Dharavi, one of the largest slums in the world

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Dharavi is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra, Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. It is sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, and spread over an area of 175 hectares. In 1986, the population was estimated at 530,225, but modern Dharavi has a population of between 600,000 and over 1 million people. Dharavi is one of the largest slums in the world. It used to be the largest slum in Mumbai at one time, but as of 2011, there are four slums in Mumbai larger than Dharavi.

TEXT FROM WIKIPEDIA, cba SOME RIGHTS RESERVED.

Published: 2012-05-15 11:00:00 UTC

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Dharavi

Dharavi is situated between Mumbai's two main suburban railway lines, the Western and Central Railways. To its west are Mahim and Bandra, and to the north lies the Mithi River, which empties into the Arabian Sea through the Mahim Creek. To its south and east are Sion and Matunga. Both its location and poor drainage systems make Dharavi particularly vulnerable to floods during the wet season.

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Dharavi Street

In expensive Mumbai, Dharavi provides a cheap alternative where rents were as low as US$4 per month in 2006.

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Dharavi

The area of present-day Dharavi was predominantly mangrove swamp before the late 19th century, inhabited by Koli fishermen. However, the fishing industry disappeared when the swamp areas filled in.

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Dharavi community

A dam at Sion, adjacent to Dharavi, hastened the process of joining separate islands into one long, tapered mass. Thus began the transformation of the island city of Bombay. In the process, Dharavi's fishing town was deprived of its traditional sustenance, but the newly drained marshes provided space for new communities to move in.

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Potter

Migrants from Gujarat established a potters' colony, tanners from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtrian tanners belonging to the Charmarkar caste migrated to Dharavi and set up the leather tanning industry. Other artisans, like the embroidery workers from Uttar Pradesh, started the ready-made garments trade.

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Tanners handling fresh cow hides

Tamil migrants, including Tamil Muslims, Adidravidars and Nadars started coming into the area in the late 19th century, many of whom worked in nearby tanneries; a large influx came in the 1920s.

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Flour millers

Bombay's first Tamil school and Dharavi's first school was constructed in 1924. It remained the only school of Dharavi for the next four decades. In 1930s, a single road passed through Dharavi towards the Mahim railway station.

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Dharavi Street

Dharavi's Co-operative Housing Society was formed in the 1960s to uplift the lives of thousands of slum dwellers by the initiative of Shri. M.V. Duraiswamy, a well-known social worker and congress leader of that region.

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Vegetable shop

The Dharavi co-operative housing society promoted 338 flats and 97 shops and was named "Dr. Baliga Nagar."

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Plastic recycling business

In addition to the traditional pottery and textile industries in Dharavi, there is an increasingly large recycling industry, processing recyclable waste from other parts of Mumbai.

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Chicken business

The district has an estimated 5000 businesses and 15,000 single-room factories.

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Cooking oil cans recycling business

Dharavi exports goods around the world. The total (and largely informal) turnover is estimated to be between US$500 million and over US$650 million per year.

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Dharavi high rises

The latest urban redevelopment plan proposed for the Dharavi area is managed by American-trained architect Mukesh Mehta. The plan involves the construction of 2,800,000 m2 of housing, schools, parks and roads to serve the 57,000 families residing in the area, along with 3,700,000 m2 of residential and commercial space for sale. There has been significant local opposition to the plans, largely because existing residents are due to receive only 20.9 m2 of land each. Furthermore, only those families who lived in the area before 2000 are slated for resettlement. Concerns have also been raised by residents who fear that some of their small businesses in the "informal" sector may not be relocated under the redevelopment plan. The government has said that it will only legalize and relocate industries that are not "polluting."

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Mother washing her baby in the street

Dharavi has severe problems with public health, due to the scarcity of toilet facilities, due in turn to the fact that most housing and 90% of the commercial units in Dharavi are illegal. As of November 2006 there was only one toilet per 1,440 residents in Dharavi. Mahim Creek, a local river, is widely used by local residents for urination and defecation, leading to the spread of contagious diseases. The area also suffers from problems with inadequate drinking water supply.