Adani to transform Mumbai's biggest slum, but are residents happy?

Dharavi Redevelopment: Three bids received for Rs 23,000 crore facelift of Asia's largest slum

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Mumbai: Adani Group won the bidding for the project, starting the redevelopment process of Dharavi, Mumbai’s largest slum colony. Locals, however, are not particularly happy with the idea of redevelopment and have a number of reservations about it, with some arguing that the area will lose its “international identity” because a large number of foreigners visit it as tourists.

The majority of locals said they were happy with the way things were now and expressed fear that the redevelopment would harm Dharavi’s famous small businesses. They claim that they are not sure what will be provided to them after the reconstruction.

At the heart of the nation’s financial center, Dharavi is home to several small, unorganized businesses that produce goods including medicine, leather, clothing and footwear. It is considered one of the largest slums in Asia.

The 259-hectare Dharavi redevelopment project has received the highest bid from The Adani Group. SVR Srinivas, CEO of the project, announced on Tuesday that the group had submitted a proposal of Rs 5,069 crore for the redevelopment of one of the world’s largest slums, beating DLF, which had offered Rs 2,025 crore.

According to him, the bid is for the complete Rs 20,000 crore project, which will take a total of seven years to complete and will rehabilitate 6.5 million slum dwellers who now occupy an area of 2.5 sq km.

More than 2,000 idli sellers live in Dharavi and travel around Mumbai to sell the snack for a living, he said.

“But after the redevelopment, such small businesses may be overwhelmed. Those involved in the production of farsan (salty snacks), leather goods, embroidered garments, imitation jewelry, among others, will be finished. The value of the houses may increase, but there is a strong It is possible that most of them will sell the property and leave the place,” he said.

President of Dharavi Bachao Andolan, Ramakant Gupta, said, “The redevelopment project should be completed on time. The Dharavi Rehabilitation Project (DRP) was approved in 2004 but nothing has happened so far. In 1995 there were 57,000 shacks in the slum, but now the number has doubled and we estimate it to be around 1,20,000.”

“About 50 percent Dharavi residents run small businesses from their houses and the population is around 12 lakh. We welcome the government’s decision but it should be implemented in time,” he said.

With inputs from PTI

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