Dharavi Experience Centre opens, letting residents see planned homes, roads and workspaces

Mumbai: Residents of Dharavi will now understand what the Dharavi redevelopment project holds not just through maps on paper but through first-hand experience. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the Dharavi Experience Centre, set up for the purpose.

The centre is state of the art. The redevelopment plan, the homes that rehabilitated residents will get, space for industries and the social infrastructure to come up later are all shown here, both physically and digitally. Using modern audio-visual and digital technology, it traces the journey from Dharavi as it is today to its future form. Fadnavis toured the entire centre.

Speaking to the media, Fadnavis said residents would see not only the project plans here. They would also be able to experience their future home, neighbourhood and workplace. He expressed confidence that this would curb rumours, misunderstandings and incomplete information, and help build an atmosphere of trust about the redevelopment.

After touring the centre, the Chief Minister said Dharavi is not merely a slum but a major economic engine. A large economy has grown here from the pottery industry of Kumbharwada, leather work, food processing, plastic recycling and other small and medium industries. He said the redevelopment plan aims to honour these industries and provide them better, planned workplaces.

Fadnavis also said this is an effort at comprehensive urban transformation of Dharavi while preserving its present social, cultural and economic identity. He said it is an ideal example of the urban transformation taking place in the country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

Residents of Dharavi wonder what will happen to them after redevelopment, and there is confusion over it, the Chief Minister said, adding that the centre would be important in clearing it. Everyone will get "real time" information here on exactly what the project will look like, what Dharavi is like today and how it will change. Information on the homes residents will get, roads, open grounds, social facilities and employment opportunities will be available in one place. Fadnavis expressed confidence that the centre would also be useful to citizens, stakeholders and those studying urban planning across the country.

At the event, a special song, "Dharavi Ka Kal", sung by noted singer Shankar Mahadevan, was launched. The song presents a picture of a changing Dharavi. The book "Mere Sapno Ki Dharavi" was also released by Chief Minister Fadnavis.