TREASURE ISLAND

Residents are unwilling to relocate from Dharavi, which has become a market that runs on the entrepreneurial spirit of its people

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

It is 9pm on a weekday. Around 10 women in their 50s and 60s, all seated cross-legged in a single row on the floor, are still at work, going through plastic waste inside a recycling unit in Dharavi, one of the world’s largest slums. They are immersed in the task; they don’t even smile much or make small talk.

“We are here from 9am to 10pm daily,” says 53-year-old Laxmi Rahulkar, who takes a short break to talk to us. Most women who work in Dharavi live there, but a few like Rahulkar commute long distances. Rahulkar comes from Diva, travelling 40km one way, to earn ₹300 for a 12-hour shift.

“We pay ₹500,” contests the owner, Farid Khan, who sits outside the unit on a plastic chair. The 30-year-old belongs to the third generation of the family that owns the unit. “We do business worth crores a year,” says Khan. “These old women who are past their prime are willing to do this type of job. They need it to survive. It helps us, too.”

Nothing is wasted in Dharavi; 60 per cent of Mumbai’s waste is recycled here. From car batteries to computer parts, from fluorescent lights to ballpoint pens, Dharavi processes everything. Many of its shacks are busy sorting, sifting, melting and recycling thousands of tonnes of waste generated every day.