In
the heart of the metropolitan city of Mumbai lies Dharavi, one of Asia's largest slums.
Spread over 535 acres the area is unique for housing about 4,500 industrial units. Some
famous industries are located here, including tanneries, leatherworkers, potteries,
garment makers and even chemical plants.
In June 2007, the government floated global tenders for the 90-billion-rupee Slum-free
Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP). It has since run into rough weather.
The project envisages undertaking about 70 million square feet of construction. Some 30
million square feet of that will be for residential space and amenities, whereas the
remaining 40 million square feet will be put up for sale.
About 4,500 industrial units will be rehabilitated in the designated commercial area.
Polluting units, such as the leather industry, will be shifted elsewhere, and only
non-polluting and non-hazardous units would be allowed to stay. Around 57,000 new houses
with an area of 225 square feet will be built for the residents of Dharavi.
The
people of Dharavi are opposed to the rehabilitation project. They have formed Dharavi
Bachao Samiti (Save Dharavi) to voice their grievance to the government.
Locals feel that their livelihoods are threatened by the rehabilitation plan. The housing
area allotted to them under the DRP -- 225 square feet -- is smaller than their existing
houses, which are 500 to 1,000 square feet in area.
Recently, I visited the unique Prajapati kumbhar, which is comprised of the community of
potters located in the kumbharwada area of Dharavi.
There are about 1,000 potters in Dharavi. They are migrants whose forefathers left their
hometowns in Gujarat, in western India, during the 1930s, in search of better earnings and
livelihoods in Mumbai city.
Pottery
was once a thriving industry, but not anymore, according to Kanthilal (who asked that I
not use his real name), a potter in his mid-thirties who lives with his wife, children,
unmarried brothers and sisters, and aging parents in a dilapidated shanty about 600 square
feet in area. Kanthilal says pottery is no longer a lucrative business as market demands
for pots is fast diminishing. As this is the only trade Kanthilal has inherited from his
father, he has no option but to carry on pottery despite the low return.
Basically, pots are made out of mud and clay and rolled and shaped by hand with the help
of rotating wheels. Pottery making, which involves a certain deftness and craftsmanship,
is considered an age-old traditional art in India.
In the past people stored drinking water in pots, which helped to cool it, but
refrigerator water bottles have replaced pots. Tea is no longer served in pots on trains,
having been replaced by disposable plastic cups. Even clay flowerpots are slowly being
replaced by much lighter and unbreakable plastic ones.
The
demand for pottery today is seasonal; for example, for festivals like Diwali, the festival
of lights that takes place in October-November, when clay lamps are used to light houses.
Kanthilal said that most of the members of his community are opting out of pottery for
other trades as it has become extremely difficult for them to survive on their meager
earning of about $250 per month. Potters average around $2,500 a year in earnings.
Kanthilal does not want his children to follow in his footsteps but to look for better
opportunities after completing their educations.
Kanthilal is opposed to the controversial DRP. The smaller living area would be too small
to accommodate his extended family and his pottery business.
The government seems determined to go ahead with the DRP. Thousands of potters like
Kanthilal are bracing for a grim future. At stake are not only the age-old traditional of
pottery making but the very existence of the kumbhar (potter) community.
- Rajen Nair
(Published in OhMyNews)
|
