It happens only in India that the government wants to develop a slum and improve the lives of the slum dwellers, but the very same people oppose it. For years, the Adani Dharavi Redevelopment Project has been surrounded by protests fuelled by anti-development politicians. Recently, the Congress party held a “Dharavi Nyay Yatra” in the slum area against the Dharavi redevelopment project giving a clear indication that a controversy is being stirred to gain political mileage.
#Maharashtra l Maharashtra #Congress holds #DharaviNyayYatra in Mumbai's #Dharavi spearheaded by Lok Sabha MP Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad).@INCMaharashtra @INCIndia #Mumbai #MaharashtraElection2024 #MaharashtraPolitics #Adani #ModiGovernment #Mahayuti #MahaVikasAghadi pic.twitter.com/xaqJ6xLBOY
— Lokmat Times Nagpur (@LokmatTimes_ngp) August 18, 2024
As the protests and the politics around it are dead set on stalling India’s development trajectory, it is pertinent to understand what the project is, and how it will transform the lives of the dwellers of Dharavi: Asia’s largest slum.
Dharavi Slum Redevelopment Project and the unending politics
In 2022, the Adani Group won the bid for the project, which plans to refurbish this 2.4 square kilometre slum area in Maharashtra into a modern township with residential, commercial, and industrial spaces. The Adani Group won the bid as it quoted Rs 5,069 crore for the project, while the DLF Group offered Rs 2,025 crore.
On every step, this project and Adani Group had to face the political backlash orchestrated by Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Congress party. In December last year, it was reported that former Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray led a protest alleging favour to Adani Group in connection with the Dharavi redevelopment project. These allegations, however, were outrightly rejected by the Adani Group which said that the project for the redevelopment of the Dharavi slum in Mumbai was awarded to the Adani Group through a fair, open, and internationally competitive bidding process. The group highlighted that the tender conditions were finalised when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government was in power.
Similarly, Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad had levelled land-grabbing allegations against Adani Group’s joint venture Dharavi Redevelopment Project Private Ltd (DRPPL) with the Maharashtra government. However, it was found that land parcels would only be transferred to the state government’s housing department through the Dharavi Redevelopment Project/Slum Rehabilitation Authority (DRP/SRA) and not to the Adani Group.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress also alleged that the slum dwellers will be uprooted from their shanties and will not be resettled, however, this claim was false and misleading since the state government’s 2022 directive provides for a condition that each tenement holder of Dharavi, will be provided a home regardless of their eligibility. Despite the repeated clarifications, the MVA leaders are hell-bent on peddling falsehoods and attacking the project aimed at transforming the lives of Dharavi slum dwellers. In July this year, Uddhav Thackeray ‘vowed’ to scrap the Dharavi redevelopment project after coming to power, expressing his disdain for the Adani Group, Thackeray asserted that he would not let Mumbai become “Adani City”.
The Adani-led DRPPL has announced that eligible residential tenements in Dharavi will receive flats with separate kitchens and toilets measuring at least 350 sq ft, 17%larger than Mumbai’s other slum redevelopment projects. Alongside residential units, the project will include community halls, recreational places, public gardens, dispensaries, day-care centres, schools and hospitals. Those ineligible would be provided homes in other areas including Kurla and Mulund.
Dharavi’s dense expanse of shanties spread across 240 hectares in a prominent Central Mumbai location, is home to about 800,000 residents and over 13,000 small businesses. Notably, the rehabilitation of Dharavi is estimated to cost around Rs 23,000 crore. The project envisages resettling 650,000 eligible slum dwellers within a 2.5-square-kilometre area, with the whole project anticipated to be concluded in 7 to 8 years.
Notably, the eligibility criteria set by DRPPL states that ground-floor tenants who resided in Dharavi before 2000 will receive a free flat measuring at least 350 square feet. Higher-floor dwellers, or those who resided there between 2000 and 2011, would receive a 300-square-foot home for a single payment of 250,000 rupees, located within 10 kilometres of Dharavi. Those who relocated to Dharavi after 2011 will be given a 300-square-foot home within the same radius, but they must pay rent to the government.
Dharavikars should live in poverty so the MVA can come into power
Merely boasting the $1 billion annual turnover of Dharavi’s informal economy does not change the fact that the slum dwellers live in cramped shanties under challenging conditions including those pertaining to gas, water, electricity, sanitation, drainage etc. It is claimed that the flats the DRPPL would provide to the Dharavikars would become dirty even though it would be human fault and that the space in the 350 sq ft. flats would not be enough. Exploiting such concerns Shiv Sena UBT leader Aditya Thackeray recently announced that MVA will scrap the Dharavi redevelopment project if residents are not provided 500 sq ft houses.
While Dharavi has witnessed a reduction in crimes compared to the era of organised crimes in the 1980s-90s, criminal activities in the slum area remain a concern, especially drug peddling. Even as the people of Dharavi grapple with the grim realities of the slums, the MVA politicians want to polish their politics by inciting the local people by various means.
These political leaders want the people of Dharavi to rot in poverty yet celebrate it in the name of the “industrial hub” like how the suffocating struggle in jampacked metro trains and overcrowded stations is passed off as the “Spirit of Mumbai”. While the BJP-Shiv Sena government led by CM Eknath Shinde and the Adani Group want Dharavi to produce millionaires without the “slumdog” prefix, the anti-development parties want the Dharavikars to become their “slumdog vote banks”.
Probably, the opposition wants the illegal criminal activities and disgusting “slum tourism” to thrive and Dharavikars to live in squalor while they remain ensconced in their high-end residences in posh areas. While the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” brought Dharavi to the centre of global attention, tour and travel agencies have literally launched a new segment of tourism in the state. They are earning a handsome income out of showcasing the poverty of Dharavi.
The opposition leaders and those who benefit from the current state of Dharavikars are capitalising on genuine concerns and uncertainties among Dharavi residents regarding evacuation and rehabilitation. While some of the concerns may be valid and DRPPL should address their concerns, the politicisation of the project hints at a deliberate attempt to stall the project as its potential success might benefit not only the Dharavikars but also the ruling government. Ironically, the Congress party which literally won elections on the “Gareebi Hatao” slogans does not want the same to happen in Dharavi.
Shiv Sena (UBT) and its perpetual opposition to crucial development projects
Incidentally, this is not the first time that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has opposed a much-needed infrastructure project in the state. Back in 2020, Mumbai Metro Line 3 project required the construction of a car shed for maintenance and operations. The original plan was to build this car shed in the Aarey Colony which would have improved the public transportation system in the city., however, several ‘activists’, Bollywood stars and the Shiv Sena (UBT) vehemently opposed the project in the name of saving the “green lungs” of the city. The liberal ecosystem had lauded then-state minister Aaditya Thackeray for “saving” the Aarey Forest. The step taken by the then-Maharatra government led by the Maha Vikas Agaadi (MVA) alliance was celebrated by environmentalists and elite Mumbaikars.
While in a classic case of “If you can’t build it, stall it”, the MVA stalled the Aarey project leaving the Mumbaikars grappling with traffic congestion, it was only after BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena came to power that the project was shifted back from Kanjurmarg to Aarey. This decision was later cleared by the Supreme Court. Presently, the project has neared completion. Other than the Aarey Project, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government had also caused delays in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project which would have immensely benefitted the people.
Dharavi needs development, not dirty votebank politics
Votebank politics has become an inextricable element of Indian politics. So much so, that even much-needed infrastructure development projects are opposed by stoking imaginary apprehensions and peddling lies. Studies show that the life expectancy in Dharavi is around 40 years while the urban life expectancy in Maharashtra is around 75 and the national average is around 67 years.
If not the above discussion, these numbers should raise the eyebrows. Beyond “slum tourism” and the “spirit of Mumbai”, Dharavi’s hub of legal and illegal businesses offers hazardous working conditions for the slum dwellers working as artisans, or recycling plastic etc in small places. In most cases, there are no separate work and living spaces. It has been reported how in a single hutment multiple businesses are run with substandard safety measures in place. Besides, several reports say that in Dharavi there are only 1000 toilets for 1 million residents.
While there is a genuine concern that 300 sq ft flats are sufficient for residing but for work, the people need bigger spaces and this needs to be effectively addressed by the authorities, demanding the scrapping of the project or stalling it is absolutely unacceptable. Calling the plight of Dharavikars some sort of “spirit” is nothing but a mockery of their deplorable lives and serves no purpose beyond politics. Beyond building new houses, the Dharavi redevelopment project is about building new and dignified lives for those compelled to live in the squalor.
Dharavi has the potential to become another Bandra Kurla Complex which once was a marshland. If the project manages to deliver the promises made in the project by transforming the “Slumbai” of Mumbai into a modern city alongside preserving and promoting the local micro-enterprises and small industries, the Dharavi redevelopment project will become a template for future slum development initiatives.
With its effective execution, the Dharavi project could serve as a model for redeveloping other huge slums in India, demonstrating how urban places can be altered while assuring the rehabilitation of their existing residents. Dharavi’s redevelopment has the potential to considerably enhance Mumbai’s economy further bolstering Maharashtra’s economic growth. The development of new housing, commercial spaces, and infrastructure will boost employment opportunities and economic activity, cementing Mumbai’s reputation as a global commercial hub.
Most importantly, the project has the potential to significantly improve the lives of lakhs of people by providing improved housing, sanitation, and healthcare. Moreover, it may lead to improved educational and job opportunities for residents, thus narrowing the socioeconomic split. Furthermore, it will serve to reduce, if not eliminate, criminal activities in the Dharavi slums. Also, since Dharavi is situated in a prime location in Mumbai, its redevelopment has the potential to leave a positive impact on the real estate market.
All this, however, is possible only when the project’s stakeholders including the government, the Adani Group and the people of Dharavi have clear communication and resolve the issues that arise. Meanwhile, the opposition needs to shun its hallmark “anti-development” approach aimed at building vote banks in the name of nurturing the so-called ‘spirit’ of Dharavi and cooperate with the authorities in the much-needed transformation of Dharavi and the lives of Dharavikars.
