DHARAVI, A ‘PLOTTED’ HISTORY

Long before it became one of the largest slum clusters in the world, Dharavi was a small fishing village. This ‘koliwada’ survives even today, though the aquatic life is long gone and much of the Mahim creek has been reclaimed

Dharavi was initially an outcrop of Parel island facing the Mahim island. Around three centuries ago, an embankment was built connecting Dharavi and Mahim to prevent seawater ingress and reclaim the area between the two islands

In the late 19th century, after the main abattoir of the city was shifted to Bandra (presentday Bandra depot), Maharashtrian Dalits like Dhors and Charmakars, and immigrants from Tamil Nadu like the Adi Dravidars, and Muslim tannery workers, began sourcing animal skins from the abattoir and started tanneries and leather units in Dharavi. Gradually, the place emerged as a hub for leather goods, earthen pottery, savouries, plastic goods and garments. It is also a recycling hub now

Dharavi is often called a “mini-India” as it has thousands of people whose ancestors migrated from other parts of Maharashtra as well as from UP, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, West Bengal and the Northeast. The area has a significant number of Hindu and Buddhist Dalits

Dharavi was the stomping ground of the dreaded 1970s don Varadarajan Mudaliar, a migrant from Tamil Nadu, during whose reign the area earned infamy as a hub for prostitution, bootlegging and extortion. Mudaliar’s character was the inspiration for movies like Nayakan (1987) and Dayavan (1988)

Dharavi has also been the backdrop for films like Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and Kaala (2018)