Monday. Dharavi and a $700m opportunity.

No photos today but, I hope some compelling reading.

Adrian and I left their apartment around 11 as he had to attempt to tackle the great machine that is the Indian Government to get his Work Permit renewed. Anyone who has some appreciation for how things work in India will appreciate the enormity of this task. He actually came out relatively unscathed after an hour or so, but of course will have to return for another match! We had lunch in a small place that basically serves street food but in more of a snack bar setting with tables etc. It was excellent and I was able to get my South Indian coffee to which I have become addicted. It is hot strong and sweet and made with milk.
We then went off to spend one of the most unusual afternoons of my life. We went on a tour of Dharavi

Dharavi
Dharavi is the biggest slum in India, and was the background for Slumdog Millionaire.
One would initially think that touring a slum (defined as a place where you can own the home but not the ground it sits on) would be voyeuristic and dangerous. Not so. The Tour Company that specializes in this is a registered charity that operates a community center in Dharavi and clearly has a good working relationship with the residents. They have a no camera policy, which they believe, and I agree really helps with their community relations.
Dharavi is two square kilometers and officially houses 1million people, but unofficial estimates are about 1.3 million. It is the most densely populated part of Mumbai and Mumbai is one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
Our guide took a party of 7 of us, and another guide followed with a party of 8. I understand that they will do a total of 4 tours a day with this size of group. One guy in the other group was wearing a Carolina hat and is from Raleigh!
As well as residences there is a huge amount of business in Dharavi with a total of 15,000 individual businesses that range from manufacturing machinery to recycling plastic to making clay pots. The guide claimed that it generates approx US$700 million a year. My skepticism suggests that if the population is understated by 30% then the income is probably understated when you consider unreported income and then try to better define how the number is calculated. Regardless there is a huge amount going on and a huge number of people are employed. Certainly not OSHA of HSE compliant working conditions but work none the less.
We visited a company that made machines that shred plastic with lathes and drilling machines and grinders. These are sold all over the world and also to people like our next visit which was a company that brings plastic in, sorts, shreds and cleans it to recycle into plastic pellets to make car body parts, refrigerator panels etc. Their material supply comes from India, the USA and China, with some from Europe as well.
We also visited a small (maybe 10x20ft) operation that makes wooden shrines, both Muslim and Hindu and a bakery next door that supply pastries to local business in Mumbai, all neatly packaged. We saw leather tanning operations, clothing manufacture and clay pot making.
Certainly not all of the businesses are owned by Dharavi residents, some are owned by Mumbai businessmen, but I did not see anybody who looked downtrodden or depressed, particularly the kids.
We then went on through the residential areas. This is a maze of small passages that are less than 3 feet wide with rooms and homes every few feet. All homes have electricity available and meters, and city water is available to every fourth house for 3 hours a day. There is no schedule as to which 3 hours so retired people are the water watchers, and the residents have to get their supply and store it when it is available.
We visited a small Muslim run private school. It is open to all denominations. Dharavi is 50% Hindu, 30% Muslim and 10% Christian as best I remember and is, and has been extraordinarily peaceful and there appears to be a high level of harmony and tolerance. There is a place for prayer that is non denominational at one of the many entrances to Dharavi. There are tiles with images of the various gods on them and you pray to the one you believe in.
It is an incredible place and defies description. There is a maze of these passages that lead all over the residential section and it is, as you can imagine streaming with people young and old. Many of the little kids want to know your name, shake you hand or hold your hand for a couple of moments and the vast majority of the kids had a big smile and an incredibly positive outlook for living where they do.
The tour is not for the faint of heart but everything is discussed in a positive light with facts to back up the material presented.
There are efforts being made to change at least some of the area to residential housing and apartments but the cost of real estate makes this impractical and the level of employment and integration of the businesses would make it nearly impossible to relocate the whole thing successfully.
There are apartment blocks close by where the rent is 7500 to 10,000 rupees a month, and this will not work if you earn 200 rupees a day. More normal rents in Dharavi are 2500 rupees, which is still a lot, when the school is 200 rupees per child (incidentally the kids have uniforms!). There is certainly no clear solution and though it is hard to believe the residents seem happy based on what I saw in a short 2-hour tour.
I think that the tour company does a very credible job and is sincere in their desire to tell the story, and help the Dharavi residents with computer programs and training and some support services through the Community Center.