DRP OR DEP ?

In Dharavi, the need to call a spade a spade is becoming increasingly urgent.

Lets first re-christen the Dharavi Redevelopment Plan as the Dharavi Erasure Plan :

If it was really about redevelopment – the following would have happened :

1.    Existing economic activities would be upgraded as per the needs of the practitioners. These activities would be realigned with emerging infrastructural and housing requirements.

2.    The diversity of land-ownership in terms of those living on Gaothan land and government chawls on one hand and those who have built livelihoods and residential places on unused land should be understood in distinct ways. Those in the former spaces must be allowed to develop in terms of their own capabilities and special needs. Those in the latter need to be rewarded for having produced value without any government support in terms of economic opportunities, employment or accessible housing  which is their constitutional right. They should no longer be treated as encroachers, in a land which they have actually produced and added value to over generations.

3.    The special typology of Dharavi that has evolved in response to special economic and residential paper writing arrangements needs to be validated. The fact is that the users will be able to invest and develop them on their own.

4.    Recognize the diversity of Dharavi and its representation in the form of associations and groups. These representative organizations represent different needs and can coordinate with each other and with the government through a committee or any other way they deem acceptable.

5.    Recognize the economic dynamism of Dharavi and give it a special status. Recognize its contributions to manufacturing and service sector and build appropriate institutions that recognize this – like specialized markets etc.

Since the Plan is really all about Erasure  - here is what is really happening :

1.    The land is being parceled out in the same way that colonial powers divided territories in Africa and Asia when they planned to leave or increase their control through proxy local governments.

2.    None of the plans show any regard to existing land writing services ownership patterns or to the economic activities that go on.

3.    The prime thrust of all plans is real estate development which is not good for the city’s economy at all. That kind of urban development  is like injecting a body with steroids. Empty of real substance.

4.    It will only impoverish people and push them out to other areas and produce more infrastructure deprived habitats – fueling the slum redevelopment industry.

The end result of the culmination of the Dharavi Redevlopment plan is best summarised in the words of Gautam Chatterjee, the Officer on Special Duty in charge of the DRP who was quoted in Business India stating that “In any new layout approved, say, 15 to 25 per cent of land would be used for smaller plots for low-cost housing, whose residents would service the people living in bigger flats as drivers, cleaners, servants, dhobis, etc. ” Thats no redevelopment at all.