Dharavi in Mumbai is emerging to be a problem area for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after it was found that out of the fresh 116 Covid-19 cases reported on Tuesday, two were from the densely populated urban slum.

A BMC release said that the current cases of coronavirus now stand at 642, with 40 deaths. The two fresh cases from Dharavi take the count there to nine. Two men, one 25 and the other 35, tested positive.

Dharavi, the 2.16 sq. km slum, houses almost 15 lakh people, many of them migrant and daily-wage labourers who live in small shanties making it one of the most densely populated areas on earth.

Currently, around 3,000 people from the locality have been quarantined. Speaking to Economic Times officials said that while people are scared of the virus, they are more scared of losing their jobs and being taken to quarantine centers.

People there are scared that with the rise in cases, most of them asymptomatic, coupled with the living conditions, they may already be afflicted with the virus. Vinod Shetty, director at the non-profit Acorn Foundation told Bloomberg, “We are talking about a slum where 10-12 people live in 10×10 feet in hutments. You can’t expect them to stay home all day long. They pay Rs. 25 for a gallon of water, you’ll tell them to wash their hands frequently. Eighty people share a public toilet, you’ll tell them to not leave their house. How is that possible?”

“In Dharavi, it’s very difficult to get the facts right. A lot of times residents are not telling us the truth about their travel history or where they have been out of fear. They fear they will be nabbed and punished for not following lockdown rules,” a Bloomberg report said quoting government official Kiran Dighavkar.

The first case in Dharavi was a 56-year-old man there who was feeling feverish and had a bad cough and went to see the doctor on March 23, reported Jagran Josh. It came to light that he had hosted five people from the Tablighi Jamaat. His condition worsened and he passed away on April 1.

After him, a 52-year-old BMC sanitation worker tested positive and a 35-year-old doctor working with patients there was the third case. A 48-year-old man from the Shakti Chawl in Mukund Nagar area was the fourth to test COVID-19. The fifth case was of a 30-year-old woman who tested positive from the area where the first death was reported. The sixth and seventh cases are the father and brother of the 30-year-old woman.

Social distancing in this cramped area is an impossibility. People use public toilets and there are no basic water and food facilities. Also, the hygiene conditions and garbage dumping facilities make it one of the biggest breeding grounds for the virus.

Dharavi is now a containment zone and most of the people in the area have been quarantined. The BMC is working to provide daily essentials to the residents at their doorstep. The sanitation workers are sanitizing every lane and screening clinics too have been set up in the area where everyone will be screened between 9 AM to 1 PM to check for the spread of the virus there.

Positive coronavirus cases in Maharashtra have shot up to 1078 on Wednesday. Mumbai recorded the highest increased with 44 new cases taking the tally in the city up to 686.

Seeing the jump of cases in low-income neighbourhoods like Worli Koliwada and a chawl in Prabhadevi which are now red zones that have been completely sealed off, the socio-economic conditions of Dharavi too exist like a ticking bomb that needs to be defused with apt measures as soon as possible.

Related:

Covid-19: Worli-Koliwada sealed, residents struggle for essentials
Affluent flyers bring Covid-19 to India, but mainly chawls and slums sealed off

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Rahul Ingale, 32, is depressed. Sitting in his shop in Shastri Nagar of Dharavi, Mumbai, Ingale, who deals in the leather market, is facing a huge debt. Carrying forward his family business, he buys leather from Kanpur, Lucknow, Kolkata and Chennai and sells it in Dharavi to a number of processing units. “I am in debt of Rs 75 lakh now. There is no business. Complete shutdown. We can’t even pay the rent of our shop,” he says.

Earlier, Ingale had engaged eight workers in his shop. Today, there is no one. In effect, eight unskilled youths have lost their jobs, leaving Ingale and his 62-years-old father, Shivaji Ingale, to manages the business. “We were unable to pay the salaries of those boys. So, now my father and I work,” he says.

Beef Ban & Leather Goods
The ban on beef has taken a heavy toll on around 300 such shops in Dharavi. The locality was earlier a hub of leather works. But now many shops are either shut or are crawling under debt. “I am in this business for 45 years. I have never seen such a downfall in the market. It’s tyranny on people like us. We are left with nothing,” says an emotional and angry Shivaji.

Dharavi, one of the most high-density localities in the world, is also a hub of small- scale industries. As per the records of Dharavi Businessmen Welfare Association, there are 1,000 small units in the area – be it plastic recycling, leather, garments, aluminium factories and bakeries.

The leaked report of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data has recorded a spike in unemployment in 2017-18. The Union government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has denied the findings of NSSO data. But the reality on ground is entirely different than what the Narendra Modi claims.

The story of the Ingale family is related to beef ban. The current political dispensation at the Centre and Maharashtra banks on the ‘cultural politics’ of ‘beef’ and ‘meat’ to its vote bank. So, one can assume that the Modi Sarkar will ignore the disaster that has hit this industry. But the story of sweet products is no different.

Demonetisation Hit Bakery Units
Parvez Sheikh (37) owns Mumbai’s famous bakery, Nagina, located in Dharavi. He had other two bakeries Ibrahima (Kutti Vadi, Dharavi) and Rose (Mahim). Before demonetisation, Nagina had 40 labourers working two shifts, Ibrahima and Rose had 20 each. Sheikh’s main business entailed selling products like paav, bread and rusk in bulk. “Notebandi was such a big shock that money from street vendors stopped completely. Gradually, the business went down. I had to shut down my two bakeries and now Nagina has been given on rent to another person,” he says. Asked what happened to the workers, he adds: “I has no choice than to bid them goodbye. Many of them were from Bijnore and Barabanki in Uttar Pradesh and have returned to their native places.”

There were 25 such bakeries in Dharavi. But first demonetisation and later the Goods and Services Tax (GST) made them financially vulnerable. “I haven’t understood till date why Modiji brought GST? I know many small businesses who had to close down due to indirect effects of GST,” says Sheikh.

Plastic Industry Melts
Bakery is comparatively a smaller industry in Dharavi, compared with the much bigger plastic industry. Earlier, the area was also a hub for plastic manufacturing. But now many factories have shifted to the outskirts of Mumbai, especially to Vasai, Nalasopara and Navi Mumbai. Only plastic segregation and washing plus recycling industry is left. But that is also huge, with over 600 smaller units, each employing about four to five workers.
Juber Ahme
d is actually a graduate from Allahabad University. But in Dharavi, he does the job of segregating plastic. “I didn’t get a job in UP after completing graduation in 2013. So, I shifted here in 2015. Since then, I have been engaged in this work, as there is no job for me in Mumbai also” he says.

Ahmed says two years ago, there was demand for plastic in different forms. “Every 10 to 15 days, we used to segregate one or one and half tonnes of plastic. The broker used to pick it periodically. Now this period has widened. We don’t get plastic for two, even three months. Now the ratio of one tonne plastic segregation has slipped from 10 days to three months,” he says.

The rate for plastic varies depending on quality, from Rs 7 per kg to Rs 40 per kg. “Now, these rates have also come down. We sell plastic at even Rs 4 kg to Rs 30 kg. This has had a very serious impact on our salaries, too,” he adds.

There are around 600 small units engaged in plastic segregation and washing plus recycling in Dharavi. Hariram Tanwar (Dilliwala), General Secretary of the All Plastic Recyclers Association (APRA), says the business is down by 60-70%. “This started after notebandi (demonetisation). That time our business was shut down for almost two months. It has never recovered filly since then,” he says.

Guddu Sheikh owns a small plastic washing and recycling unit and has engaged six workers. “I haven’t reduced the number of workers. But it’s true that salaries are getting delayed. I don’t deal in ragpickers. My clients are big electric and electronics companies. They send me plastic from their factories. I crack, wash and recycle and send these to manufacturers. Now my problem is that the big companies are producing less. So, I am getting less plastic. Also manufacturers have lower demand now. We are sandwiched in the plastic business,” he says.

Textile Units Fading Away
The most affected industry, be it in jobs or turnover, is textiles. Big companies in somehow surviving the slowdown in the domestic markets but smaller units in Dharavi are not that strong.

Gafar Mansuri (42) was one of the major suppliers of suits in the Dadar, Parel markets. His factory had around 30 workers on two shifts a day. “We used to supply 450 to 550 suits per months. Now the number has reduced to just 100 or 125,” he says. Mansuri blamed the decline in business on demand slowdown. “Mandi chal rhi hai bhai. Pehle showrooms se hamare pas 400 suits to aate hi the. Ab showrooms vale hi bolte hai ke uthaav nahi hai,” (Earlier, showroom demand was about 400 suits , now they say that there is no demand) he adds.

Mansuri was forced to reduce his workforce from 30 to 10. “What do I do with so many boys? I will have to pay them, no? If my payment gets delayed by 2-3 months, how will I pay them? ” he asks. He has asked his two sons, one is in 10th and other is in 8th grade to help in the work. “Bachche padhai ke baad yaha aake chhote mote kam karenge to majdoor ka paisa bachegaa na,” (If my children help me after school, it will help me save my labour costs), explains Mansuri.

Mohammad Ejaj Khan, born and brought up in Mumbai, decided to try his luck in the garment business two and a half years ago. “I started the business with six machines. But then came demonetisation. It was not possible for me to reduce the machines. And, now I don’t have work for my labourers,” he says.

Khan deals in stitching suits, jackets and pants for children. “Earlier Rs 85 was the per coat rate. This has now gone down to Rs 77. A jacket was Rs 22, now it is Rs 17. Pant rate was Rs 40 per piece, which is down to Rs 35,” he adds. This, he says, has affected hundreds of jobs in Dharavi alone.

While films like ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ or ‘Kala’ have portrayed the immense struggle of people of living in Dharavi before world. Hardship is a synonym for Dharavi. But these hard-working people are crumbling now. That’s the gravity of financial disaster they are facing. The Modi Sarkar may contest the NSSO data on unemployment, but it can’t run away from the disaster it has brought to thousands of small units in Dharavi.

Courtesy: Newsclick.in
 

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‘Hum Saab Ek Hain’ are post–card size, fourcolour stickers conceived of by Waqar Khan, a resident of Dharavi, a large hutment area (also referred to as the largest slum community in Asia) in central Mumbai. Having printed them at his own cost, he has distributed them in thousands among Mumbaikars who cynically forgot this simple homily and for ten days in December 1992 and a few weeks in January 1993 allowed the threads of a shared and cosmopolitan life to be torn to shreds.

“Das din ke andar hamne hamare mohalle ki ek galli ke aath naujawanon ki jaan gawayee. Uske baad andar se kuch hua aur hame laga ki jootkar hame kuch karna chahiye” (“In the space of ten days our neighbourhood lost eight young lives. Something stirred within me then and I felt I had to seriously do something”.)

That is how, in post– 1992–1993 Bombay, Waqar Khan’s active involvement in Dharavi’s local community began. It was the sheer brutality of the violence that shook him and he felt that he had to devote some time, on a sustained basis to improve relations, increase communications between different communities.

“Gaon kee Ramlila mein hamne Ram ka roop ek adarshputra, praja ka poojya raja mein dekha tha, magar Ram ke naam par loot maar, khoon-kharaba? Kya Ramlila ka Ram aur Ayodhya ka Ram alag alag hai kya?” (“In my village, I imbibed the ideal of Lord Ram through the Ramlila where he is depicted as an ideal son, an revered king of the people. But loot, murder and bloodshed in his name? Is the Ram of the Ramlila different from the Ram of Ayodhya?”)
Dharavi was the worst affected locality in the December 1992 round of violence. The schisms ran deep. And one of the legacies of the time was a deewar, a wall, erected between the Hindu and Muslim communities to prevent further interaction and also, violence.

When some semblance of peace was restored, the mohalla ekta (neighbourhood) committees were formed to aid interaction between communities and also with the police. Waqar Khan, began to take an active part. It was here that he met with Bhau Korde, another resident of Dharavi.

Khan and Korde were drawn to each other from the first meeting itself and over the years this has matured into a deep and effective partnership between a local, self–made businessman turned peacemaker and a schoolteacher turned social activist.

Their mutual closeness and their persistence, born out of the belief in and thirst for peace and humanity have today became a living symbol of communal amity in Dharavi.

When they started, people had lost faith in each other; communities that shared spaces and experiences were erecting walls to keep their own side safe! This duo, working tirelessly at opening doors of communication, forcing people to sit together to discuss and dialogue on issues that caused misunderstandings, in a bid to work out local level solutions, explored novel possibilities.

“Our joint presence, coming as we do from two communities, works subtly and well, providing useful entry points and many advantages,” says Bhau Korde, while talking to Communalism Combat. “We are seen as representing our respective community and they appreciate this because we are the sane, sensitive and humane voice from the ‘other’ side.”

One of their first initiatives was to bring down the wall newly–erected between the communities. It took a whole month of confidential parleys, joint dialogues, insistence on communication. Through it all, Khan’s small shop, the local masjid, the church, the mandir served as the meeting points for the residents to bring their problems to; and, often, to take their solutions from.

Come 1998 and, once more, there was renewed tension. “It was a small matter,” says Korde, “that, as is usual, got blown out of all proportion”. The dispute was over the erection of a Ganapati mandap for installing the idol during Ganeshutsav, close to a part of Dharavi that has a significant Muslim population. The mandap was meant to be temporary, but Muslims felt that the mandap would lead to a permanent mandir that would then be a perpetual source of tension.

“Once both sides had sat face to face, the apprehensions were dealt with and the matter was cleared,” explains Korde. “Once reassured that the mandaps was to be temporary, Muslims even helped in its construction!”

Then, there are the recurrent tensions caused by the playing of music outside mosques at the time of the Ganapati procession, something that creates tensions in Dharavi as also anywhere else. “This practice has entered Dharavi since 1962 and is a potential source of tension,” recalls Korde. In 1996, Khan and Korde put their heads together to find some solution to this recurring conflict.

Months before the Ganesh festival, they requested a joint meeting of both communities and began discussions. “Our point was simple. Haan, aapko adhikar zaroor hai, magar ham sab saath rahte ha (Yes, you have a right to play the music. But is this not our shared space?) And look here, namaaz is for Muslims what pooja is for Hindus. So where is the harm, if out of sensitivity and respect for co–existence, we defer the playing of music during the times of namaaz? Is this not the basis for give and take that shared community living is all about?”

It took many weeks but as discussions continued genuine dialogue began. Finally, both sides were agreeable. Since 1996, this locally worked out axiom for mutual co-existence is being followed, more-or-less consistently, in Dharavi.
“With small but effective interventions like these, the entire mindset changes. When genuine dialogue of both communities is facilitated, none of the representatives are talking from a standpoint of ‘ours’ verses ‘theirs’, an unfortunate approach that dictates inter-community relations these days. Suddenly, we are looking collectively at solutions, keeping in mind the sensitivities and concerns of the ‘other’ side.”

Through these initiatives, the presence and persistence of Khan was pivotal. His reasoning with his own community, his insistence on listening to both sides finally broke the ice. “Our friendship was born out of the violence,” explains Korde. “I was utterly and deeply impressed by Khan’s outlook, his thoughts on tolerance and co-existence. He is a small businessman who has given so much. And he has so much more to contribute than many educated persons”.

“Mussalman hone ke naate unki soch ne mujhe hila diya, mujhe bahut prabhavit kiya. Ek saache Mussalman jinko apne dharam par shraddha hein, hamare samaj ko itna de sakte hein.” (“His views on various issues as a Muslim deeply impressed me. I realized how much a devout Muslim could contribute to our society”).

Khan was born in Bareli, UP to a small, working class family in 1965. At the age of 13, after passing his class VII examinations he came, in 1978, to Mumbai, the mecca of opportunities. His engagement with the city began as a pheriwala doing small business, roaming the city’s streets.

By 1991, he had risen, through sheer dint of hard work and enterprise, to the status of a successful small businessman/trader, which is how he is known in Dharavi today. He got himself married, sent his parents for the Haj pilgrimage. Even before 1992-1993, he used to engage in “chhota-mota social work”.

Korde, on the other hand, was born and brought up in Dharavi. Associated with the local school as a teacher, he had a wide acquaintance in the local community. He was deeply interested in the roots and ethnic origins of the communities that made up the huge melting pot that was Dharavi. “But after the riots everything changed and I realised that as someone who lived in Dharavi I have to concentrate on this issue of breakdown of relations between communities,” Korde reminisces.

“The critical issue is dialogue,” says Korde. “Hindus and Muslims are reacting to each other but not interacting enough with each other. That is how the same, small issues are becoming huge law and order problems. What we need is charcha (discussion) between the affected people and communities, not seminars and workshops! The Dharavi experience tells me that persons seeking solutions just do not speak enough with the people affected.”

Post-1992, Khan came up with a novel idea. He summoned the help of a like-minded photographer and captured an ideal image that symbolised his personal yearnings, in a still shot. He chose four young boys of similar age. One was a Hindu, the other Muslim, the third a Sikh and the fourth a Christian.

Dressed up like priests of their respective faiths, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder, conveying a simple message: “Ham Sab Ek Hain!” Khan converted this image into tens of thousands of stickers that caught the image of the Mumbai police, too, at the time.

When the image became hugely popular, Khan made laminated posters of them. These posters find a pride of place in many of Mumbai’s police stations today. Adorning the walls behind the inspector-in-charge’s chair at police stations, they are a constant reminder to visitors of the need for unity among us.

Always looking ahead, Khan is today poised to take the ‘Ham Sab Ek Hain’ message to the silver screen. With guidance from his good friend Korde, he penned a script for a brief film on amity and harmony and, as testimony to his quiet audacity, has actually gone ahead and filmed it!

Shot on June 4, 2001, the film is now edited and ready for telecast but now the battle to get it aired on a channel for national viewing is on. The National Foundation for Communal Harmony is seriously considering using the short film as a spot to spread the message of communal harmony.

The funds for the stickers and the film? Profits earned from the small business of large-hearted Khan have gone into printing 50,000 ‘Ham sab ek hai’ stickers (in four-colour) and producing a three-minute film with the same message.
Some might think Khan is foolish, or even possessed. That he is. Possessed by his commitment to promote peace and toleration in Dharavi, and the rest of India. And no one ever told him to put his money where his mouth is.

This article was first published on Communalism Combat.
 

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