-house the existing population from Dharavi. The plan however

accommodated the

tanneries (north east of

the map) and other small

scale cottage industries

and shops. As the plan

proposed to demolish

the gaothans and rebuild

them on neighbourhood

spatial pattern, it invited

strong rejection and

opposition from the

natives. Figure 3: Municipal Redevelopment Plan for Dharavi

14

In the first three decades after independence, few investments were made to house

Bombay‟s poor and working class residents; no new parks or recreational areas were

designated; polluting industries and tanneries were allowed to remain in Dharavi and other

centrally located areas of the city. Dharavi made the full transition from fishing village to a

slum. The fishing, on the other hand came to a halt due to the industrial pollution in the Mithi

River. Dharavi‟s previously autonomous settlements of Kumbharwada, Matunga labour

Camp, Koliwada, and Chamda bazaar had merged into a single slum, as the space between

them was filled in with newer settlements.

In the mid-1980s under the Prime Minister‟s Grant Program (PMGP), Dharavi‟s housing

and infrastructure underwent significant changes. The first step the state government took to

carry out the PMGP was to hire architect Charles Correa to head a committee that would

prepare a report on Dharavi‟s current conditions and make recommendations for the area‟s

redevelopment. Based on this information, the Committee recommended, like the Mayer-

Modak Plan almost 40 years earlier, that the first step should be to remove all of the leather

tanneries from Dharavi. By this time, the abattoir had been moved from Bandra to its current

location in Deonar and the Committee recommended that the tanneries be shifted along with

it. It also recommended that the population of Dharavi be reduced and many of the residents

be shifted to alternative locations. The committee recommended that not all of Dharavi‟s

estimated 55,000 household should be allowed to remain in Dharavi in order to leave ample

space for park lands and recreation facilities, as well as other basic amenities (Sharma, 2000).

Despite the grand promises the PMGP initially made to facilitate a comprehensive

redevelopment of Dharavi, the program‟s accomplishments were actually quite modest. It

facilitated the construction of roads, the cleaning of the creek, and the construction of a

handful of mid-rise apartment buildings along Dharavi‟s north eastern boundary. When

residents and Dharavi-based organizations learned that the Correa Committee had proposed

the displacement of more than 20,000 households, public protests were held, organized

primarily by the Dharavi-based group People‟s Responsible Organization for a United

Dharavi (PROUD) and the plan was not implemented (Chatterji, 2005). The purely

architectural approach did not work for Dharavi as a well designed settlement that will be

pleasing to the eyes of the elite was dysfunctional to the people who live there (Sharma,

2000).

15

2.4 The Dharavi Redevelopment Plan

The next interventions were not grand proposals or promises but rather small scale sites

and services projects for adding infrastructure and amenities to the slum periphery. Between

1997 and 2004, Mukesh Mehta a private developer approached the state with a plan for

redeveloping the entire settlement of Dharavi as a for-profit land development scheme. This

is the latest effort to transform Dharavi into an elite sister to BKC next door. He developed

the Dharavi Redevelopment Plan on three objectives, 1) to remove slum dwellers from their

intolerable conditions, 2) to make a profitable scheme and 3) to provide a scheme for

redeveloping all of Dharavi, not one part of it at a time by improving health, income,

knowledge, environment and socio-cultural integration (HIKES) (Neuwirth, 2006).

The DRP proposes to divide Dharavi into five sectors and international bids would be

invited for the development of each sector. However the plan is applied only in 151 ha. out of

the 239 ha. site. The excluded areas include Koliwada, Tata Power Station, the Cemetery,

Jasmine Mill Compound, the ONGC precincts, Dharavi Bus Depot, the Mahim Nature Park

and some of the already developed parts under segmented SRA schemes. Sixty five percent

of the151 ha, will be designated as core building construction and will provide free housing

to the 57,531 families. The rest 35% of the building will be put up for sale. Each eligible

family will receive 225 sq. ft housing unit, free of cost and an option to buy more area at the

construction cost. Only non-polluting and non-hazardous business will be allowed to be

rehabilitated. The business will also be allotted a floor space of 225 sq. ft. The families will

be provided with temporary residence during the construction period. Existing roads will be

widened and new roads will be built. Surrounding railways will be connected to the area for

residents‟ commute. The blueprint of the whole project includes shopping malls, hospitals,

schools and colleges, police stations, post offices, international craft villages, parks, art

galleries, theatre, even a cricket museum. Medical facilities will be built on 6 acres. 36 acres

and 35 acres will be allocated to schools and parks/ garden respectively. The developers will

provide for the project cost in return of owning total of 40 million sq. ft of commercial space

in the prime land of Mumbai. The state government is also adding incentives by granting

maximum Floor Space Index (the ratio of total floor area to the plot size) of 4 for the slum

houses, 3.1 for the Municipal and Government land and 1.3 for the Private lands. (Roy &

Roy, June 4 – 7, 2008). (See Figure 3, for Master Plan).

16

The redevelopment plan under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) identifies it as a

Slum and not as a collective informal network of home-based and industrial enterprises.

Hence the proposal mainly concerns itself with the rehabilitation of residential slums. The

rehabilitation for non-hazardous and non polluting industries and commercial / office / shop /

economic activity is only 225 sq. ft5 (far lower than the current area occupied by the

industries). Other industries will be dehoused without an alternative plan for resettlement6.

Unlike the SEZs which are claimed to be forerunners for accelerating the pace of economic

growth for the state7 and pampered with exceptions and deregulations, the strengths of the

globally integrated, multi sector industrial precincts of informal Dharavi are overlooked.

2.5 Alternatives to the Proposal

The top-down, developer-driven redevelopment of Dharavi is heavily criticised by the

organisations representing the voice of Dharavi. Ever since the plan was introduced in 2004,

activists from Dharavi‟s residents‟ associations, community-based organizations and other

civil society groups have sought to engage the authorities in dialogue to address its many

critical deficiencies (Patel, Arputham, Burra, & Savchuk, April 2009). Arputham & Patel,

5 Development Control Regulation No. 33 (10)(A) (Regulations for Dharavi Notified Area) Section 5.3 (a)(b)(c)

6 ibid 7 Government of Maharashtra, Resolution no. SEZ 2001/(152)/IND-2

Figure 4: Masterplan of Dharvi, presented by Mukesh Mehta

17

activists and founders of NSDF and SPARC respectively, have published a series of four

articles in Environment and Urbanisation, which discusses the oposition to the state plans and

initiatives taken by the citizen representatives for Dharavi. Arjun Appadurai praised these

efforts from grass root organisations as they attempt to reconstitute citizenship in cities. He

calls it Deep Democracy. He notes that together, these developments have provided a

powerful impetus to democratic claims by non-state actors throughout the world (Appadurai, 2002).

Surprisingly, the involved organisations have accepted the proposal to include new

residential buildings with units for sale to outsiders and some commercial developments as a

way of helping finance Dharavi‟s redevelopment (Arputham & Patel, 2007) but with a claim

that a break even could be achieved by lowering the FSI to 2.5, without extending

supernormal profits to the developer. The question that comes to one‟s mind is will the

culture and societal ties of Dharavi dilute with this outside intrusion or will the new members

learn and adjust to the life of Dharavi?

With the criticism for DRP many alternatives emerged. As Dharavi‟s redevelopment is

conditioned by global economic pressures and has global implications, SPARC and NSDF

invited global design and planning institutions, organised workshops and planned seminars

by inviting civic authorities. The involvement of global planners, designers, institutions, etc.

was sought to spread global awareness of the situation in Dharavi and to generate public

pressure in favour of residents‟ concerns (Patel, Arputham, Burra, & Savchuk, April 2009).

The images on the next page are the results of such collaborative efforts with global

players. They can be categorised as Designer‟s vision (Figure 4) which represents aesthetics-

designing world class architecture of glass-clad buildings, where the 3-D render appeals for

visual pleasure rather than actual workability on the ground plane; the Developer‟s vision

(Figure 5) represented by HOK displays floor levels and caters to the FSI requirement posted

by the plan; and Institution‟s vision (Figure 6) to tap the aspirations of Dharavi goes along

the route of open public squares and public spaces as the connector in urban plans. Most of

these visions lacked a thorough understanding of the various players at stake in Dharavi and

were superficial attempts of aestheticisation.

18

Figure 6: Proposed by Developer HOK

Figure 5: Proposed by DESIGN ARCHITECT, Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture LLP

Figure 7: Waterfront development for Dharavi by the delegation from Columbia University

19

Many alternative proposals are also suggested by domestic institutions. Kamala Raheja

(KRVIA) and Center for Environment and Planning (CEPT) have worked out detailed

proposals. Both of them suggest various alternatives with FSI ranging from 1.5- 14 (for

commercial development). Three „Alternatives for Development‟ were proposed namely,

High-rise Development for 15-20 storeys building (Figure 7), Conservative surgery with in situ

phase wise development through minimal disruption and Combination of High and Low-rise

Development of G+2 & high rise buildings (Figure 8).

The high rise development

conceptualised the utilization of

the market potential of land by

providing good quality housing.

The plan proposed for

interaction of land use, transport

& infrastructure provision. This

will be assisted by commercial

development with adequate

social infrastructure and

amenities. To achieve this, high

rise with maximum FSI are

proposed. Infrastructure

provision as per population density and sale component in terms of commercial and housing

units with the help of urban finance is suggested.

The conservative surgery rejects the Redevelopment which tears down social networks

and the sense of identity and belonging of the current residents. Physical development

through improvement of roads, water & sanitation, social development by improving built

environment providing basic social amenities at local level is suggested. This facilitates

economic growth by promoting indigenous skills, by developing a mechanism to involve

people in their own socio-economic upliftment. The concern for investment is raised in this

proposal. The third alternative is a combination of the first two proposals and adds the

benefits of the individual plans.

The strategy of the third proposal is to house all and includes tenureship to the household

which comes under residential & R+C use. It has provision for rental houses (25%). Funds

will be raised through land mobilization for private development. This plans to involve

Figure 8:High-rise Development by CEPT

FSI 14

FSI 10

FSI 4

20

community participation at design & implementation level and formalisation of unorganized

economic activity & introduction of newer employment opportunities both commercial &

industrial.

Although these alternatives

theoretically solve the issues of

livelihoods and employment,

larger issues of funds for

redevelopment, involvement of

private developer with

incentives, added pressure on

already crumbling

infrastructure remain

unanswered.

2.6 Criticism and other Alternatives

In Dharavi: Makeover or Takeover, Patel (2010) examines the many attendant constraints

in developing viable solutions for Dharavi. He criticises the plans and proposals suggested for

Dharavi on the grounds of workability for the current residents of Dharavi. He suggests an

alternative to provide the essential infrastructure of water supply and sanitation, frame rules

for redevelopment, and leave it to organisations of the residents themselves to take up

reconstruction, in consonance with an overall plan.

Similarly, Sharma (2000) clarifies the position of Dharavi. The people of Dharavi who

live in the uncomfortable, incredibly crowded lanes certainly know what they want. They

have survived without assistance from the state by devising solutions which are workable and

realistic. Now that assistance is being offered, it should not stifle the spirit of enterprise;

instead it should build on it. To overcome slums, we must regard slum residents as people

capable of understanding and acting upon their own self interests. This is far from trying to

patronise people into a better life, and is far from institutional alternatives doled out on

Dharavi.

The crisis of Dharavi does not need conventional welfare proposals of the (non)

paternalistic state. It needs a shift towards enhancement of individual capabilities by ensuring

an enabling environment, sought through the Capability Approach of Amartya Sen. The

RESIDENTIAL

MIXED USE

PUB. AMENITY

COMMERCIAL

BAZAAR

EXCLUDED

OPEN SPACE

INDUSTRIAL ZONE

Figure 9: Combination of High and Low-rise Development by CEPT

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concern for livelihoods and employment is the main reason for rejection. The Redevelopment

plans for Dharavi do not guarantee human capabilities or economic growth of the slum

entrepreneurs and workers. Development as Freedom (2000) talks of engaging capabilities

and (re)Development that enables the population. Over the last decade Amartya Sen‟s

Capability Approach has emerged as a leading economic framework for thinking about

poverty, inequality and human development. This method of assessing welfare looks at what

humans need to flourish and advocates that people living in poverty be provided with the

capability and freedom to function in areas of life that are important to them. When applied to

housing, this method means providing residents with capabilities through housing to achieve

the things they most value, for example, income, social networks or security (Kestermann,

February 2010). This is people centred and is concerned with what people value, their

aspirations and their freedom to achieve them. While people are perceived as drivers of

change, the Capability Approach aims at strengthening the enabling environment.

To sum up, redevelopment proposals for Dharavi have been initiated since the

independence of the country. The main outlook of most of these redevelopment proposals is

to make the heart of the city- a „part‟ of its world class neighbours like BKC and to avail the

benefits for real estate. The plans consistently patronise the „slum‟ dwellers and ignore the

skills, creativity and self initiated alternative economy (GDP more than 1500 crores) of

Dharavi. Many aspects of project feasibility, including cost benefit analysis, environment

impact analysis are also ignored.

The failure of the plans primarily resulted from the absence of realisation of the ground

reality. The way de Certeau (1984) sees Manhattan from the 110th

floor of the World Trade

Centre- the proposals see the „projection‟ with a see- all- power but fail to connect to the

ground. The narratives from Rediscovering Dharavi give a glimpse of the wide expanse of

small scale commercial/production activities of Dharavi which has escaped the imaginary

totalizations by the strangers who planned the „Change‟. The bartanwalis, the konchikoris

fortune tellers, the broom makers, the chuna factory workers are some of the least known

residents of Dharavi. In order to criticise/ evaluate/ appreciate/ suggest plans and alternatives

for Dharavi, thorough information of its economical, socio-cultural, spatial utility should be

collected. The following section is a firsthand data gathering exercise. It tries to link the

arguments of the criticism with the reality of the slum dwellers.

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3. Observations and Interactions

In order to appreciate Dharavi‟s wide diversity of innovation and networks this early

study is derived from Go-Alongs8, unstructured interviews with small scale entrepreneurs and

silent observations. Various socio-economic aspects of trade and enterprise are studied. The

methodology follows the idea of Walking in the City (De Certeau, 1984) as the „metaphorical

city within the city‟ slips into the clear text of „readable city‟.

This section brings forward the resources and networks of some traditional and modern

set ups. The traditional industries include the potteries and the fisheries. The more modern

industries from 13th

compound make ready-made garments and dress material; jeans, shirts

and T-shirts are stitched in tailoring units; leather goods like bags, wallets, belts, purses are

manufactured and exported; they recycle plastic and paper boxes; aluminium is molten and

recycled in dingy workshops; the bakeries bake fresh toasts, breads and cakes; Lime (chuna)

is packaged in tiny tubes; soap is manufactured and sliced into cubes; paint and oil cans are

cleaned and reused; shoes are made in tiny units; furniture and wooden accessories

workshops spill over the narrow lanes; zari work is carried out in long narrow rooms. This

vast variety of enterprise also supports (although indirectly) the slum tourism industry. Away

from the prime industrial areas in the residential settlements of Muslim nagar and Social

nagar, a large section of second wage earners and home makers earn, in their spare time. The

following sub sections are compiled interactions with the residents of the above mentioned

industries. These interactions focussed on the trade, production/ marketing/ transportation/

end users, etc. The procedures were linked to the spatial needs (De Certeau, 1984) of „new‟

Dharavi and the responses were used to analyse the impact of Dharavi Redevelopment plan

on their livelihoods.

3.1 Issues of the Kumbhars

Kumbhars have been residing in Dharavi after their migration from Saurashtra followed

by two resettlements by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation.

Most of the potters earn from the sale of garden pots, which are sold to institutions/firms

via tenders. Pots to store drinking water come second in sale. Diwali is the peak season for

8 When conducting Go-Alongs, field workers accompany individual informants on their ‘natural’ outings, and through asking questions, listening and observing – actively explore their subjects’ stream of experiences and practices as they move through, and interact with, their physical and social environment. (Kusenbach, 2003)

23

sale of diyas. Family labour contributes in the design and finishing and for painting it is

outsourced to other Dharavi residents (second wage networks_ discussed in section 3.5).

The handicrafts are made on wheels or with moulds.

The moulded pots are carefully laid in the kiln. The kilns

use leftover cloth from the garment industry (Process:

Networks) as fuel. Cotton fabric is preferred as it burns

slowly ensuring ideal temperature for the baking of the pot.

In contemporary times this traditional pottery industry is facing a breakeven crisis. The

losses are incurred due to the increased salinity in the soil bought from Bhiwandi. Many pots

crack in the kiln, thus increasing loss of capital as well as human labour. The second

alternative is importing soil from Gujarat. This is not financially feasible as the transportation

cost for one truck load of potters‟ mud from Saurashtra is INR 40,000 per day.

The market competitiveness is also lopsided. Other potters from Gujarat (old Ahmedabad

and Sarkhej) are sufficiently subsidised by the Gujarat state government whereas potters from

Dharavi cannot break even, despite the exemption from taxes under the traditional industries.

This has resulted in diversification of occupations. The next generation has moved away from

pottery towards more modern occupations. It was mentioned that in another thirty years no

wheel would turn in Kumbharwada, unless this occupation shows ample profit.

Even with the occupational diversification the kumbhars still believe the redevelopment

proposal should consider their occupational requirements and design open spaces in front of

the house for storing mud, space for their kilns and shops along the roadside (Space:

Procedure (De Certeau, 1984)). They are attached to their traditional trade. The SRA had

promised the residents collaboration with the National Institute of Ceramic Design to bring

technology and modernity to this traditional sector. Hence, they are hopeful.

Kumbharwada however, will not benefit from this collaboration if they are shifted on the

25th floor of a high rise, without kilns, without mud pits and stomping grounds, into a

minimal 225sq. ft. as against the 2000 sq. ft. homes that they currently live in. The irony of

the proposal and the evident loss of traditional industries is how the DRP will NOT support

Kumbharwada.

24

3.2 Koliwada and its self initiated development:

Kalpana Sharma (2000: 46) describes the kolis‟ “unique style of fishing” at the mouth of

the Mithi River. The fishermen would take on lease fishing rights which allowed them to

build a dam across the creek. At high tide, the fish would enter and would then be trapped

within the barrage. At low tide, fishermen would wade into the water with nets and catch the

fish alive.

Fishing in the mangroves has been

declining due to the pollution in the

Mithi. After the construction of the

Sion-Bandra Link Road, fishing was

restricted and the mangroves were

debarred. The fisher folk however

continue fishing for self consumption.

Although fishing is restricted in

the mangroves, they are still held as

common property resource by the koli community. Coconut and bean/drumstick plantations

owned by the fishermen are grown in the mangroves (bunds are seen vaguely in the satellite image).

Their past occupations substitute a „nowhen to the presence of diverse absences‟ (De

Certeau, 1984). The past lingers as the Koliwada tries to re-invent itself in an act of

challenging its future with DRP. Koilwada is excluded from the DRP as the kolis have all the

documents of land ownership, right from the Portuguese papers to the land transfer

documents by BMC to ascertain legal ownership. Koliwada is not a slum but a koli gaothan.

The kolis have self initiated their redevelopment by joining hands with NGOs like PUKAR.

They organised workshops and interventions by inviting designers for a vision of

development. This process was at its peak in 2008. The workshops however did not give

concrete suggestions and plans for implementation. They were an exercise to initiate and

realise their dream for development.

Although Koliwada is excluded from the DRP, their common lands in the mangroves are

not. They come under the Mithi River proposal. This proposal shifts the fishing rights away

from the mouth of the river, closer to Kurla. This would lead to the discontinuation of the

Figure 10: Bunds for fishing in the Mahim creek

25

bund- fishing of the kolis. Furthermore, the mangroves would be trimmed to make way for

water recreation activities. The DRP and the Mithi River project although do not explicitly

involve the Kolis but their implementation would yield negative externality.

3.3 Industries at 13th compound

13th compound is a cluster of industries with an annual turnover of 1500 crores.

3.3.1 Plastic Industry

The space within the plastic industry is used up by heavy machines and bags of raw

materials/ finished goods. The case of the plastic industry and its process decentralisation has

already been mentioned in the introduction. The pellets are the end products of the process.

The lower quality plastic pellets are sent to the Thane Bhiwandi industrial belt to make cheap

plastic accessories like hair clips, hair bands, plastic jewellery and toys. The higher quality as

per the order is sent to companies like Whirlpool, Neelkamal, which use recycled plastic. The

capital goods industry which produces machinery is also based in Dharavi. The shredder

blades for plastic recycling are made in situ (Process: Networks). These capital goods

industries that make blades and spare parts for machineries also employ labour for repair and

maintenance.

3.3.2 Aluminium Recycling Industry

Along the Nala are three unbroken chains of metal scrap

workshops, whose rear entrance opens into the drains. The

most compact industry is the Aluminium Recycling industry.

The workshops for metal

recycling are dark, sweaty

and hot, with the large furnace. Two units are positioned

next to one another, one melts the metal and cleans it and

the other fills the molten metal into moulds. The solid

metal bricks are called ingots. A separate unit melts the

26

ingots and fills them into moulds of desired functions. On the day of visit the ingots were

moulded into motors for Bajaj mixers.

3.3.3 Sand and Wax Cloth Dyeing Industry

The S/W Dyeing workshop typically lays mounds of wet sand on large tables. The

garments/ dress materials manufactured are generally exported to the Gulf countries. Dharavi

has eight to ten such sand and wax workshops. A wet sand mound is laid below the cloth. The

dye prints are immersed in wax and pattern is formed on the fabric. The sand absorbs the

extra wax. The fabric is then immersed in colour pigments. After drying, the fabric is boiled

in hot water. The wax melts out leaving the negative patch. One industrial unit has around

250 varieties of dyeing blocks. This makes an assortment of millions of permutations and

combinations in designs.

3.3.4 Readymade Garments and Zari Workskop

Right in front of the Sand and Wax industry was the readymade garment workshop. As the

export garments industry flourished only after the reforms in 1991 (the impact of

liberalisation on the diversification of industries is yet to be studied), it is newer than the

other settled industries. The garment manufacturer makes shirts, jeans, stitch kurtas and dress

pieces. Access was not

granted to the Zari

workshop. (Photo courtesy:

Cory Goldberg)

3.3.5 Bakeries and Tin Cleaning Industry

Towards the interiors of 13th compound , the air smells of butter and toast. The bakery is a

large, partially underground room split into four sections -

one to knead the flour, other to roll it, the next one to

mould it into shape, and the last has a large oven to bake.

They bake both for local and foreign consumption. The

toast from the bakeries is exported to Afghanistan in tin

cans. These tin cans are reused oil (Process: Networks)

27

cans from the can cleaning factory (Photo Courtesy: Andreas Grosse-Halbuer). Everyday, early

morning the baked toast is sent to the airport in the sealed cans. The packaging label of the

bakery product however, does not read Dharavi9.

3.3.6 Leather Goods Industry

The leather industry is one of the oldest in Dharavi. It uses pre-tanned leather from

Chennai, as raw skin is no longer processed in house. The leather from Chennai is evened

out, dyed and embossed in Dharavi. Final products include purses, wallets, belts, suitcases,

etc. Orders from Dolce and Gabbana, Mochis, Levis, Adidas were being processed on the day

of the visit.

3.3.7 Accommodations for the Workers

Workers of these industries stay in the factories on the upper floor. Some order food

from the restaurants or call for dubba service. Most of the worker population are male

migrants who rest in dormitories called pongal houses; a long narrow room with just enough

leg space to lie „peacefully‟. Dharavi is a labyrinth, buzzing with activity 24X7, however as

most of the industries are run by Muslims from UP and Tamil Nadu, the work comes to a halt

when the workers come out on the streets for the Jumma

prayers(Space: Procedure (De Certeau, 1984)). The informality

of the system allows them to merge social/ religious and

occupational duties.

The Dharavi redevelopment plan will evict more than half of these industries as they are

hazardous. The linkage of this decision will result in unemployment of skilled labours in

these industries. Of the ones which will be permitted to stay like the garments industry, will

be given only 225 sq. ft. of free built up area and will have to buy the rest at market price.

Moreover the DRP has no plan for housing the largely unsheltered industrial labour. The

absence of adequate site, absence of labour accommodations, and the additional investments

will drive these native industries out of Dharavi.

3.4 Slum Tourism and post DRP substitute:

There are two competitors of the slum tourism market in Dharavi, Reality tours and „Be

the Local‟ tours. Reality Tours is a collaboration of a foreigner and local, they hire guides

from all across Mumbai. Be the Local on the other hand is a local initiative which hires local

9 On account of hygiene concerns related to a slum

28

students for part time jobs as guides. 95% of the visitors for these tours are foreigners, esp.

foreign universities which come to study urban slums.

The local guides take pride in the successful diversification of Dharavi. Both the tours

start with the industrial area, demonstrate the communal unity (Muslim craftsman making

Hindu wooden shrines), squeeze into the narrowest lanes of Dharavi, brush off the common

toilets, through the leather market and out in the main streets.

The residents do not think the tours have a voyeuristic intent and approach the tourist in

casual jolly tones.

Fahim (proprietor of „Be the Local‟) considers continuing with the business even after the

implementation of DRP. He plans to diversify soon to a Mumbai and local tour (just as

Reality) as the slum tour would die down. However as the slum tours exhibits uniqueness of

Dharavi, if the new DRP lives up to the mark and allows a continuum of the existing

livelihoods, he even plans to start a new „World Class tour‟ (in place of Slum tours) and

showcase the new upgraded Dharavi.

3.5 Second wage earning and networking in Dharavi

Most of the home makers at Dharavi both take care of the family as well as earn through

second wage opportunities. Second wage earners are exposed to a wide variety of jobs, most

of which are time bound. Small time home businesses like making hairbands/ accessories/

jewellery making, papad making, painting diya during Diwali etc. can be easily managed

along with daily household responsibilities.

Most of these jobs are completed together by the whole family in their spare time and

sometimes with help from neighbours and relatives in case of urgency. As the payment is on

the number of items completed and returned, the family can utilize the raw materials bought

at lower cost and use the finished product for household consumption. For example, the

house can keep aside some papad for their daily consumption. As this homemade papad will

be priced higher once it enters the market; the household can enjoy cheaper papad in return

of their labour. The informal business also comes with untold bonds of trust and a guarantee

of honesty.

29

Some of the second wage business do not need labour. With adequate machinery and

infrastructure many business especially related to cold storage can be started. Households

with refrigerators earn 100% profits after sale of frozen fruit sticks (pepsicola); storage and

distribution of milk from Mahanand dairy also earns benefits. This is particularly profitable in

the SRA buildings which pay a fixed price of INR 200 per month for the electricity.

As most of the second wage earners are women they share a monthly bishi fund, which is

similar to chit funds. Emergencies and special occasions are taken care by the bishi group.

Bishi funds shared by women are from monthly savings. This is how the community saves

informally and mutually and helps one another.

Networks are easy to create in Dharavi and they last forever. These networks are none

other than new job prospects. As the business does not need a setup and jobs can be taken up

on the basis of spare time, most of these second wage earners are indifferent towards the

design of DRP. However it was distinctly reported that the arrival of new neighbours, of

higher economic status (with the proposal for Middle and Higher income housing in DRP)

would affect the networks‟ within acquaintance and might harm the ease of business.

Network is a non physical requirement of Dharavi. Networks and acquaintances in

Dharavi should be given due position in the proposals for Dharavi as their absence would

disrupt the livelihoods of many. In an informal, decentralised economy, efficient co-

ordination between and within networks plays a crucial role in its smooth functioning.

Ignoring networks would look at the industries in isolation. The networks, informal bonds,

work associations and their spatial relevance should be thoroughly studied before suggesting

redevelopment plans for Dharavi.

Life in Dharavi has to be understood in the tongue of its people and not by the aspirations

of a world class urban imitation or liquidity for the real estate sector. Community life in

Dharavi, its social and service fabric, its non-formal money arrangement, the „just in time‟

production, its global networks, the traditional and modern enterprises, their capabilities, their

freedoms, should be valued. Its social/ cultural liveliness should not be coated by the global

formality of a world class city. Following are some of the cultural programmes and

celebrations in Dharavi. Still lives from Dharavi will give the reader a peep into the bustling

hardworking settlement.

30

Women discussing bishi funds

Filling up water for the day

Children playing by the resting

funfare Columbus

Nashik Dhol for the wedding

Navratri at Kumbharwada

Lawani celebrations for Guddi Padwa

31

Factories open up at the Nala

At the restaurant

Woman at Koliwada making papad

Tailor on the mezzanine

Nap time at the recycling industry

32

Sorting at the recycling

factory

Dubbawala in the streets of Dharavi

Raw materials in the narrow

lanes Bull that transports Kerosene to the

industries

Levels of interaction at Dharavi

Smiling porter

Remains of the Rewah fort by the slum

from Flickr. com

33

Foundation stone (dated 1737) at the Kala Killa

(Rewah fort)

Kumbharwada diversifying

Packaging pellets at the plastic industry

Dargah in the middle of the lane

One of the Bawdis(wells) in Dharavi

from Flickr. com

34

View of the open space after SRA development

Worker in the factory

Unloading at the metal scrap industry

Children at the video game centre

Vegetable vender at the cross junction

Rag Picker at the Nala

35

The stills are proxy to the real bonds, network, aspirations and hardwork of Dharavi-

which should be „read‟. One has to visualise the other path of administration for the informal

Dharavi. De Certeau (1984) suggests that one can analyse the microbe like, singular/ plural

practices which the urbanistic system was expected to administer; one can follow the

swarming activity of these procedures that have reinforced themselves in the proliferating

illegitimacy and only then read the „City‟.

Dharavi has managed to recreate every socio-cultural amenity in its densely packed

settlement.- the Muslims use the roads for namaz, the street corners hoard functions on new

year, the narrow lanes are ideal for dandia. They have many cinema (rooms), videogame

parlours, beauty salons in Dharavi. They have open spaces for weddings, Holi celebrations,

etc. Dharavi has integrated most of the aspects of urban planning into its informal mesh of

layouts; as its spatial practices secretly structure the determining conditions of social life (De

Certeau, 1984).

Dharavi is not just a residential slum. It is also not a slum in isolation. Dharavi is the

economic connector between the social classes, globally. If the proposal for the „upliftment‟

from poverty takes away their livelihood from them, the proposal should be rejected. The

industries of Dharavi are innovative, efficient and produce quality products in unhealthy

work conditions. The upliftment cannot come with outward stitches of world class

infrastructure; the labours should be healed from within by an inclusive development.

The DRP is a developers attempt to benefit from the accelerating real estate prices. It does

not consider the impact of shutting of these global nodes of production on the economy of

Mumbai. With more than 70% of Dharavi, working in Dharavi, the impact of the

implementation of an unconcerned DRP will affect a large majority -more than one million

households.

This calls for a thorough study of all physical, social, economic requirements of Dharavi

and a design of a self help model facilitated by a welfare state.

36

4. Conclusion

The vast literature on Dharavi and the studies on political implications of the

implementation of the DRP overlook many facets of the slum‟s prosperity. The literature

largely lacks economic insights on issues with global and regional impacts. Although it is

difficult to entirely understand the complexity of this informal masterpiece, many questions

remain unanswered by the previous research.

The historicity of the rise of enterprise and the impact of liberalisation on the industries in

Dharavi has not been studied. This research can reveal innovations of self development and

probably present an alternate route for successful small scale enterprises in urban setups. This

study is important before proposing redevelopment. In cases where self help is promising, the

development proposal should only facilitate upgradation of the physical environment and not

countermand the existing beauty of well formed systems.

The global and local corporate links of the manufacturers is also not researched. Dharavi

is one of the few cases where the formal explicitly needs the informal. The networks of

traders and middlemen and the route of product from the raw materials to the end user (both

global and local) would also be helpful to gauge the outreach of Dharavi. With clear research

on the factor and goods and services market influenced by Dharavi, the spill over effect of

shutdown of industries (as the DRP proposes) on global and local markets would be known.

If the domino effect results in reduced revenues then the proposal should be altered to include

the economic benefit of the existing industries and the city as a whole.

Home based manufacturing units at Dharavi are yet to receive scholarly appraisal. The

fieldwork noted some of these home-based activities. The wide range of vocations, of

products and their penetration in the local market and consumption by poor both in the city

and hinterlands will help calculate the local impact of the proposal. The low cost goods and

services extended by Dharavi should be studied. The feasibility of the proposal for the

common people who are not explicitly affected by the DRP, i.e. the externality of the DRP on

the city‟s poor should be followed.

Similarly the work networks and socio-spatial needs of the second wage earners are also

important. The conscientious home makers of Dharavi deserve as much importance in the

proposal as any other small scale industry. Their networks and contacts should be guarded.

The fieldwork expressed the connectivity of jobs not as a linear model of transfers but as a

labyrinth of various vocations. Their saving and money lending methods should also be

studied. Their financial informal innovations can also be applied to Dharavi as a whole such

37

that the region can sponsor its own development (if proven feasible) without the formal

intervention by the state.

The future of traditional industries, both fishing and pottery are not discussed. The

fieldwork displayed many problems, both institutional and market oriented, with these

traditional industries. The prospects for technological transfers to the potters and

environmental cleaning and its assessment on the livelihoods of the fishermen should be

detailed.

The aspirations of the next generation and their opinions on the ancestral trade should also be

gathered. This study will help us assess how the project will enable the decisions of these

sections. In case of demand for continuation of the traditional undertaking, the proposal

should adequately accommodate the needs of the population. In the case of diversification

from the traditional path, the proposal should support the new aspirations of the people.

To be in a better position to recommend/ suggest alternatives, gender studies in Dharavi

are also necessary. The lack of privacy, absence of sanitation and services, should be noted

and aspirations should be valued.

The absence of these studies and the neglect of a thorough cost benefit analysis before

proposing the redevelopment plan have resulted in lack of solid ground to reject or accept the

proposal for Dharavi.

Criticism of the Proposal and Alternatives

After studying the proposals and alternatives it is clear why the some activists, NGOs,

and peoples‟ organizations come down heavily on the DRP. The fieldwork has also

attempted to gain insight into the positives and negatives of these proposals. The alternatives

suggested do not take into consideration many important variables, e.g. the existing large

male migrated population working in the industries, past and future livelihoods for traditional

industries, etc.

The proposals primarily talk about residential apartments but do not consider existing

alternatives like dormitories (pongal houses) which already house the labourers. The

fieldwork in the 13th

compound exposed the concerns of the industries on the housing of the

workers. The relation of housing to employment should not be underestimated. Similarly, the

issue of multiple household tenancy is raised but a solution to the problem by providing

affordable rental housing to the rest of the non- photopass holders is not considered. In fact

38

low rental alternatives for affordable housing and lease as the free sale component would

open the plan to EWS/LIG.

Environmentally, the cleaning of the Mithi River, the water front development and the

plan for rain water harvesting (also suggested in DRP) are accounted as modern sustainable

blankets to comfort the beauty of the metropolis. Hence, the plan should attempt to invoke

the lost trade of the fisherfolk. The fieldwork revealed that the fishermen continue to fish, for

self consumption. Hence, after the cleaning of the river, fishing permits (with adequate quota

to ensure sustainable practice) in the mangroves should be given back to the Kolis and their

livelihoods returned. Following the symposium on fishing industries in December 2010, the

future prospects for fishing industries in Maharashtra seem bright. Sharad Pawar (Agriculture

minister) asked the State to provide land for the aquaculture business and wanted the

Maharashtra government to address the housing problems of fishermen along the coast. With

this background, the redevelopment proposals for Dharavi should integrate the larger

concerns and livelihoods of the kolis.

The heritage of Rewah Fort (1737), Dharavi Cross (1850), Badi Masjid (1887), the

Khambadeo Mandir will be razed to ground during the implementation of DRP. Apart from

being a part of Architectural heritage, these structures have integrated into the socio-cultural

lives of the residents. The redevelopment proposal should take what is important and develop

around it, rather than work out the easiest solution of clearing and rebuilding.

The topography of Dharavi does not follow a plain contour; in fact there are many level

variations in ground plane. These geographical undulations should also be tracked and used

creatively in the designs. There are many unused and unclean wells in the region. These wells

can be cleaned and used productively for water supply and combined with rainwater

harvesting or ground water replenishing, as per decision.

Another question raised before redesigning Dharavi is, should a slum and its territorial

extent be defined on the basis of community? To outsiders, slums tend to appear as more or

less contiguous areas of decrepit housing, without much consideration for possible internal

differences. But to those inside the slums, territoriality is often hugely important in terms of

belonging, identity, safety, community, status and political organisation (from Nijman, 2009).

The DRP does not consider such community based neighbourhoods nor do the alternatives.

The development interventions in Dharavi should not superimpose urban layouts distinct

from the existing plans.

Finally, the literature that criticised the DRP had a puzzling opinion. The activists and the

representatives (SPARC and NSDF) did not evaluate the benevolent state‟s responsibility to

39

provide selfless accommodations to the poor. In fact they accepted the need for public private

partnership. This decision was also criticised by Patel (2010) on the grounds of increased

density. The high density region of Dharavi with a proposed FSI of four would almost triple

its existing density. This would amplify the problems of infrastructure and management.

The absence of reading Dharavi from the worm‟s eye(from the ground plane (De Certeau,

1984)) and studying its implicit space-procedure-space-social_life-space-livelihoods

relationship has led to the misjudgement of what is good and what is best for Dharavi. The

networks are the arteries of that pump jobs in Dharavi: the proposal should connect this

network to its spatial utility. The appropriations of „optimistic‟ implementations versus the

compromises and adjustments of the daily users should both be avoided.

To conclude I will come back to some of the questions posed by Sharma (2000);

Should Dharavi be left alone, developed, or pulled down and developed?

Should the state recognise its industrial nature and provide it with

facilities that will, at the least, make working conditions for thousands of

workers safer and cleaner? Or will doing that kill their enterprises?

Should the existing socio-cultural segregation of neighbourhoods be

reflected in the plans? Or should Dharavi sacrifice for the greater good

of a World class metropolis and lose its identity?

Ex-post when the elite of BKC join Dharavi, how will the new Dharavi

and Old Dharavi interact? Will the old Dharavi continue to own the

streets for celebrations? Will their customs and traditions be formalised

by the elite? Or will they be made elite and formalised?

Should the government only fund the redevelopment? Should it be a

public Private partnership where the private does not plan for welfare

but for its own profit maximisation? Or should the Dharavi be allowed to

develop on its own, on its own terms with government facilitation? Or

should Dharavi design a self help model for its redevelopment?

40

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