Did you know that Mumbai has the second largest slum in the world? Today, when the delegation headed off to Dharavi, the word “slum” let them imagine a great mixture of social challenges and poor infrastructure. But when we finally arrived, within the first few minutes of our slum tour, it was clear that the people living and working here have an orderly social structure, they follow invisible rules and a have a tight work schedule. The tour guide told us that all the 15’000 slum businesses in Dharavi account for US$ 1 billion annual turnover. The main industry consists of plastic and aluminium recycling; but although well organised, the people have to work under questionable working conditions concerning health and safety. Dharavi is a city in the city of Mumbai, divided into several communities. Among others, you will find a Hindu and a Muslim residential area, as well as a vibrant market for daily goods in the very heart of the slum community. When 1 million people live together in such a limited space, it is clear that diseases are a major problem. Dharavi has severe problems with public health, due to the scarcity of toilet facilities. Our tour guide informed us that in the slum there is only one toilet per 1’700 residents which is also main driver for increased apartment prices close to sanitary facilities (12m2 rent costs approx. CHF 60/mth.)
Unfortunately due to the unpredictable Indian traffic we missed the planned dabbawala tour during lunchtime (filled food boxes). Even Prince Charles had to plan his schedule his visit around the dabbawala’s timetable to be able to see them in action. A dabbawala is a person in India, most commonly found in the city of Mumbai, who is employed in a unique service industry whose primary business is collecting freshly cooked food in lunch boxes from the residences of the office workers, delivering it to their respective workplaces and returning the empty boxes back to the customer’s residence by using various modes of transport. Luckily our tour guide could arrange a visit to see how the dabbawalas collect the empty food boxes.
As a final dinner and highlight of our business related experiences, the project team surprised the Focus India delegation by the invitation of S. K. Premchand, dedicated patron and son of Roychand Premchand, one of the most influential merchant princes of India in the 19th century. In a relaxed atmosphere at the Marine Plaza Hotel we had the unique opportunity to ask questions and share experiences with the honorary president of the Swiss Indian Chamber of Commerce (SICC). He is also head of PRS Permacel which we had previously visited, probably the Indian company which is most Swiss in India as we discovered. We used this interactive session as an opportunity to exchange impressions we had gathered during our trip in India, and presented our greatest impressions to the plenary. At this point we want to say thank you very much for such a generous gesture, the delegation very much appreciated the attendance of Mr Premchand and his managers, looking forward to continued collaborations in future years.
An additional guest at the event was Mr Stephan Heuberger, the Director of Switzerland Tourism, India, who showed a special interest in the Focus India project.
PR-Team
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