As redevelopment by Adani group becomes biggest election issue for Mumbai, 3 Dharavi reporters tell facts & myths.
Video Editor: Kriti Saxena
“No matter what government it is, redevelopment has to happen. There are 7×8 feet houses where families live with 2-3 children. The kitchen, sleeping everything is in that much space. What is this life?” said Yunus Sheikh, a resident of Dharavi who was born in the slum clusters in 1970, and has been living there since.
About a decade ago, Sheikh and his family received a new accommodation in one of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects, a 350 sq feet apartment in Dharavi itself. The housing apartment he lives in was one of the several attempts at redeveloping Asia’s largest slum over the years.
Throughout the conversation, Sheikh kept insisting on the drastic transformation that one’s life goes through with mere basic facilities like uninterrupted supply of water and electricity.
The Adani Group, led by business tycoon Gautam Adani, is set to redevelop 300 acres of the slum cluster. As per details made publicly known so far, Dharavi will be transformed into not just better residences but a twonship with schools, hospitals, roads, community centres and open spaces. So, what could possibly be the opposition?
The issue is not as complex to understand as it looks, and Dharavi is not as easy to redevelop as it sounds. And with the Maharashtra Assembly elections due, the issue is the biggest poll plank of Opposition parties.
With thousands of different perspectives floating around, we spoke to three reporters who are born in Dharavi, have lived there all their lives and are reporting on issues of Dharavi — Afaque Ahmad, Aashiq Ali Syed, and Ishwar Tathawde.
