On Sunday, speakers at the TEDx Dharavi conference tackled preconceived notions around slums, touching upon the arts, housing, design, technology, and social inclusion.
Hasit Ganatra, founder of ReMaterials, an Ahmedabad-based NGO, said that in India’s slums, ubiquitous tin roofs provide little protection from the elements, which is why his organisation wants to develop high-quality roofing out of recyclable material such as cardboard and plastic. Mr. Ganatra and his team visited 600 families in Ahmedabad and noticed leaking roofs and weak walls. After research and around 300 trials over two years, the team finally installed its first roof in 2014. His aim, he said, is for children in slums to have sturdy enough roofs “to be able to stand on their perfectly reliable rooftops to get a better view of the world.”
The Chal Rang De team looked at the apparent dinginess in slums as their challenge. Their 2,000 volunteers gather to spread colour and make the surroundings attractive. Dedeepya Reddy, founder, said: “While we were painting over the walls of the slums, all of us felt like children, who were holding crayons in their hands for the first time and were free to do anything with them.” She says they have painted the Asalpha slum with colours reminiscent of Italian villages, and now its residents are hosting home stays and area tours.
Technology shoud be more inclusive, said Anirudha Joshi, who teaches interaction design at IIT Bombay, while introducing Swarachakra, a mobile app that allows users to send text messages in 12 Indian languages. “Almost everybody today, irrespective of financial status, owns a smartphone,” he said. “But not everybody knows how to type in English.” The app would help make the rural population more tech-savvy, he said. With no funds for advertising, the app has found traction through word-of-mouth.
Better policy-making, said Rahul Srivastava and Matias Echanove or the collective Urbz, came from involving the community and understanding their needs. They talked about planning of urban villages in the city, and their plans to collaborate with Dharavi residents to create smart livelihoods and produce quality homes. “We have been working in Dharavi for the last six years,” Mr. Srivastava said, “and believe that it is not an area of slums but a series of informal settlements which can be made better through planning.”
