3 days ago
Dharavi's Factory Owners Anxious About Revamp
Mumbai: Jameelbhai Khan runs a thriving garment business from six factories in the sprawling slum of Dharavi, among the largest in Asia. He has around 15 tailors stitching tops and kurtis for women from designs sourced from malls.
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These are sold at the wholesale market in Bandra's Ghas Bazaar at just Rs 200 and find their way into Mumbai's retail shops. His turnover is a stunning Rs 30 lakh per month.
Khan is part of Dharavi's booming economic engine. The slum, which is on the cusp of one of the largest urban transformation projects in the world, is home to scores of cottage industries ranging from leather, garments and embroidery to pottery, printing, snacks and scrap recycling.
Its leather trade is a hub for corporate gifting—churning out wallets, keychains, passport holders, satchels and pouches. The turnover of Dharavi's trade runs into crores, with products travelling to other states and even overseas. Besides, it generates employment for thousands, mainly migrant workers.
Jameelbhai has refused to participate in the survey being conducted to identify those eligible for resettlement in the Dharavi redevelopment project.
"They have given us no information on the plan. We do not know what will happen to our factories and if they will have to shift out," he says.
The pottery hub of Kumbharwada and 13 compound area, known for scrap recycling, have also opposed the survey.
The recently cleared masterplan of Adani-led Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) aims to transform the slum sprawl into a well-connected urban zone by integrating residential, industrial and commercial areas with open spaces.
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It estimates that 13,468 industrial and commercial units will need to be constructed within Dharavi free of cost for eligible tenants. The total indicative number of industrial, retail and commercial tenements is 20,000 (the survey is still on). Five tentative industrial clusters have been planned.
Yet, there is a wave of anxiety among Dharavi's entrepreneurs about whether their factories and workplaces will be accommodated in the revamp.
Through most of Dharavi, living and working spaces co-exist, with families living on the ground floor of the tenement and factories or workshops accommodated on the mezzanine or upper storeys.
The crux of their concern is that only ground floor structures which existed till the cut-off date of Jan 1, 2000, will be eligible for rehabilitation in Dharavi free of cost. They are eligible for a 350 sq ft residential space or a 225 sq m commercial space.
Typically, owners of upper-floor tenements in slums have been deemed illegal and excluded from slum rehabilitation projects.
As an exception, the Dharavi project offers those living in upper floors the choice of 300 sq ft rental housing outside Dharavi in Deonar or the salt pan lands of Kanjurmarg, Mulund or Bhandup.
But what about commercial spaces like workshops and factories operating from upper floors? Officials say these will be accommodated in Dharavi itself on the payment of a nominal lease rent with the cutoff date of Nov 2022.
There will be no limit on the space they want to take. Those who get the free 225 sq metre space can rent additional space here too.
"Ten per cent of the rehab generated has been kept aside for commercial use within Dharavi itself. Those with factories and workshops on mezzanine and upper floors can be accommodated here," said a source linked to the project.
But factory owners are worried about rental costs. Also, migrant labourers live and work in the factories and the revamp also raises questions about where they will go.
"I own three factories in Dharavi and have around 30 workers living there. I don't pay rent. If I have to start paying rent, then my costs will shoot up. Where will my workers live? Will these commercial spaces accommodate them?" asks Abdulais Shaikh of Sana Leather works which has a turnover of around Rs 20 lakh.
Those who rent the upper story of a tenement to set up a factory will remain vulnerable. "A segment of factories here rent space.
The owner of the tenement will now claim the upper floors as his own to access rental housing for his family," says Raju Korde from the Dharavi Bachao Andolan which is protesting against the DRP.
The Dharavi Bachao Andolan has questioned the data in the ongoing survey which has so far counted 72,000 eligible tenements. "In our estimation, there are around 1 lakh tenements but if you count the upper floors, the number goes up to around 2 lakh.
Where will they all go?" asks Korde.
The lack of information on what is being planned continues to drive resistance to the project. "We need to be told what is coming and how we will be accommodated. What is the cost of renting these commercial spaces? They should invite our suggestions and objections to the plan. Till then we will oppose the survey," says Jameelbhai Khan.
