Yesterday afternoon, we did something that we were not keen to do when we first arrived in India. We felt that attending a tour around Dhavari, the biggest slum in Asia by population, would feel intrusive, even voyeuristic, and were not comfortable with the idea. However, after some thought and reading positive reviews of tours performed by an NGO, we decided to book and visit Dhavari.
I do not like the word "slum"; the word evokes an a place without hope, productivity and creates a negative image of the people who live there. Slum is, however, the widely used expression by people in Mumbai, including the tour organisers who run a charity working in Dhavari, so we'll have to live with it.
Dharavi is a 5 star slum, but the statistics are still shocking. In Dhavari, up to one million people (total population estimates vary) live in an area of approximately 500 acres. Dharavi's population density is 20 times that of Mumbai in total, which is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Dhavari is, though, famous for its industry and the total annual turnover from goods made inside Dharavi is estimated at over $500m. Our tour took us through many different areas of Dharavi to see the various industries at work.
One rule of our tour was "no cameras" out of respect for the people living there. The pictures that I've included at the end of this blog post (coming soon!) are those provided by the NGO, Reality, which ran the tour.
We met at Mahim Station to join with our tour group (six people in total) and crossed the bridge over the railtracks to enter the slum. We were told that many of the residents are single men who live in Dhavari for 10 months of the year, travelling from poor parts of India, to work, save and return to their families for two months a year during the monsoon. They sleep in the factories and therefore have little to no living costs. The daily wages, though, may only be 100 to 150 rupees per day (£1 to £1.50).
We walked first round the industrial area of Dharavi, seeing plastic recycling (nothing is wasted), metal recycling, biscuit making, poppadum making, leather tanning and bag making, pottery, basket weaving and more. These products are sold in Mumbai, elsewhere in India and even abroad. The overall impression was of people who are busy and working hard. The conditions that we saw often felt medieval, with no concept of health and safely, but the mood was not one of misery. People appeared stoic in their work and they were not bothered by our presence, just keen to get things done.
We asked our guide who confirmed that the life expectancy for these workers is low, between 50 and 60, which is unsurprising given the conditions. We saw men whose job was to stir big pots of molten metal and plastic; it felt unhealthy to be near these for a minute, never mind days, weeks, months or years. We were struck by the skill of some of the people that we saw, some of the pottery makers from Gujarat were extremely deft in their pot making.
It was clear from our visit that the risk of fire is significant and extremely dangerous. There are open flames everywhere and the buildings are very close together. Fire would spread quickly and lethally in this area.
We also visited the residential areas of Dharavi. The space per person is extremely limited - living there is hard to imagine - but we were greeted warmly and the impression was one of close family life rather than discomfort. We saw lots of children who, whilst clearly poor, were cheerful and running around and not begging like many on the streets.
Dharavi is split into a Muslim and Hindu area which have a different feel; the Hindu area is more colourful and generally more affluent. We found it interesting to hear from our guide that the division and tensions have eased significantly since the struggles of 1992, partly because the new generation of residents is now more focused on making money than religious difference. For example, he showed us how Muslim men will happily make wooden Hindu shrines to sell to make an income. The desire to increase wealth and prospects has increased in value in society.
We had the opportunity to climb onto a rooftop and survey Dharavi from a height. This was a special experience and the juxtaposition of the corrugated tin rooftops in the foreground and the swish apartments and office blocks in the background, beyond the slum boundaries, is stark. We were told that the government has been trying to clear parts of Dharavi for some time, including building apartment blocks to move residents. The more savvy residents, however, moved into these apartments, then moved back to the slum to rent their apartments and make more money! Dharavi is located on valuable land, but has been home to generations of the same families for over 100 years, so the matter of the future of this area is very complex.
If I had to pick my least favourite bit of Dhavari, it would be the open creek which runs through the centre of the area. To put it bluntly, this is an open sewer for all human and any other waste from Dhavari and, in thirty degree heat, the smell is extremely bad. There are houses built all the way up to the edge of the creek, and the impact on the health of the people living there must be severe. The creek, the sewer of Dhavari, runs directly out into the sea. Lovely. This reinforces my view that one should never go for a paddle in the sea, however tempting it might be.
Our guide was from the local area and spoke very good English. His treatment of other people in Dharavi was respectful and we felt comfortable with the way that the tour was performed. He told us about the NGO, Reality, which runs the tours and channels 80% of the tour cost back into it's NGO activities, which includes a school run within Dhavari which we visited as part of the tour. There is only one government school in Dharavi, so the more free education and opportunities that can be provided for young people, the better. Reality also provides support such as free health education for expectant mothers and food packs for the elderly, all very valuable contributions to the area.
Overall, we found our trip to Dhavari to be an uplifting experience and tastefully run by Reality. We would happily recommend this tour to others.
I do not like the word "slum"; the word evokes an a place without hope, productivity and creates a negative image of the people who live there. Slum is, however, the widely used expression by people in Mumbai, including the tour organisers who run a charity working in Dhavari, so we'll have to live with it.
Dharavi is a 5 star slum, but the statistics are still shocking. In Dhavari, up to one million people (total population estimates vary) live in an area of approximately 500 acres. Dharavi's population density is 20 times that of Mumbai in total, which is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Dhavari is, though, famous for its industry and the total annual turnover from goods made inside Dharavi is estimated at over $500m. Our tour took us through many different areas of Dharavi to see the various industries at work.
One rule of our tour was "no cameras" out of respect for the people living there. The pictures that I've included at the end of this blog post (coming soon!) are those provided by the NGO, Reality, which ran the tour.
We met at Mahim Station to join with our tour group (six people in total) and crossed the bridge over the railtracks to enter the slum. We were told that many of the residents are single men who live in Dhavari for 10 months of the year, travelling from poor parts of India, to work, save and return to their families for two months a year during the monsoon. They sleep in the factories and therefore have little to no living costs. The daily wages, though, may only be 100 to 150 rupees per day (£1 to £1.50).
Start of Dhavari from Mahim station side. This does not accurately reflect the density of the housing in Dharavi which is far greater than shown on this photograph.
Mosque
Road on the edge of Dhavari - taken from the bridge before our cameras were put away
We walked first round the industrial area of Dharavi, seeing plastic recycling (nothing is wasted), metal recycling, biscuit making, poppadum making, leather tanning and bag making, pottery, basket weaving and more. These products are sold in Mumbai, elsewhere in India and even abroad. The overall impression was of people who are busy and working hard. The conditions that we saw often felt medieval, with no concept of health and safely, but the mood was not one of misery. People appeared stoic in their work and they were not bothered by our presence, just keen to get things done.
We asked our guide who confirmed that the life expectancy for these workers is low, between 50 and 60, which is unsurprising given the conditions. We saw men whose job was to stir big pots of molten metal and plastic; it felt unhealthy to be near these for a minute, never mind days, weeks, months or years. We were struck by the skill of some of the people that we saw, some of the pottery makers from Gujarat were extremely deft in their pot making.
It was clear from our visit that the risk of fire is significant and extremely dangerous. There are open flames everywhere and the buildings are very close together. Fire would spread quickly and lethally in this area.
We also visited the residential areas of Dharavi. The space per person is extremely limited - living there is hard to imagine - but we were greeted warmly and the impression was one of close family life rather than discomfort. We saw lots of children who, whilst clearly poor, were cheerful and running around and not begging like many on the streets.
Dharavi is split into a Muslim and Hindu area which have a different feel; the Hindu area is more colourful and generally more affluent. We found it interesting to hear from our guide that the division and tensions have eased significantly since the struggles of 1992, partly because the new generation of residents is now more focused on making money than religious difference. For example, he showed us how Muslim men will happily make wooden Hindu shrines to sell to make an income. The desire to increase wealth and prospects has increased in value in society.
We had the opportunity to climb onto a rooftop and survey Dharavi from a height. This was a special experience and the juxtaposition of the corrugated tin rooftops in the foreground and the swish apartments and office blocks in the background, beyond the slum boundaries, is stark. We were told that the government has been trying to clear parts of Dharavi for some time, including building apartment blocks to move residents. The more savvy residents, however, moved into these apartments, then moved back to the slum to rent their apartments and make more money! Dharavi is located on valuable land, but has been home to generations of the same families for over 100 years, so the matter of the future of this area is very complex.
If I had to pick my least favourite bit of Dhavari, it would be the open creek which runs through the centre of the area. To put it bluntly, this is an open sewer for all human and any other waste from Dhavari and, in thirty degree heat, the smell is extremely bad. There are houses built all the way up to the edge of the creek, and the impact on the health of the people living there must be severe. The creek, the sewer of Dhavari, runs directly out into the sea. Lovely. This reinforces my view that one should never go for a paddle in the sea, however tempting it might be.
Our guide was from the local area and spoke very good English. His treatment of other people in Dharavi was respectful and we felt comfortable with the way that the tour was performed. He told us about the NGO, Reality, which runs the tours and channels 80% of the tour cost back into it's NGO activities, which includes a school run within Dhavari which we visited as part of the tour. There is only one government school in Dharavi, so the more free education and opportunities that can be provided for young people, the better. Reality also provides support such as free health education for expectant mothers and food packs for the elderly, all very valuable contributions to the area.
Overall, we found our trip to Dhavari to be an uplifting experience and tastefully run by Reality. We would happily recommend this tour to others.
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