Slums of Mumbai

Mumbai's Shadow City

Some call the Dharavi slum an embarassing eyesore in the middle of India's financial capital. Its residents call it home.By Mark Jacobson

Photograph by Jonas Bendiksen

All cities in India are loud, but nothing matches the 24/7 decibel level of Mumbai, the former

Bombay, where the traffic never stops and the horns always honk. Noise, however, is not a

problem in Dharavi, the teeming slum of one million souls, where as many as 18,000 people

crowd into a single acre (0.4 hectares). By nightfall, deep inside the maze of lanes too narrow

even for the putt-putt of auto rickshaws, the slum is as still as a verdant glade. Once you get

accustomed to sharing 300 square feet (28 square meters) of floor with 15 humans and an

uncounted number of mice, a strange sense of relaxation sets in—ah, at last a moment to think

straight.

Dharavi is routinely called "the largest slum in Asia," a dubious attribution sometimes conflated

into "the largest slum in the world." This is not true. Mexico City's Neza-Chalco-Itza barrio has

four times as many people. In Asia, Karachi's Orangi Township has surpassed Dharavi. Even in

Mumbai, where about half of the city's swelling 12 million population lives in what is

euphemistically referred to as "informal" housing, other slum pockets rival Dharavi in size and

squalor.

Yet Dharavi remains unique among slums. A neighborhood smack in the heart of Mumbai, it

retains the emotional and historical pull of a subcontinental Harlem—a square-mile (three

square kilometers) center of all things, geographically, psychologically, spiritually. Its location

has also made it hot real estate in Mumbai, a city that epitomizes India's hopes of becoming an

economic rival to China. Indeed, on a planet where half of humanity will soon live in cities, the

forces at work in Dharavi serve as a window not only on the future of India's burgeoning cities,

but on urban space everywhere.

Ask any longtime resident—some families have been here for three or more generations—how

Dharavi came to be, and they'll say, "We built it." This is not far off. Until the late 19th century,

this area of Mumbai was mangrove swamp inhabited by Koli fishermen. When the swamp filled

in (with coconut leaves, rotten fish, and human waste), the Kolis were deprived of their fishing

grounds—they would soon shift to bootlegging liquor—but room became available for others.

The Kumbhars came from Gujarat to establish a potters' colony. Tamils arrived from the south

and opened tanneries. Thousands traveled from Uttar Pradesh to work in the booming textile

industry. The result is the most diverse of slums, arguably the most diverse neighborhood in

Mumbai, India's most diverse city.

Stay for a while on the three-foot-wide (one meter) lane of Rajendra Prasad Chawl, and you

become acquainted with the rhythms of the place. The morning sound of devotional singing is

followed by the rush of water. Until recently few people in Dharavi had water hookups.

Residents such as Meera Singh, a wry woman who has lived on the lane for 35 years, used to

walk a mile (two kilometers) to get water for the day's cleaning and cooking. At the distant spigot

she would have to pay the local "goons" to fill her buckets. This is how it works in the

bureaucratic twilight zone of informal housing. Deprived of public services because of their

illegal status, slum dwellers often find themselves at the mercy of the "land mafia." There are

water goons, electricity goons. In this regard, the residents of Rajendra Prasad Chawl are

fortunate. These days, by DIY hook or crook, nearly every household on the street has its own

water tap. And today, like every day, residents open their hoses to wash down the lane as they

stand in the doorways of their homes to brush their teeth.

This is how Dharavi wakes up. On 90 Feet Road, named for its alleged width (even if 60 Feet

Road, the slum's other main drag, is considerably wider), the cab drivers coax their battered

Fiats to life. In the potters' neighborhood, black smoke is already pouring from six-foot-square

(one square meter) kilns. By the mucky industrial canal, the recyclers are in full swing. In

Dharavi nothing is considered garbage. Ruined plastic toys are tossed into massive grinders,

chopped into tiny pieces, melted down into multicolored pellets, ready to be refashioned into

knockoff Barbie dolls. Here every cardboard box or 55-gallon (208 liters) oil drum has another

life, and another one after that.

Mornings at Rajendra Prasad Chawl are equally hectic. With the eight furniture makers to whom

she rents part of her apartment gone for the day, Meera Singh combs the hair of her

grandchildren: Atul, 7, Kanchan, 10, and Jyoti, 12. Soon the apartment, home to 15, is empty,

save for Meera and her twentysomething son, Amit, he of the dashing mustache and semi-

hipster haircut. A couple of years ago, the Singh family, like everyone else in Dharavi, sat in

front of the television to see local singer Abhijit Sawant win the first Indian Idol contest. But now

Meera is watching her favorite TV personality, the orange-robed yoga master, Baba Ramdev,

who demonstrates an antiaging technique: rubbing your fingernails against each other at a rapid

pace.

"Why listen to this fool?" dismisses Amit.

"You know nothing," Meera shoots back. "His hair is black, and he is more than 80 years old."

"Eighty? He's no more than 40. Don't fall for these cheating tricks."

Meera shakes her head. She gave up trying to talk sense to Amit long ago. "His head is in the

clouds," she says. She wishes he'd get a job as did his brother Manoj, who sews jeans in one of

Dharavi's kaarkhanas, or sweatshops. But this is not for him, Amit says. A thinker, he sees his

life in terms of "a big picture." Central to this conceit is the saga of how the Singhs came to

Dharavi in the first place. Members of the Kshatriyas, regarded as second only to Brahmans in

the caste system, Amit's great uncles were zamindars, or landlords, in the service of the British.

Stripped of privilege after independence, the family moved from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai,

where Amit's father worked in the textile mills. The collapse of the mills in the 1970s landed the

family in Dharavi.

It is this story of chance and fate ("A hundred years ago we would have been bosses," he says)

that spurs Amit's outsize sense of self. He's always got a dozen things going. There's his soap

powder pyramid scheme, his real estate and employment agency gambits. New is his

exterminator firm, for which he has distributed hundreds of handbills ("No bedbug! No rat!"),

claiming to be Dharavi's "most trusted" vermin remover, despite having yet to exterminate one

cockroach.

Also on Amit's agenda is the Janhit Times, a tabloid he envisions as a hard-hitting advocate of

grassroots democracy. The first edition featured a story about an allegedly corrupt Dharavi

policeman. Amit's headline: "A Giant Bastard, a Dirty Corrupted Devil, and Uniformed Goon."

Cooler heads, pointing out the policeman wielded a lethal lathi (bamboo nightstick), suggested a

milder approach. Reluctantly Amit went with "A Fight for Justice."

Even though the paper has yet to print its first edition, Amit carries a handsome press pass,

which he keeps with his stack of business cards. This leads his mother to remark, "That's you,

many cards, but no businesses." Looking at her son, she says, "You are such a dreamer."

It is an assessment that Amit, who just decided to open a rental car agency in hopes of

diversifying his portfolio in the mode of "a Richard Branson of Dharavi," does not dispute.

"Talk about doing something about Mumbai slums, and no one pays attention. Talk about

Dharavi, and it is Mission Impossible, an international incident," says Mukesh Mehta as he

enters the blond-paneled conference room of the Maharashtra State Administration Building.

For nine years, Mehta, a 56-year-old architect and urban designer, has honed his plan for "a

sustainable, mainstreamed, slum-free Dharavi." At today's meeting, after many PowerPoint

presentations, the plan is slated for approval by the state chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Dharavi is to be divided into five sectors, each developed with the involvement of investors,

mostly nonresident Indians. Initially, 57,000 Dharavi families will be resettled into high-rise

housing close to their current residences. Each family is entitled to 225 square feet (21 square

meters) of housing, with its own indoor plumbing. In return for erecting the "free" buildings,

private firms will be given handsome incentives to build for-profit housing to be sold at (high)

market rates.

"All that remains is the consent," Mehta tells Deshmukh, a sour-looking gentleman in a snow-

white suit sitting with his advisers at the 40-foot (12 meters) conference table. Normally, it is

required that 60 percent of Dharavi residents approve of the plan.

But Deshmukh announces that formal consent is not needed because Mehta's plan is a

government-sponsored project. All he must do is give the residents a month to register

complaints. "A 30-day window, not a day more," Deshmukh says with impatient finality.

Later, as his driver pilots his Honda Accord through traffic, Mehta is smiling. "This is a good

day," he says. "A dream come true."

At first glance, Mehta, resident of an elegant apartment building on swank Napean Sea Road, a

longtime member of the British Raj–era Bombay Gymkhana and Royal Bombay Yacht Club,

does not appear to be a Dharavi dreamer.

"You could say I was born with a golden spoon in my mouth," he remarks at his West Bandra

office overlooking the Arabian Sea. "My father came to Bombay from Gujarat without a penny

and built a tremendous steel business. An astrologer told him his youngest son—me—would be

the most successful one, so I was afforded everything." These perks included a top education,

plus a sojourn in the U.S., where Mehta studied architecture at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

"For me, America has always been the inspiration," says Mehta, who made a fortune managing

his father's steel business before deciding to develop real estate on Long Island's exclusive

North Shore. "Great Gatsby country," he says, detailing how he built high-end houses and lived

in Centre Island, a white community with "the richest of the rich"—such as Billy Joel, who

recently listed his mansion for 37.5 million dollars.

"The slums were the furthest thing from my mind," Mehta says. This changed when he returned

to Mumbai. He saw what everyone else did—that the city was filled with a few rich people, a

vast number of poor people, and hardly anyone in the middle. This was most evident in the

appalling housing situation. The city was split between the Manhattan-priced high-rises that

dotted the south Mumbai skyline and those brownish areas on the map marked with the letters

ZP for zopadpatti, aka slums.

Downtown business people railed that the slums were choking the life out of the city, robbing it

of its rightful place in the 21st century. After all, India was no longer a post-colonial backwater

famous only for the most wretched people of the Earth and the gurus who appealed to gullible

Beatles. Now, when a computer broke in Des Moines, the help desk was in Bangalore.

Economists were predicting exactly when the Indian GNP was likely to surpass that of the

United States. If Mumbai was going to achieve its stated destiny of becoming a world-class

metropolis, a rival to China's soaring Shanghai, how could that happen when every bit of open

space was covered with these eyesores, these human dumps where no one paid taxes? For

Mukesh Mehta, if India were to become the ideal consumer society, it would have to develop a

true middle class—and housing would be the engine. The slums would have to be reclaimed.

But which slums? There were so many of them. Then it jumped out, as clear as real estate's

incontrovertible first axiom, location, location, location: Dharavi, right in the middle of the map. It

was a quirk of geography and history, as any urban planner will tell you (the American inner city

aside): Large masses of poor people are not supposed to be in the center of the city. They are

supposed to be on the periphery, stacked up on the outskirts. Dharavi had once been on the

northern fringe, but ever growing Mumbai had sprawled toward the famous slum, eventually

surrounding it.

It didn't take a wizard to see the advantages of Dharavi's position. Served by two railway lines, it

was ideally situated for middle-class commuters. Added to this was the advent of the Bandra-

Kurla Complex, a global corporate enclave located directly across the remaining mangrove

swamps, as close to Dharavi as Wall Street is to Brooklyn Heights. Sterile and kempt, the BKC

was the future, right on the doorstep of the zopadpatti.

"I approached it as a developer. In other words, as a mercenary," says Mehta, satellite images

of Dharavi spread across his desk. "But something happened. I opened an office in Dharavi,

started talking to people, seeing who they were, how hard they worked, and how you could be

there for months and never once be asked for a handout."

It was then, Mehta says, "I had an epiphany. I asked myself if these people were any different

from my father when he first came from Gujarat. They have the same dreams. That was when I

decided to dedicate the rest of my life to fixing the slums. Because I realized: The people of

Dharavi—they are my genuine heroes."

Back on Rajendra Prasad Chawl, news of the plan's approval was met with a decidedly mixed

response. Meera Singh barely looked up from Baba Ramdev's lecture. She had heard often the

stories about Dharavi's supposed transformation. Nothing much ever happened. Why should

Mukesh Mehta's scheme be any different? Moreover, what reason would possess her to move

into a 225-square-foot (21 square meters) apartment, even if it were free? She has nearly 400

square feet (40 square meters). "Informal housing" has been good to her. She receives 1,100

rupees a month from the furniture workers and another thousand from renting her basement.

Why should she give this up for a seven-story apartment building where she'll be saddled with

fees, including "lift" charges? She doesn't like to ride in elevators. They give her the creeps.

Amit Singh was more outspoken. Mehta's plan was nothing more than "a scam, a chunk of fool's

gold." Amit was already drafting an editorial in the Janhit Times demanding a citizen's arrest of

"the gangster Mehta."

In a place with one toilet for every few hundred people (the so-called politics of defecation is a

perennial hot button in India), the prospect of having one's own bathroom would seem to be a

powerful selling point for the plan. But even if a stir broke out last summer when gurus declared

that the waters of Mahim Creek, the slum's reeking unofficial public toilet, had miraculously

turned "sweet" (leading to much gastrointestinal trauma), many Dharavi locals were unmoved

by the idea of a personal loo.

"What need do I have of my own toilet?" asks Nagamma Shilpiri, who came to Dharavi from

Andhra Pradesh 20 years ago and now lives with her crippled father and 13 other relatives in

two 150-square-foot (14 square meters) rooms. Certainly, Shilpiri is embarrassed by the lack of

privacy when she squats in the early morning haze beside Mahim Creek. But the idea of a

personal flush toilet offends her. To use all that water for so few people seems a stupid, even

sinful, waste.

Everyone in Dharavi had their own opinion about how and why the plan was concocted to hurt

them in particular. The most nuanced assessment came from Shaikh Mobin, a plastics recycler

in his mid-30s. Mobin has lived his whole life in Dharavi, but he'd never call himself a slum

dweller. His recycling business, started by his grandfather, passed to his father, and now to him

("the post-consumer economy, turning waste into wealth," he says), had made Mobin a

relatively rich man. He and his family live in a marble-floored flat at the 13-floor Diamond

Apartments, "Dharavi's number one prestige address."

Mobin is a supporter of development in Dharavi. Change is necessary. Polluting industries like

recycling have no business being in the center of a modern metropolis. Mobin was already

making plans to move his factory several miles to the north. But this didn't mean he is happy

with what is happening in the place of his birth.

Much of his critique is familiar. The government's failure to create housing for middle-income

people was responsible for the existence of the slums, Mobin contends. Many people in Dharavi

make enough money to live elsewhere, "a house like you see on TV." But since no such

housing exists, they are doomed to the slum. Mobin doubts Mukesh Mehta's private developers

will help. All over Dharavi are reminders of developmental disasters. Near Dharavi Cross Road,

members of the L.P.T. Housing Society, their houses torn down in preparation for their promised

apartments, have spent the past eight years living in a half-finished building without steady

electricity or water, at the mercy of the goons and the malarial Mumbai heat.

But when it comes down to it, Mobin says, Dharavi's dilemma is at once much simpler and

infinitely more complex: "This is our home." This is what people such as Chief Minister

Deshmukh and Mukesh Mehta will never understand, Mobin says. "Mukesh Mehta says I am his

hero, but what does he know of my life? He is engaged in shaikhchilli, which is dreaming,

dreaming in the day. Does it occur to him that we do not wish to be part of his dream?"

Such sentiments cause Mukesh Mehta distress. "If someone calls me a dreamer, I plead guilty,"

he says, finishing his crème caramel at the Bombay Yacht Club. To be sure, Mehta has made

some fanciful statements regarding Dharavi's future. His idea to install a golf driving range has

met with widespread guffaws. "Golf? What is this golf?" asked Shilpiri's crippled father. The

other day Mehta was fantasizing about constructing a 120,000-seat cricket stadium in the slum.

Asked where fans would park, Mehta looked stricken.

"Parking! Oh, my God," he exclaimed. "I'm going to be up all night trying to figure that out."

But being a dreamer doesn't mean he is "unrealistic," Mehta says. He has been around the

block of India's bruising bureaucracy. He has learned hard lessons along the way. One is that

"sometimes the last thing people in power want is to get rid of slums." Much of what Mehta calls

"slum perpetuation" has to do with the infamous "vote bank"—a political party, through a deep-

rooted system of graft, lays claim to the vote of a particular neighborhood. As long as the slum

keeps voting the right way, it's to the party's advantage to keep the community intact. A

settlement can remain in the same place for years, shelters passing from makeshift plastic tarps

to corrugated metal to concrete. But one day, as in the case of Dharavi, the slum might find

itself suddenly in the "wrong" place. Once that happens, the bulldozer is always a potential final

solution. A few years ago, the Maharashtra government, under the direction of Chief Minister

Deshmukh, in a spasm of upgrading supposedly aimed at closing the "world-class" gap,

demolished 60,000 hutments, some in place for decades. As many as 300,000 people were

displaced.

This, Mehta says, is what his plan is devised to avoid. "No one wants to be that unhappy guy

driving the bulldozer." Preferring "the talking cure," Mehta says if anyone, anywhere, doesn't

think his plan is the best possible outcome for Dharavi, he will sit with them for as long as it

takes, to convince them. A few days later, at Kumbharwada, he got his chance.

To many, the Kumbhar potters are the heart and soul of Dharavi. Their special status derives

not only from their decades-long residence but also from the integrity of their work. While

Dharavi is famous for making use of things everyone throws away, the Kumbhars create the

new.

Savdas family members have been Dharavi potters for generations, but Tank Ranchhod Savdas

once imagined another kind of life. "I had big dreams," he says. "I thought I would be a lawyer."

But Tank's father died in 1986, and "as the oldest son I took up this business." Not that he has

any regrets. "During busy times, I make hundreds of pots a day, and I get pleasure from each

one," he says.

Recently, however, the fortyish "Mr. Tank" has begun to fear for the future of Kumbhars in

Dharavi. Increasing numbers of the community's young men have become merchant seamen,

or computer specialists at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. Kumbharwada is full of teenage boys who

have never used a potter's wheel, unthinkable only a few years ago.

And now there is this plan. Just talking about "a slum-free Dharavi" is enough to make Tank

shake with anger. How dare anyone claim that Kumbharwada is "a slum" in need of

rehabilitation! Kumbharwada is home to working people, men and women who have always

made their own way. If Mukesh Mehta was so enamored of the U.S., couldn't he see

Kumbharwada was a sterling example of the supposed American dream?

"Look at my house," Tank demands, showing off the 3,000-square-foot (280 square meters)

home and workshop he built and now shares with his two brothers and their families. "Why

should we move from here, to there?"

By "there," Tank means the Slum Rehabilitation Authority high-rise under construction behind

Kumbharwada. Freshly painted, the building has a sprightly look, but soon lack of maintenance

will turn it into a replica of every other SRA building: a decaying Stalinist-styled pile, covered

with Rorschach-like mildew stains. Inside is a long, dank hallway with 18 apartments on either

side, which Amit Singh calls "36 rooms of gloom."

"That is a slum," says Tank, "a vertical slum." Told that Mehta says he's willing to talk with

anyone unhappy with the plan, Tank says, "Then bring him here. Tomorrow."

On his cell phone from Hyderabad, Mehta, "not risk averse," says "ten o'clock." But he is

skeptical the meeting will accomplish much. He's spoken with the potters many times. Proposals

allowing them to keep the majority of their space have been rejected, as was his idea to

maximize the potters' profits by adding ornamental ceramics to their traditional vessels and

religious objects. "I've offered them the moon and been repaid with crushing indifference,"

Mehta bemoans. Plus, he never knows which alleged leadership group represents whom.

It's a frustrating situation that one afternoon causes the Americanized Mehta to shout, "Your

trouble is you have too many chiefs and not enough Indians!"

Yet when ten o'clock rolls around, there he is, impeccably attired in a tan suit, cuff links

gleaming in the sunlight, in the courtyard in front of Tank's house. Perhaps a hundred people

have assembled, sitting on plastic chairs. Most are potters, but there are others, too, such as

Amit Singh and several colleagues from the Janhit Times. After politely listening to Mehta's

short form of the plan (he has brought his PowerPoint presentation, but sunlight prevents its

deployment), the objections begin. It is outrageous that this was even being discussed, people

say. "We have been making pots for 130 years," one man shouts. "This land is ours."

Mehta is sympathetic to the Kumbhar position. But there are a few "realities" they must

understand. First, the assumption that the community owns the Kumbharwada grounds by virtue

of the British Raj–era Vacant Land Tenancy act is incorrect. Mehta says the Kumbhars' long-

term lease ran out when the act was repealed in 1974. Also, there is the pollution issue. Every

day the potters' brick kilns send huge black clouds into the air. It's gotten so bad that nearby

Sion Hospital is complaining that the smoke is aggravating patients' pulmonary ailments.

The Kumbhars are vulnerable on these issues, Mehta says. Chief Minister Deshmukh would be

within his rights to send the dreaded bulldozers rolling down 90 Feet Road. The Kumbhars

should trust him, Mehta says. His very presence proves his sincerity. "People said if I came

here, I should wear a hard hat. But you see me, bareheaded." At the very least, the Kumbhars

should allow him to conduct a census of the area. This information would help him fight for

them, get them the best deal.

With the return of the late monsoon rains, the session breaks up. Mehta gets back into his

chauffeured car feeling upbeat. "A good meeting," he says. The fact that the Kumbhars seemed

to agree to the census was a good sign, Mehta says, driving off through puddles.

Back at Kumbharwada, Tank is asked what he has learned from the meeting. Surrounded by

perhaps 20 potters, Tank says, "We have learned that Mukesh Mehta's plan is of no use to us."

Would they participate in the census? "We'll think about it," says Tank.

In any event, there is no time to talk about it now. The meeting has taken almost two hours.

With orders piling up, there is work to be done.

Mukesh Mehta's plan is scheduled to be implemented sometime this year, not that Dharavi is

excessively fixated on it during holiday season, a time to, as a sign in the window of Jayanthian

fireworks store on 90 Feet Road says, "enjoy the festivals with an atom bomb." Today is

Ganesh Chaturthi, and much of Dharavi (the Hindus, anyway) are in the streets beating giant

drums and blaring Bollywood-inflected songs on car-battery-powered speakers in celebration of

Lord Ganesh. Ganesh, the roly-poly elephant god, has special significance in Dharavi, being

considered the deity of "removing obstacles."

One such obstacle is in evidence at the outset of the parade marking the end of the ten-day

festival for which people make giant murtis, or likenesses, of the god. These effigies are borne

through the streets to Mahim Beach and then tossed into the water. One group has constructed

a ten-foot-high (three meters) Ganesh from silvery papier-mâché. They have not, however,

bothered to measure the narrow lane through which the Ganesh will need to pass to reach

Dharavi Main Road. After much discussion and a tortuous 50-foot (15 meters) journey during

which many Dharavian "obstacles," including a ganglia of illegally connected electric wires,

needed to be removed, the murti makes it through with a quarter inch to spare. Not a bit of the

god's silvery skin is nicked.

As the Ganesh is lifted onto a flatbed truck for its journey to Mahim Beach, one resident turns

and says, "You see. The Ganesh is undamaged. This is our talent. We deal with what is."

Kota Bayangan Mumbai

Beberapa sebutan daerah kumuh Dharavi merusak pemandangan memalukan di tengah-tengah ibukota keuangan India. Penghuninya menyebutnya rumah.

Oleh Mark Jacobson

Semua kota di India yang keras, tapi tidak ada yang sesuai dengan tingkat 24 / 7 desibel

Mumbai, dulu Bombay, dimana lalu lintas tidak pernah berhenti dan selalu membunyikan

klakson. Bagaimanapun kebisingan, adalah tidak menjadi masalah di Dharavi, perkampungan

kumuh penuh dari satu juta jiwa, dimana sebanyak 18.000 orang penonton menjadi satu hektar

(0,4 hektar). Saat malam tiba, jauh di dalam labirin jalan terlalu sempit bahkan untuk putt-putt

dari becak otomatis, kumuh adalah sebagai masih sebagai padang hijau. Setelah Anda terbiasa

dengan berbagi 300 kaki persegi (28 meter persegi) lantai dengan 15 manusia dan terhitung

jumlah tikus, rasa aneh relaksasi set di-ah, akhirnya waktu untuk berpikir jernih.

Dharavi secara rutin disebut "kumuh terbesar di Asia," sebuah atribusi yang meragukan

kadang-kadang digabungkan ke dalam "kumuh terbesar di dunia." Ini tidak benar. Neza-Chalco-

Itza, Mexico City barrio memiliki empat kali lebih banyak orang. Di Asia, Township Orangi

Karachi telah melampaui Dharavi. Bahkan di Mumbai, di mana sekitar setengah dari

pembengkakan kota 12 juta penduduk hidup dalam apa yang halus disebut sebagai perumahan

"informal", kantong kumuh Dharavi saingan lainnya dalam ukuran dan kemelaratan.

Namun Dharavi tetap unik di antara permukiman kumuh. Sebuah lingkungan tepat di jantung

Mumbai, ia tetap tarik emosional dan historis suatu subcontinental Harlem-persegi-mil (tiga

kilometer persegi) pusat dari segala sesuatu, geografis, psikologis, spiritual. Lokasinya juga

membuat real estat panas di Mumbai, kota yang melambangkan harapan India menjadi saingan

ekonomi ke Cina. Memang, di sebuah planet di mana setengah dari umat manusia akan segera

tinggal di kota-kota, pasukan bekerja di Dharavi berfungsi sebagai jendela tidak hanya pada

masa depan kota-kota India berkembang, tetapi pada ruang perkotaan di mana-mana.

Tanyakan pada setiap warga-beberapa lama keluarga telah di sini selama tiga atau lebih

generasi-bagaimana Dharavi datang untuk menjadi, dan mereka akan berkata, "dibangun Kami

itu." Hal ini tidak jauh. Sampai akhir abad 19, daerah ini rawa-rawa mangrove Mumbai dihuni

oleh nelayan Koli. Ketika rawa diisi (dengan daun kelapa, ikan busuk, dan limbah manusia),

Kolis tidak diberi alasan penangkapan ikan mereka-mereka akan segera beralih ke bootlegging

minuman keras-tapi ruangan menjadi tersedia untuk orang lain. Para Kumbhars datang dari

Gujarat untuk mendirikan sebuah koloni Potter '. Tamil tiba dari selatan dan membuka

penyamakan kulit. Ribuan perjalanan dari Uttar Pradesh untuk bekerja di industri tekstil

booming. Hasilnya adalah yang paling beragam kumuh, boleh dibilang lingkungan yang paling

beragam di Mumbai, kota India yang paling beragam.

Tinggal untuk sementara di jalur tiga-kaki-lebar (satu meter) dari Rajendra Prasad rumah petak,

dan Anda menjadi terbiasa dengan irama tempat itu. Suara nyanyian kebaktian pagi hari diikuti

oleh gemericik air. Sampai saat ini beberapa orang di Dharavi punya hookups air. Warga

seperti Meera Singh, seorang wanita masam yang telah tinggal di jalan selama 35 tahun,

digunakan untuk berjalan satu mil (dua kilometer) untuk mendapatkan air untuk membersihkan

hari itu dan memasak. Pada spigot jauh dia harus membayar "preman" lokal untuk mengisi

ember-nya. Ini adalah cara kerjanya di zona senja birokrasi perumahan informal. Kekurangan

pelayanan publik karena status ilegal mereka, penghuni kawasan kumuh sering menemukan

diri mereka pada belas kasihan dari "mafia tanah." Ada air preman, preman listrik. Dalam hal ini,

penduduk Rajendra Prasad rumah petak beruntung. Hari-hari ini, oleh hook DIY atau penjahat,

hampir setiap rumah tangga di jalan memiliki kran air sendiri. Dan hari ini, seperti setiap hari,

warga membuka selang untuk mencuci mereka menyusuri jalan saat mereka berdiri di pintu

rumah mereka untuk menyikat gigi mereka.

Ini adalah bagaimana Dharavi bangun. Pada 90 Jalan Kaki, dinamai untuk lebar dugaan

(bahkan jika 60 Jalan Kaki, tarik utama lainnya daerah kumuh, adalah jauh lebih luas), para

sopir taksi membujuk mereka Fiats belur untuk hidup. Di lingkungan para perajin tembikar ',

asap hitam sudah mengepul dari enam kaki persegi (satu meter persegi) kiln. Dengan kanal

industri kotor, para pendaur ulang dalam ayunan penuh. Dalam Dharavi tidak ada yang

dianggap sampah. Mainan plastik yang rusak ini dilempar ke penggiling besar, dipotong-potong

kecil, dilelehkan menjadi pelet warna-warni, siap untuk menjadi boneka tiruan refashioned

Barbie. Berikut setiap kotak karton atau 55 galon (208 liter) minyak Drum kehidupan lain, dan

satu lagi setelah itu.

Rajendra Prasad pagi hari di rumah petak sama-sama sibuk. Dengan delapan pembuat furnitur

untuk siapa dia sewa bagian dari apartemennya pergi untuk hari itu, Meera Singh sisir rambut

cucunya: Atul, 7, Kanchan, 10, dan Jyoti, 12. Segera apartemen, rumah bagi 15, kosong,

kecuali Meera dan putranya dua puluhan dia, Amit, dia dari kumis gagah dan semi-hipster

potongan rambut. Beberapa tahun lalu, keluarga Singh, seperti orang lain di Dharavi, duduk di

depan televisi untuk melihat penyanyi lokal Abhijit Sawant memenangkan kontes India Idol

pertama. Tapi sekarang Meera adalah menonton TV favoritnya kepribadian, berjubah oranye

yoga master, Baba Ramdev, yang menunjukkan teknik antipenuaan: menggosok kuku Anda

terhadap satu sama lain pada kecepatan yang cepat.

"Mengapa mendengarkan si tolol ini?" Amit menolak.

"Kau tahu apa-apa," tunas Meera kembali. "Rambutnya hitam, dan dia lebih dari 80 tahun."

"Delapan puluh Dia tidak lebih dari 40. Jangan? Tidak jatuh untuk trik ini curang."

Meera menggeleng. Dia menyerah mencoba untuk berbicara akal untuk Amit lama. "Kepalanya

di awan," katanya. Dia berharap dia akan mendapatkan pekerjaan seperti yang dilakukan

saudaranya Manoj, yang menjahit celana jeans di salah satu kaarkhanas Dharavi, atau

sweatshop. Tapi ini bukan karena dia, Amit mengatakan. Seorang pemikir, ia melihat hidupnya

dalam hal "gambaran besar." Pusat untuk kesombongan ini adalah kisah bagaimana Singhs

datang ke Dharavi di tempat pertama. Anggota Ksatria, yang dianggap sebagai yang kedua

hanya untuk Brahmana dalam sistem kasta, paman besar Amit itu adalah zamindars, atau tuan

tanah, dalam pelayanan Inggris. Dilucuti dari hak istimewa setelah kemerdekaan, keluarganya

pindah dari Uttar Pradesh ke Mumbai, tempat ayah Amit bekerja di pabrik tekstil. Runtuhnya

pabrik pada 1970-an mendarat keluarga di Dharavi.

Ini adalah kisah tentang kesempatan dan nasib ("Seratus tahun yang lalu kita akan bos,"

katanya) bahwa rasa outsize taji Amit tentang diri. Dia selalu punya selusin hal terjadi. Ada

sabun bubuk nya skema piramida, real estate dan gambits kerja lembaga. Baru adalah miliknya

pembasmi perusahaan, untuk mana ia telah mendistribusikan ratusan selebaran ("kepinding

Tidak ada tikus tidak!"), Mengaku sebagai Dharavi yang "paling dipercaya" hama remover,

walaupun memiliki belum memusnahkan satu kecoa.

Juga dalam agenda Amit adalah Janhit Times, sebuah tabloid dia membayangkan sebagai

advokat memukul keras demokrasi akar rumput. Edisi pertama menampilkan cerita tentang

seorang polisi yang diduga korup Dharavi. Amit s judul: "Sebuah Bajingan Raksasa, Iblis

terkorupsi kotor, dan Indung berseragam." Kepala dingin, menunjukkan polisi memegang

sebuah lathi mematikan (tongkat bambu), menyarankan pendekatan yang lebih ringan. Amit

enggan pergi dengan "A Berjuang untuk Keadilan."

Meskipun kertas belum mencetak edisi pertama, Amit membawa lulus tekan tampan, yang ia

terus dengan stack nya kartu bisnis. Hal ini menyebabkan ibunya berkomentar, "Itu kau, banyak

kartu, tapi tidak ada bisnis." Melihat anaknya, dia berkata, "Anda seperti seorang pemimpi."

Ini adalah penilaian yang Amit, yang hanya memutuskan untuk membuka agen penyewaan

mobil dengan harapan diversifikasi portofolio di modus dari "Richard Branson Dharavi," tidak

sengketa.

"Bicara tentang melakukan sesuatu tentang daerah kumuh Mumbai, dan tidak ada yang

membayar perhatian Bicara tentang Dharavi,. Dan itu adalah Mission Impossible, insiden

internasional," kata Mukesh Mehta saat ia memasuki ruang konferensi pirang-berpanel Gedung

Administrasi Negara Maharashtra. Selama sembilan tahun, Mehta, seorang arsitek 56 tahun

dan desainer perkotaan, telah mengasah rencananya untuk ", berkelanjutan diarusutamakan,

kumuh Dharavi-bebas." Pada pertemuan hari ini, setelah banyak presentasi PowerPoint,

rencana dijadwalkan untuk disetujui oleh menteri utama negara, Vilasrao Deshmukh.

Dharavi adalah dibagi menjadi lima sektor, masing-masing dikembangkan dengan keterlibatan

investor, sebagian besar bukan penduduk India. Awalnya, Dharavi 57.000 keluarga akan

dimukimkan kembali menjadi tinggi bertingkat dekat perumahan untuk tempat tinggal mereka

saat ini. Setiap keluarga berhak untuk 225 kaki persegi (21 meter persegi) perumahan, dengan

pipa dalam ruangan sendiri. Sebagai imbalan untuk mendirikan "bebas" bangunan, perusahaan

swasta akan diberikan insentif tampan untuk membangun perumahan-profit untuk dijual di

(tinggi) harga pasar.

"Semua yang tersisa adalah persetujuan," kata Mehta Deshmukh, seorang pria asam-cari di

setelan salju-putih duduk dengan para penasihatnya di kaki 40-(12 meter) meja konferensi.

Biasanya, diperlukan bahwa 60 persen dari penduduk Dharavi menyetujui rencana tersebut.

Tapi Deshmukh mengumumkan bahwa persetujuan formal tidak diperlukan karena rencana

Mehta adalah sebuah proyek yang disponsori pemerintah. Semua dia harus lakukan adalah

memberikan warga satu bulan untuk mendaftar keluhan. "Sebuah jendela 30-hari, bukan hari

lagi," kata Deshmukh dengan finalitas sabar.

Kemudian, sebagai pilot sopirnya nya Honda Accord melalui lalu lintas, Mehta tersenyum. "Ini

adalah hari yang baik," katanya. "Sebuah mimpi menjadi kenyataan."

Pada pandangan pertama, Mehta, warga sebuah gedung apartemen elegan pada berlagak

Napean Laut Road, anggota lama dari British Raj era Bombay Gymkhana dan Royal Bombay

Yacht Club, tidak muncul untuk menjadi pemimpi Dharavi.

"Bisa dibilang aku lahir dengan sendok emas di mulut saya," komentar dia di kantornya Bandra

Barat menghadap ke Laut Arab. "Ayah saya datang ke Bombay dari Gujarat tanpa sepeser pun

dan membangun sebuah bisnis baja luar biasa astrolog Sebuah menceritakan anak-saya-akan

bungsunya menjadi salah satu yang paling sukses,. Jadi saya diberikan segalanya." Tunjangan

termasuk pendidikan atas, ditambah tinggal di AS, di mana Mehta belajar arsitektur di Pratt

Institute di Brooklyn.

"Bagi saya, Amerika selalu menjadi inspirasi," kata Mehta, yang membuat keberuntungan

mengelola bisnis baja ayahnya sebelum memutuskan untuk mengembangkan real estate di

Shore eksklusif Utara Long Island. "Besar negara Gatsby," katanya, merinci bagaimana ia

membangun high-end rumah dan tinggal di Pusat Island, masyarakat kulit putih dengan

"terkaya orang kaya"-seperti Billy Joel, yang baru saja terdaftar istananya untuk 37,5 juta dolar.

"Permukiman kumuh adalah hal terjauh dari pikiran saya," kata Mehta. Hal ini berubah ketika ia

kembali ke Mumbai. Dia melihat apa yang orang lain lakukan-bahwa kota itu penuh dengan

orang-orang kaya saja, sejumlah besar orang miskin, dan hampir tidak ada orang di tengah. Hal

ini paling jelas terlihat dalam situasi perumahan mengerikan. Kota ini dibagi antara Manhattan-

harga tinggi-naik yang menghiasi langit selatan Mumbai dan daerah-daerah kecoklatan pada

peta ditandai dengan huruf untuk zopadpatti ZP, alias kumuh.

Downtown mencerca orang bisnis bahwa daerah kumuh itu mencekik kehidupan di luar kota,

merampok itu dari tempat yang selayaknya di abad 21. Setelah semua, India tidak lagi menjadi

terpencil pasca-kolonial yang terkenal hanya untuk orang yang paling celaka dari Bumi dan

guru yang menarik Beatles mudah tertipu. Sekarang, ketika komputer pecah di Des Moines,

meja bantuan itu di Bangalore. Ekonom memprediksi kapan tepatnya GNP India akan

melampaui bahwa dari Amerika Serikat. Jika Mumbai akan memenuhi takdirnya dinyatakan

menjadi kota metropolitan kelas dunia, saingan Shanghai di China melonjak, bagaimana itu bisa

terjadi ketika setiap sedikit ruang terbuka ditutupi dengan eyesores, ini kesedihan manusia di

mana tidak ada yang membayar pajak? Untuk Mukesh Mehta, jika India menjadi masyarakat

konsumen yang ideal, itu akan harus mengembangkan kelas menengah yang benar-dan

perumahan akan mesin. Daerah kumuh harus direklamasi.

Tapi yang kumuh? Ada begitu banyak dari mereka. Kemudian melompat keluar, sejelas sebagai

kebenaran tak terbantahkan pertama real estate, lokasi, lokasi, lokasi: Dharavi, tepat di tengah

peta. Ini adalah kekhasan dari geografi dan sejarah, karena setiap perencana perkotaan akan

memberitahu Anda (dalam kota Amerika samping): massa besar orang miskin tidak seharusnya

berada di pusat kota. Mereka seharusnya berada di pinggiran, menumpuk di pinggiran. Dharavi

pernah di pinggiran utara, tapi Mumbai pernah berkembang telah tergeletak menuju kumuh

yang terkenal, akhirnya sekitarnya.

Ini tidak mengambil wizard untuk melihat keuntungan dari posisi Dharavi itu. Dilayani oleh dua

jalur kereta api, itu ideal untuk penumpang kelas menengah. Ditambahkan ke ini adalah

munculnya Bandra-Kurla Complex, sebuah kantong perusahaan global terletak tepat di

seberang rawa-rawa bakau yang tersisa, sebagai dekat dengan Dharavi karena Wall Street

adalah Brooklyn Heights. Steril dan kempt, BKC adalah masa depan, tepat di ambang pintu

zopadpatti.

"Saya memandangnya sebagai pengembang Dengan kata lain,. Sebagai tentara bayaran," kata

Mehta, gambar satelit dari Dharavi tersebar di mejanya. "Tapi sesuatu terjadi, saya membuka

kantor di Dharavi, mulai berbicara dengan orang, melihat siapa mereka, betapa keras mereka

bekerja, dan bagaimana Anda bisa berada di sana selama berbulan-bulan dan tidak pernah

sekalipun diminta untuk sedekah.."

Saat itu, Mehta mengatakan, "Saya punya pencerahan saya bertanya apakah orang-orang ini

berbeda dari ayah saya ketika dia pertama datang dari Gujarat.. Mereka memiliki impian yang

sama. Itu adalah ketika saya memutuskan untuk mendedikasikan sisa hidup saya . untuk

memperbaiki permukiman kumuh Karena aku menyadari: Orang-orang Dharavi-mereka adalah

pahlawan asli saya ".

Kembali pada Rajendra Prasad rumah petak, berita persetujuan rencana itu bertemu dengan

respon jelas campuran. Meera Singh hampir tidak mendongak dari kuliah Baba Ramdev itu. Dia

pernah mendengar cerita tentang sering transformasi Dharavi seharusnya. Tidak banyak yang

pernah terjadi. Mengapa skema Mukesh Mehta harus berbeda? Selain itu, apa alasan yang

akan memilikinya untuk pindah ke sebuah apartemen (21 meter persegi) 225 meter persegi,

bahkan jika itu gratis? Dia memiliki hampir 400 kaki persegi (40 meter persegi). "Perumahan

informal" telah baik padanya. Dia menerima 1.100 rupee per bulan dari pekerja mebel dan

seribu dari menyewa gudang bawah tanahnya. Kenapa dia harus menyerah untuk sebuah

bangunan apartemen tujuh lantai di mana dia akan dibebani dengan biaya, termasuk biaya

"angkat"? Dia tidak ingin naik lift. Mereka memberinya merinding.

Amit Singh lebih vokal. Rencana Mehta tak lebih dari "scam, sepotong emas bodoh." Amit

sudah menyusun sebuah editorial di Times Janhit menuntut penangkapan warga tentang

"Mehta gangster."

Di tempat dengan satu toilet untuk setiap seratus beberapa orang (yang disebut politik buang

air besar adalah tombol panas abadi di India), prospek memiliki kamar mandi sendiri tampaknya

akan menjadi titik jual yang kuat untuk rencana tersebut. Tetapi bahkan jika aduk pecah musim

panas lalu ketika guru menyatakan bahwa perairan Mahim Creek, bau toilet umum daerah

kumuh yang tidak resmi, secara ajaib berubah "manis" (yang mengarah ke trauma saluran

cerna banyak), banyak Dharavi penduduk setempat tergerak oleh gagasan toilet pribadi.

"Apa yang harus saya miliki dari toilet sendiri?" bertanya Nagamma Shilpiri, yang datang ke

Dharavi dari Andhra Pradesh 20 tahun yang lalu dan sekarang tinggal dengan ayahnya lumpuh

dan 13 kerabat lainnya di dua kamar 150 kaki persegi (14 meter persegi). Tentu saja, Shilpiri

merasa malu dengan kurangnya privasi ketika ia jongkok di samping kabut pagi Mahim Creek.

Tapi gagasan flush toilet pribadi membuatnya marah. Untuk menggunakan semua air yang

begitu sedikit orang tampaknya, bodoh bahkan berdosa, limbah.

Semua orang di Dharavi punya pendapat mereka sendiri tentang bagaimana dan mengapa

rencana telah dirancang untuk menyakiti mereka secara khusus. Penilaian yang paling

bernuansa datang dari Shaikh Mobin, pendaur ulang plastik di pertengahan 30-an. Mobin telah

menjalani seluruh hidupnya di Dharavi, tapi dia tidak pernah menyebut dirinya penghuni daerah

kumuh. Bisnis daur ulang-Nya, dimulai oleh kakeknya, diteruskan ke ayahnya, dan sekarang dia

("ekonomi pasca-konsumen, mengubah sampah menjadi kekayaan," katanya), telah membuat

Mobin orang yang relatif kaya. Dia dan keluarganya tinggal di sebuah flat berlantai marmer di

lantai 13 Apartemen Diamond, "nomor satu prestise Dharavi alamat."

Mobin adalah pendukung pembangunan di Dharavi. Perubahan diperlukan. Polusi industri

seperti daur ulang tidak memiliki bisnis berada di tengah metropolitan yang modern. Mobin

sudah membuat rencana untuk memindahkan pabriknya beberapa mil ke utara. Tapi ini tidak

berarti ia senang dengan apa yang terjadi di tempat kelahirannya.

Sebagian besar kritiknya akrab. Kegagalan pemerintah untuk menciptakan perumahan untuk

masyarakat berpenghasilan menengah bertanggung jawab atas keberadaan permukiman

kumuh, Mobin berpendapat. Banyak orang di Dharavi membuat uang cukup untuk hidup di

tempat lain, "melihat rumah seperti Anda di TV." Tapi karena tidak ada perumahan seperti ada,

mereka ditakdirkan untuk perkampungan kumuh itu. Mobin keraguan pengembang swasta

Mukesh Mehta akan membantu. Seluruh Dharavi adalah pengingat bencana perkembangan.

Dekat Dharavi Cross Road, anggota L.P.T. Masyarakat Perumahan, rumah-rumah mereka

dirobohkan dalam persiapan untuk apartemen yang dijanjikan mereka, telah menghabiskan

delapan tahun terakhir tinggal di sebuah bangunan setengah jadi tanpa listrik stabil atau air,

pada belas kasihan dari preman dan panas Mumbai malaria.

Tetapi ketika datang ke sana, Mobin mengatakan, dilema Dharavi adalah sekaligus jauh lebih

sederhana dan jauh lebih kompleks: "Ini adalah rumah kita." Ini adalah apa yang orang-orang

seperti Ketua Menteri Deshmukh dan Mukesh Mehta tidak akan pernah mengerti, Mobin kata.

"Mukesh Mehta mengatakan saya pahlawan, tapi apa yang ia tahu tentang hidup saya Dia

terlibat dalam shaikhchilli, yang bermimpi, bermimpi di siang hari.? Apakah itu terjadi padanya

bahwa kita tidak ingin menjadi bagian dari mimpinya? "

Sentimen tersebut menyebabkan distres Mukesh Mehta. "Jika seseorang menelepon saya

pemimpi, aku mengaku bersalah," katanya, menyelesaikan creme nya karamel di Yacht Club

Bombay. Yang pasti, Mehta telah membuat beberapa pernyataan aneh mengenai masa depan

Dharavi itu. Idenya untuk menginstal sebuah driving range golf telah bertemu dengan tawa luas.

"Golf Apa? Golf ini?" tanya ayah yang lumpuh Shilpiri. Hari Mehta lainnya adalah berfantasi

tentang membangun sebuah stadion kriket 120.000 kursi di daerah kumuh. Bertanya di mana

penggemar akan taman, Mehta tampak terpukul.

"Parkir! Oh, Tuhan," seru dia. "Saya akan semua malam mencoba untuk mencari tahu itu."

Tapi menjadi pemimpi tidak berarti ia adalah "tidak realistis," kata Mehta. Dia telah sekitar blok

birokrasi memar India. Dia telah belajar pelajaran keras sepanjang jalan. Salah satunya adalah

bahwa "kadang-kadang hal terakhir orang yang berkuasa inginkan adalah menyingkirkan

permukiman kumuh." Banyak dari apa Mehta panggilan "pelestarian kumuh" ada hubungannya

dengan "bank suara" terkenal-sebuah partai politik, melalui sistem yang berakar dari korupsi,

meletakkan klaim ke suara lingkungan tertentu. Selama kumuh terus suara dengan cara yang

benar, itu untuk keuntungan partai untuk menjaga masyarakat utuh. Penyelesaian dapat tetap

di tempat yang sama selama bertahun-tahun, tempat penampungan terpal plastik lewat dari

darurat untuk logam bergelombang ke beton. Tapi satu hari, seperti dalam kasus Dharavi,

perkampungan kumuh itu mungkin menemukan dirinya tiba-tiba di tempat yang "salah". Setelah

itu terjadi, buldoser selalu merupakan solusi potensial akhir. Beberapa tahun yang lalu,

pemerintah Maharashtra, di bawah arahan Kepala Menteri Deshmukh, dalam kejang upgrade

seharusnya ditujukan untuk menutup "kelas dunia" kesenjangan, menghancurkan 60.000

hutments, beberapa di tempat selama beberapa dekade. Sebanyak 300.000 orang mengungsi.

Ini, Mehta mengatakan, adalah apa rencananya ini dirancang untuk menghindari. "Tidak

seorang pun ingin bahwa pria senang mengemudi buldoser." Memilih "menyembuhkan

berbicara," kata Mehta jika siapapun, dimanapun, tidak berpikir rencananya adalah hasil terbaik

bagi Dharavi, ia akan duduk dengan mereka selama dibutuhkan, untuk meyakinkan mereka.

Beberapa hari kemudian, pada Kumbharwada, ia mendapat kesempatan.

Bagi banyak orang, para perajin tembikar Kumbhar adalah jantung dan jiwa dari Dharavi. Status

khusus mereka berasal tidak hanya dari dekade-lama tinggal mereka, tetapi juga dari integritas

dari pekerjaan mereka. Sementara Dharavi terkenal untuk membuat penggunaan setiap orang

membuang hal-hal, yang Kumbhars membuat baru.

Anggota keluarga Savdas telah Dharavi perajin tembikar untuk generasi, tetapi Tank Ranchhod

Savdas sekali membayangkan jenis lain dari kehidupan. "Saya punya mimpi besar," katanya.

"Saya pikir saya akan menjadi pengacara." Tetapi ayah Tank meninggal pada 1986, dan

"sebagai anak tertua saya mengambil bisnis ini." Bukan berarti dia memiliki penyesalan.

"Selama masa sibuk, saya membuat ratusan pot sehari, dan saya mendapatkan kesenangan

dari masing-masing," katanya.

Recently, however, the fortyish "Mr. Tank" has begun to fear for the future of Kumbhars in

Dharavi. Increasing numbers of the community's young men have become merchant seamen,

or computer specialists at the Bandra-Kurla Complex. Kumbharwada is full of teenage boys who

have never used a potter's wheel, unthinkable only a few years ago.

And now there is this plan. Just talking about "a slum-free Dharavi" is enough to make Tank

shake with anger. How dare anyone claim that Kumbharwada is "a slum" in need of

rehabilitation! Kumbharwada is home to working people, men and women who have always

made their own way. If Mukesh Mehta was so enamored of the U.S., couldn't he see

Kumbharwada was a sterling example of the supposed American dream?

"Lihatlah rumah saya," tuntutan Tank, memamerkan 3.000 kaki persegi (280 meter persegi)

rumah dan lokakarya ia membangun dan sekarang saham dengan kedua saudaranya dan

keluarga mereka. "Mengapa kita harus pindah dari sini, ke sana?"

Dengan "di sana," berarti Otoritas Rehabilitasi Tank kumuh bertingkat tinggi dalam

pembangunan Kumbharwada belakang. Baru dicat, bangunan memiliki tampilan sigap, tapi

segera kurangnya pemeliharaan akan mengubahnya menjadi sebuah replika dari setiap

bangunan SRA lain: tumpukan Stalinis-gaya membusuk, ditutupi dengan Rorschach-seperti

noda jamur. Di dalamnya ada lorong panjang lembap dengan 18 apartemen di kedua sisi, yang

Amit Singh panggilan "36 kamar dari kegelapan."

"Itu adalah kumuh," kata Tank, "sebuah daerah kumuh vertikal." Diceritakan bahwa Mehta

mengatakan dia bersedia untuk berbicara dengan siapa pun tidak senang dengan rencana itu,

Tank mengatakan, "Lalu bawa dia ke sini Besok.."

Pada telepon genggamnya dari Hyderabad, Mehta, "tidak risiko," kata "pukul sepuluh." Tapi dia

skeptis pertemuan akan mencapai banyak. Dia berbicara dengan para perajin tembikar berkali-

kali. Proposal yang memungkinkan mereka untuk menjaga sebagian ruang mereka telah

ditolak, seperti idenya untuk memaksimalkan keuntungan para perajin tembikar 'dengan

menambahkan keramik hias untuk kapal tradisional dan benda-benda keagamaan. "Aku sudah

menawarkan mereka bulan dan telah dibayar dengan menghancurkan ketidakpedulian,"

mengeluhkan Mehta. Plus, ia tidak pernah tahu mana kelompok kepemimpinan diduga mewakili

siapa.

Ini adalah situasi frustrasi bahwa suatu sore menyebabkan Mehta Amerikanisasi berteriak,

"masalah Anda adalah Anda memiliki kepala terlalu banyak dan tidak cukup Indian!"

Namun ketika 10:00 gulungan sekitar, ada dia, tanpa cela berpakaian dalam setelan cokelat,

manset berkilauan di bawah sinar matahari, di halaman di depan rumah Tank. Mungkin seratus

orang telah berkumpul, duduk di kursi plastik. Kebanyakan tembikar, tetapi ada orang lain, juga,

seperti Amit Singh dan beberapa rekan dari Times Janhit. Setelah sopan mendengarkan bentuk

pendek Mehta rencana (dia telah membawa presentasi PowerPoint, tapi sinar matahari

mencegah penyebaran nya), keberatan dimulai. Hal ini keterlaluan bahwa ini bahkan sedang

dibahas, orang mengatakan. "Kami telah membuat pot untuk 130 tahun," teriak satu orang.

"Tanah ini milik kami."

Mehta bersimpati ke posisi Kumbhar. Tapi ada beberapa "realitas" mereka harus memahami.

Pertama, asumsi bahwa masyarakat memiliki alasan Kumbharwada berdasarkan tindakan Raj

era Tanah Kosong Tenancy Inggris tidak benar. Mehta mengatakan jangka panjang sewa

Kumbhars 'berlari keluar ketika tindakan tersebut dicabut pada tahun 1974. Juga, ada isu

polusi. Setiap hari para perajin tembikar kiln bata 'mengirim awan hitam besar ke udara. Ini

sudah begitu buruk sehingga Sion Hospital di dekatnya mengeluh bahwa asap memberatkan

penyakit paru pasien.

Para Kumbhars rentan terhadap masalah ini, kata Mehta. Menteri Kepala Deshmukh akan

berada dalam haknya untuk mengirim buldoser ditakuti bergulir 90 Jalan Kaki. Para Kumbhars

harus percaya padanya, kata Mehta. Kehadiran-Nya membuktikan ketulusannya. "Orang-orang

mengatakan jika saya datang ke sini, aku harus memakai topi keras Tapi Anda melihat saya,

tanpa topi.." Paling tidak, yang Kumbhars harus memungkinkan dia untuk melakukan sensus

daerah. Informasi ini akan membantu dia berjuang untuk mereka, membuat mereka yang

terbaik menangani.

Dengan kembalinya musim hujan akhir, sesi pecah. Mehta akan kembali ke perasaan optimis

sopir mobilnya. "Sebuah pertemuan yang baik," katanya. Fakta bahwa Kumbhars tampaknya

setuju untuk sensus itu pertanda baik, Mehta mengatakan, mengemudi off melalui genangan

air.

Kembali di Kumbharwada, Tank adalah bertanya apa yang telah ia pelajari dari pertemuan itu.

Dikelilingi oleh 20 pengrajin mungkin, Tank mengatakan, "Kami telah belajar bahwa rencana

Mukesh Mehta tidak ada gunanya bagi kita." Apakah mereka berpartisipasi dalam sensus? "Kita

akan memikirkannya," kata Tank.

Dalam hal apapun, tidak ada waktu untuk membicarakannya sekarang. Pertemuan telah hampir

dua jam. Dengan pesanan menumpuk, ada pekerjaan yang harus dilakukan.

Rencana Mukesh Mehta dijadwalkan akan dilaksanakan suatu tahun ini, tidak Dharavi yang

berlebihan terpaku pada itu selama musim liburan, waktu untuk, sebagai tanda di jendela toko

kembang api Jayanthian pada 90 Kaki Jalan mengatakan, "menikmati festival dengan bom

atom. "Hari ini Ganesha Chaturthi, dan banyak dari Dharavi (Hindu, anyway) berada di jalan-

jalan memukul genderang raksasa dan menggelegar Bollywood-infleksi lagu pada mobil

bertenaga baterai pembicara dalam perayaan Tuhan Ganesha. Ganesha, dewa gajah bulat-

poli, memiliki makna khusus di Dharavi, dianggap dewa dari "hambatan menghapus."

Salah satu kendala tersebut adalah sebagai bukti pada awal parade menandai akhir festival

sepuluh hari di mana orang membuat murtis raksasa, atau kesamaan, dari dewa. Ini stupa

ditanggung melalui jalan-jalan untuk Mahim Beach dan kemudian dilemparkan ke air. Satu

kelompok telah membangun sepuluh-kaki-tinggi (tiga meter) Ganesha dari papier-mache

keperakan. Mereka tidak, bagaimanapun, repot-repot mengukur jalur sempit melalui mana

Ganesha akan perlu dilalui untuk mencapai Jalan Utama Dharavi. Setelah banyak diskusi dan

perjalanan 50-kaki (15 meter) yang berliku-liku selama banyak Dharavian "rintangan," termasuk

ganglia dari kabel listrik terhubung secara ilegal, harus dihapus, murti membuatnya melalui

dengan seperempat inci untuk cadangan. Tidak sedikit dari kulit keperakan dewa adalah dicuri.

Sebagai Ganesha diangkat ke sebuah truk untuk perjalanannya menuju Pantai Mahim, seorang

warga berbalik dan berkata, "Anda lihat Ganesha adalah tidak rusak.. Ini adalah bakat kita. Kita

berurusan dengan apa yang."

POVERTY AND SLUMS IN INDIA – IMPACT OF CHANGING ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE

Guest Column by Hari Sud

Western media headlines as usual are as follows – twenty five percent of Indians live on less

than a dollar a day and seventy percent live on less than two dollars a day. The forgoing was

the headline of May 9, 2005 in a major international newspaper. Others headlines are not any

less mischievous. These are all meaningless analysis. It does not reflect that same amount of

money has differing values in different places. A more acceptable and bit accurate description of

incomes in countries is Purchase Power Parity (PPP), which is, pricing identical products and

services as needed by the local population in different countries, thus establishing a new and a

more equitable exchange rate. The foregoing is applicable mostly to tradable goods. The PPP

will put India’s GDP at $3.7 Trillion. This will raise daily monies of twenty five percent of Indians

at the lowest rung of the society to seven dollars. The latter is still low but is much higher than

the Western media would like to project. The forgoing is not the point; the point is that poverty is

a major shame in India’s otherwise decent, scientifically advanced, peace loving and at times

turbulent image. Poverty creates slums and slums breed hopelessness and crime. Hence it

needs to be tackled as an integral part of economic development.

The key question that arises - will the current hype in economical development in India alter the

landscape for the very poor?

The answer is that, not much will change in next 20 to 25 years. The real impact will be felt later

than twenty-five years. That is when 8% growth trajectory will take the PPP daily income of the

very poor in India from seven dollars to forty dollars. By then, a $20 Trillion GDP economy (PPP

basis) and $600 billion in exports (year 2001 basis) will add one hundred and fifty million jobs, of

which forty to fifty million will go to the very poor segment of the society. This general prosperity

will not only put food on the table but will add to better living, better housings etc. In the

intervening period of 25 years, rising income levels will definitely add to the exodus from the

slums to planned living areas. The forgoing also requires massive governmental effort to house

people properly.

Let us examine this issue of poverty and slums in Indian cities and its relationship to the

betterment of economic conditions of the masses, a bit further?

What Causes Slums in the Cities in the First Place?

It is vicious cycle of population growth, opportunities in the cities (leading to migration to the

cities), poverty with low incomes, tendency to be closer to work hence occupying any land in the

vicinity etc. The key reason out of all is the slow economic progress. After independence in

1947, commercial and industrial activity needed cheap labor in the cities. Plentiful was available

in the rural area. They were encouraged to come to cities and work. People, who migrated to

the cities and found work, brought their cousins and rest of the families to the cities. Unable to

find housing and afford it, they decided to build their shelter closer to work. First, one shelter

was built, then two and then two thousand and then ten thousand and on and on. Conniving

governments provided electricity and drinking water. Politicians looked at the slums as vote

bank. They organized these unauthorized dwellers into a political force; hence slums took a bit

of a permanent shape. More slums developed as more population moved to the cities. By mid

sixties Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, and all other large cities were dotted with slums.

Very poor people live in slums. They are not the only one dwelling there. Fairly well to do people

also reside there. They are either offspring of the slum dwellers that found education and an

occupation. They have prospered but are unable to find affordable housing, hence have

continued to stay in the shantytowns. Others are avoiding paying rent and property taxes. The

latter is more often the case. It is not unusual that in the dirtiest of slums, where misery prevails

that TV sets, refrigerators and radios are also blaring music. This is quite a contrast from the

image which one gets in the media or from the opportunist politicians.

India’s capital of Delhi has a million and a half out of fourteen million living in slums. Mumbai is

worst with greater percentage living in slums. Other big urban centers have done no better.

Newly built cities like Chandigarh and surrounding towns where shantytowns could have been

avoided altogether have now slums. The forgoing is India’s shame despite huge progress.

How will the growing Economy impact Poverty and the Slum dwellers?

As stated above, 8% growth rate of Indian economy will push per capita GDP to $2,000 level in

about twenty to twenty-five years (PPP per capita GDP will be much higher). The forgoing

presupposes that the population does not explode in the near future but continue a healthy 1.5

to 2% growth. That is where the magic equilibrium of prosperity and desire to live a better life

begins. These two together could end poverty and slums. With availability of affordable housing

and jobs, slum dwelling is the last thought on people’s mind.

On the other hand if the above does not happen then slums dwellers will triple in 25 years and so will the poverty. Delhi will have four and a half million-slum dwellers. Kolkata and

Mumbai will have even bigger numbers. India’s shame will have no end. To avoid that, India’s

economy has to remain at a high state of growth. Jobs created by the economic growth, hence

higher incomes are key criteria for poverty reduction and slum elimination. The foregoing

together with the current urban renewal in progress in the urban areas today will give cities in

India a new look. Higher incomes will create a demand for in-expensive housing, which will have

to be met with innovative use of land and building techniques. Government provided housing

would be a great failure as it has been elsewhere in the world. Instead sufficient cash has to be

placed in the people’s hands together with in-expensive land that people’s housing program

become efficient and affordable. In addition slum living has to be made unattractive with land

taxes and denial of social services. Slum colonies, which opt out of current hopelessness,

should get a better deal in housing which replaces the slums. This followed with rapidly growing

rural economy will kill migration. That will also reduce pressure on housing.

No single policy has ever brought an end to poverty and slums. It is a concerted effort and

better policies, which will end it. No country in the world has ever been able to end poverty and

slums completely. That includes the richest nation of the world – USA. The point is that if

economy progresses and special effort is made to uplift the poor, poverty and slums will be

overtaken by better economic conditions of the people.

How did US Tackle its Slums?

US had its share of poverty and slums in around the immigrant dominated cities. New York and

Boston had great amount of poverty and slums at the turn of the twentieth century. These slums

worsened further with the arrival of newly liberated African-American population from Deep

South. The era pictures give a glimpse of everyday life and it is not pretty. People without jobs

and with no prospects crowded cities in the North. A new word, Ghetto was coined, which

described these places. Immigrant from different background or race crowded together and

gave rise to Ghettos. At that time US did not have control over its economy and Civil War debt

and additional monies borrowed to rehabilitate agriculture and commerce after the Civil War

was unpaid. As twentieth century progressed a concerted effort was made to clean up the

Ghettos and push people inland with free grant of land and promise of prosperity. Industrial

Revolution, which was slow in reaching America from Europe, finally arrived. And it made the

difference. It provided the much-needed jobs to the immigrants and colored. Also, free land in

the West gave rise to food self-sufficiency and paying off of all Civil War and post Civil War

debts. First World War gave US economy a boost and America joined the select group of

countries of Europe in prosperity. Poverty by the end of the Second World War was a thing of

the past. In just fifty years, i.e. by 1950, US were nation of 160 million souls, all prosperous and

all well employed (forget the habitual lazy). That does not mean that all the Ghettos

disappeared. They continued to exist. They exist today, but on a much lower scale. These are

not eyesores.

One critical factor which eliminated slums and poverty in US was quadrupling of the US

economy from 1900 to 1940. A free wheeling economy created industrial giants and a super rich

class. Need for war material during the WWII resulted in creation of huge industrial

infrastructure and innovation. Post war reconstruction in Europe added greater impetus to the

economy. General well being of the people living in the poorer section of the cities dramatically

improved. US raced ahead of Europe and are still ahead, 60 years after the WWII. In most

cities, ghettos disappeared or shrunk. Urban renewal and building boom in last sixty years has

completely changed the landscape of the country.

There is a parallel here. Poverty and slums in India are at the same level as they were in

beginning of the twentieth century in America. Economic growth over fifty years eliminated

them. It is possible in India too if the economy sustains the 8% growth trajectory.

Slums and the Great Briton

Great Briton was a great big slum before they became a colonial power in the nineteenth

century. For eight hundred years prior, until 1800s, Great Briton was an agrarian society, where

the lord lived happily in his Manor and Castles and the masses lived in a great squalor. Slums

were everywhere. London had the biggest slums. Colonization brought prosperity and prosperity

brought in a huge effort to improve the lot of the people and clean up of the cities. That is when

the unemployed and slum dwellers were pushed to newly developing industrial hubs of

Sheffield, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. Compared to that Delhi, Kolkata were

heavens. First slums in Kolkata appeared in 1850-70 as a result of systematic destruction of

textile industry in Bengal and destruction of trading infrastructure in and around Kolkata. Slums

elsewhere followed.

It took all the Victorian age from 1825 to 1900 to vanish poverty and slums in England. Their

GDP multiplied 8 times over this period. British factories produced goods and services which

were sold at profit in the in the colonies. Work for everybody in England was the cornerstone of

building well-serviced cities.

The point is that reduction of poverty and slums follow closely with economic development.

Faster the economic development, sooner will the poverty vanish and with it, the slums.

How did China handle its Poverty and Slums?

Chinese had a unique way of making slums disappear from its urban centers. Permit system to

live in a city or in a particular neighborhood was introduced just after the Communist took

control in 1949. That means that a migration of rural population to the urban areas in search of

jobs was arrested. In addition the war ravaged eastern provinces where rural population had

moved to the cities and into the slums, were emptied out. Nobody questioned Mao Tse Tung’s

wisdom; hence he had a free hand. People were permitted to return to their homes in the cities

only after proof of their residency had been established. Outsiders were sent back to their own

homes and land in the rural area. Future residency in the cities was permitted on a permit basis

only. Hence the major problem of unplanned urban squatting was prevented. Even today the

foregoing policy continues. The FDI built cities of Guangdong province carry on with the permit

system established in 1949. In order to move there, a person has to have a job and place to

reside. The latter could be a factory provided bunk bed. This prevents urban squatters. The

above is no comparison to how poverty was vanished in UK, US and elsewhere. Major

economic progress in last 20 years has re-invigorated the cities with investment and

reconstruction. Whether the same is true in the China’s rural areas is a debatable issue. China

likes to pretend that poverty has been removed. Published reports state otherwise.

(http://www.economist.com/World/asia/displayStory.cfm?story_id=5636460)

Urban Renewal In India

Urban renewal is in progress in India in a big way for the last 50 years. The British starved cities

in India of the funds for two hundred years. They only built regal palaces for themselves in

Delhi, Shimla and Kolkota. No new funds were made available to the people to renew and

rebuild, hence Moghul Delhi presented a decaying and a rundown look, when they finally left

India in 1947. The problem got compounded with migration of people from rural areas.

Expanding industry and commerce needed them hence migration was encouraged. Thus urban

slums and squatting began in a big way. Today, some estimates place 10 to 15% of Delhi

population as slum dwellers. Slums in Kolkata predate Delhi slums. So do the Mumbai slums.

They all began the same way – people’s livelihood was destroyed or they were invited to work in

factories without adequate housing. The problem grew acute with huge population growth after

1950. From 1950 to today, cities lacked funds to renew themselves and help build additional

housing. People lacked adequate jobs hence are caught in the poverty cycle.

Only recently a huge building and construction boom has started in all cities in India. Whereas

governments are concentrating on building infrastructure and industrial base, private

construction is building work places, shopping districts and housing for the middle class. The

poor and slum dwellers are not there in any building equation. Cheap housing projects are

lowest in the category. Hence slum dwelling has become a way of life.

The Spirit of Hope – Lessons from Dharavi Slums

Asia | Jan 21, 2010 | Comments 22

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There were times when tourists avoided traveling to cities in India due to the tackiness, stench,

and insecurity (post 2008 terrorist attacks). However, the tourism industry boosted after

Slumdog Millionaire snatched eight Oscars, and we were among the many Americans

foreigners who arrived on this cultural land to witness and compare the slumdogs in the movie

and reality.

Famously known as Reality Tours, Elisa and I decided to witness the paucity and griminess in

the streets of Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum vicinity in Mumbai, India. We hired an Indian guide,

Satish, who dwelled in the same filthiness, to get a closer and perfect tour around the area.

Prior to entering the poverty border, Satish informed us that over 55% of Mumbai’s population

dwelled in these slums, which was staggering figure of 1 million people.

We were taken to the nearby Leopold Café for tea and breakfast. This was more out of chance

than choice

because we had flat tires just after starting from

our hotel. 30 minutes later we were back on our seats and zoom we went.

Though the traffic signals revealed much about the poverty in the country, the sight of broken-

sheltered house under one of the railway crossovers was quite commiserating. Looking at the

diminutive shirtless boy treading around the shed, Satish told us that, children in poverty-struck

India aren’t sent to school for studying. Instead, they were sent to nearby construction sites to

work. Elisa couldn’t swallow the fact while I managed to persist a smile, but neither of us knew it

was just the beginning of a sympathizing and grief-stricken tour. This hut under the overpass

also served as a signal for most of the other boys to find their way home because they are not

basically from Mumbai.

Passing through the red light area of Mumbai, we didn’t see many females there as it was

morning hours. We halted at Dhobi Ghat, a huge, 136-year old washing area in Mumbai, where

thousands of men washed clothes by beating the damp clothes on systematically arranged

stones. It was quite a weird way of washing but we enjoyed it. People were joyous and seemed

to enjoy their job. We received few smiles while passing through them.

After a minute of dodging, we finally managed to cross the busy street and enter the never-

ending slums of Dharavi. From the first one to the last, every house can be defined as – a semi-

dark, small hut with knobless doors and varying crannies. Looking at the garbage-strewn

tapered pathways, we exchanged glances more than a couple of times. But I found Elisa as

astonished as I was. How could someone possibly spend their lives in such mess, stench,

poverty, dirtiness, and with happiness? Yes, people there, though not filled with ecstasy, were

quite content and happy.

At every door we got a welcoming smile. Following us throughout the tour was a small troop of

half-naked, skinny children asking for few rupees and food. Somewhere while sauntering

through the slums we halted at a fruit-seller and bought some oranges to distribute among

children. Before I could give the first one away, they snatched it and fought to get a diminutive

piece.

They were hungry, yet laughing. They were combating, yet with kindliness. We aren’t content

with many

luxuries we own. But these toddlers, unknown about

basic amenities are contented, cheerful, and with unvarying spark in their eyes. My heart was

filled with pity, affection, and love for people dwelling here with vigor and liveliness. I couldn’t

talk to Elisa, but I saw her wiping her damp eyes. Maybe her heart too was teeming with

compassion and empathy.

On our way back to hotel we were quiet, not yet ready to talk about the contradicting blend of

Dharavi. A young child, with numerous fresh, colorful roses in his hand, knocked the window of

my car and cheerfully persuaded us to buy few flowers. Hope is what’s keeping them alive and

going. I bought all of them and he gaily walked away with a smile.

Though it wasn’t a pleasing one, this excursion taught me few important lessons of life. With so

many things and achievements to enjoy, we are always grumbling and complaining. With so

many amenities and wealth, our cheerfulness is short-lived and very brief. In search of major

successes and accomplishments, we often overlook minute pleasures of life. They celebrate

Christmas, Diwali, and Eid with equal vigor and cheerfulness, while we, as individuals and

countries, keep fighting over minor issues. We have completely forgotten the concept of unity,

cooperativeness, and happiness. Hope is what we need, significantly.

How Long the Poor have to wait?

If the experience elsewhere is a guide then poverty, slums and urban squat will be a diminishing

phenomenon, if the rapid economic progress keeps its pace. Today we would have smaller of

the slums, had economic policies of the present were in place 50 years back. Only now, all

signs point to a rapidly rising GDP together with rising per capita GDP. With rise in income level,

tendency to head to the slums has lessened. Die-hard slum dwellers who wish to pay no taxes

and spend nothing on housing will most certainly continue to stay there. Others will prefer to

move out. This is a normal phenomenon. It happened in US and elsewhere. It will happen in

India too. An economic equilibrium has not been reached in the society yet, where enough

money in people’s pocket will persuade them to vacate the slums. This won’t we reached for

another 20 to 25 years. By about middle of this period with increased availability of housing and

higher incomes, the growth in slum dwelling will be arrested. Decline will begin only when much

higher incomes are reached (as stated above), provided India does not make the mistake of

regularizing the slums/bustees with land tenure on tenable land and other amenities. That is a

sure fire method to keep the slums going. People will always wait for free grant of land

ownership even if these grants never materialize. Even the possibility of this ever happening in

a distant future will keep the slum dwellers in the slums. 

Conclusion

Poverty, slums and urban squat are not going to go away in next 20 to 25 years. Reversal of

this phenomenon will begin after sufficient economic progress had been made. Eight percent

GDP growths is a good sign. With quadrupled GDP in 25 years, there is a good chance that the

new and upcoming generation may stay away from slum dwelling. It may take another 25 years

before the slums are vacated.

(The author is a retired Vice President from C-I-L Inc. and has lived in Canada for the past 34

years. A graduate of Punjab University and University of Missouri ; Rolla , USA , the author is a

former investment strategies analyst and international relations manager. The Views expressed

are his own. Email- [email protected])