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Dharavi
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Dharavi (Portuguese spelling Daravi British Anglicised spelling Darravy, Dorrovy) is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra(E), Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. Sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, is Dharavi. Spread over an area of 175 hectares, Dharavi has a population of more than 600,000 people according to the Time Magazine. BBC suggests it is home to over 1 million people.
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Encyclopedia
Dharavi (Portuguese spelling Daravi British Anglicised spelling Darravy, Dorrovy) is a slum and administrative ward, over parts of Sion, Bandra(E), Kurla and Kalina suburbs of Mumbai, India. Sandwiched between Mahim in the west and Sion in the east, is Dharavi. Spread over an area of 175 hectares, Dharavi has a population of more than 600,000 people according to the Time Magazine. BBC suggests it is home to over 1 million people. Dharavi is considered "Asia's largest slum", but is now rivalled within Mumbai itself by several other slum pockets in terms of size and squalor, and by Orangi Town in Karachi, Pakistan.
In expensive Mumbai, Dharavi provides a cheap, but illegal, alternative where rents can be as low as 4 US dollars per month. Dharavi exports goods around the world. The total turnover is estimated to be more than 650 million US dollars.
Geography
Dharavi is located 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.
History
The area of present-day Dharavi was predominantly mangrove swamp prior to the late 19th century, inhabited by Koli fishermen. However, the fishing industry disappeared when the swamp areas filled in. 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, the creek dried up, and Dharavi's fishing town was deprived of its traditional sustenance, but the newly drained marshes provided space for new communities to move in. Migrants from Gujarat established a potters' colony, and Muslim tanners from Tamil Nadu 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.
Economy
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. Financial services is significant; the district has an estimated 15,000 single-room factories..
An urban redevelopment plan is proposed for the Dharavi area, managed by American-trained architect Mukesh Mehta. The plan involves the construction of 30 million square feet of housing, schools, parks and roads to serve the existing 57,000 families residing in the area, along with 40 million square feet 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 of land each. Furthermore, only those families who lived in the area before the year 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."
Sanitation issues
Dharavi has severe problems with public health, due to the scarcity of toilet facilities, compounded by the flooding during the monsoon season. 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 disease. The area also suffers from problems with inadequate water supply..
Media depiction
- Dharavi has also been depicted in films from other Indian film industries, particularly the Tamil film industry. Several films by Mani Ratnam based on the experiences of Tamil immigrants to Mumbai have depicted the Dharavi slum, including Nayagan (1987) and Bombay (1995).
Further reading
- Sharma, Kalpana; "Rediscovering Dharavi: Story From Asia's Largest Slum" (2000) —Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-100023-6
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- and , The Economist, 19 December2007
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- Prakash M Apte; "Dharavi:India's Model Slum" www.planetizen.com/node/35269
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