Former boxing champion Mike Tyson wished to visit the Taj Mahal and Dharavi, two places in India. His first visit was in the late 1970s, when he was lured to the city by opportunity and optimism in the diamond trade. Dharavi was a melting pot of diverse beliefs, cultures, and languages, with the industrial atmosphere and the soul of Dharavi providing order.The visit to Dharavi was both humbling and disturbing. The community’s struggle for survival was inspiring, but it also raised questions about their fate. Dharavi, like a human quilt, reminded of Mumbai’s ability to embrace settlers of different origins but also a grim reminder of a community living in urban squalor, waiting for revival.
Dharavi presents a historic opportunity to create a new Dharavi with dignity, safety, and inclusiveness. Despite facing colossal challenges, it is a trailblazing solution to Singapore’s housing crisis in the 1960s, and it is a unique project in its own right, Dharavi is a unique project in a league of its own for three reasons, Firstly, it is one of the world’s largest urban resettlement project globally, rehabilitating around a million people for regeneration. Secondly, rehabilitation involves resettling residential units and diverse establishments in Dharavi, focusing on trading, shopping, and business transactions, restoring the entire ecosphere and rehouseing diverse trades. Thirdly, the project aims for comprehensive, holistic redevelopment, catering to housing and rehabilitation needs of both eligible and ineligible residents.
The goal is to transform Dharavi into a modern city hub by supporting micro enterprises, small industries, and promoting new jobs, particularly for youth and women. This will be achieved through a multi-pronged strategy, including training centers, common facility centers, R&D centers, data centers, MSME help desks, and organized marketplaces aligned with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).The Adani Group faces monumental challenges in designing and implementing the Dharavi project, testing their resilience, capability, and execution skills. With the support of stakeholders, they aim to create history and make Dharavi, Mumbai, and India proud. The team believes that if Mike Tyson visits Dharavi again, he will still find its spirit alive, and the new Dharavi is producing millionaires without the slumdog prefix.
