Mills and the boon of land in Mumbai

These days talk to anybody in Mumbai about their plans to shift office and you find they are all headed in the same direction: the old mill land in Parel. Banks, newspapers (including this one), advertising agencies, leisure halls, dot com companies, you name it they've either moved or are headed northwards to the centre of the city. In many ways the move seems to make perfect sense. The southern part of the city gets decongested, less money needs be spent on rents, businesses get more space for their operations, etc etc. And yet in all this dizzying rush it is easy to forget the long and controversial series of events that led to this point. As it is to ignore the economic and other implications of the phenomenon. The glitzy, colourful facades popping up one-a-minute will soon obscure the smokestacks and the sloping roofs. How then will we remember the past or anticipate problems likely to crop up in the future?

One way is of course through those who have spent time studying the issues posed by the rapid transformation of the city. Journalist and environmental activist Darryl D'Monte has been at work for a while on a book on the subject with particular emphasis on the redevelopment of the old textile mill land. The book that is nearing completion considers various connected strands in the growth of the city. It traces, for instance, the significance of the port and its role in making Mumbai an industrial centre. The rise and fall of the Mumbai Port Trust, according to the author, mirrors that of the cotton textile mill: technical obsolescence, overmanning and poor use of land are some of the problems that beset both.

The story of the cotton textile mills, however, is a dramatic subject by itself. D'Monte shows how textiles cradled industrialisation and traces the fluctuating fortunes of cotton mills in Mumbai from the 1850s to the present day. But much of his attention is focused on the land they occupy. Based on the assumption that composite cotton mills are no longer a viable proposition and their only remaining asset is their land, the book looks at proposals including those recommended by the Charles Correa Committee and conservation architects regarding redevelopment of the land belonging to Mumbai's nationalised textile mills and describes the experience of other textile centres (Manchester, Lancashire in Britain; Lowell, the former cotton textile town near Boston in the US).

He also reminds those who are in any danger of forgetting, of the bloody trail caused by the coveting of mill land: the murder of Sunit Khatau, mill owner who sought the help of the underworld in persuading workers to agree to a sale, the killing of union leader Datta Samant, Vallabhbhai Thacker, owner of Raghuvanshi Mills; and the various stratagems devised by some mill owners to sell their land.

But D'Monte's aim is not merely to describe or to discuss alternatives. In the first chapter on `reinventing Mumbai' he delineates the decline of the manufacturing sector and the growth of the service sector. Dismissing the city's likely emergence as a major financial hub (on the lines of Hong Kong or Singapore) on grounds of runaway real estate prices, poverty and lack of infrastructure -- reasons that have seen the city lose out to competitors such as Delhi in recent years -- D'Monte poses the issue that he seeks to answer through the successive chapters: ``Will Mumbai take the path of becoming a global gateway for the local poor or a global island, excluding the vast majority of the urban poor from prosperity?'' It is a question that needs to be discussed. Urgently.

Since I wrote about health activist Vijaya Venkat last fortnight, I have received enquiries about her contact address. The Health Awareness Centre is located C/o Strihitvardhini, Lokmanya Agar, K Gadgil Marg, Mumbai - 400025. Tel: 4361672.

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