Why Mumbai's Slums are Villages

While browsing through the web and the URBZ webpages : http://urbz.net/ , i came across this really interesting article on Mumbai's development on the Village and the Slum front. The essay in the article very interestingly points out the growth of these urban formats through the times of the Portuguese and then the British. The Author takes the example of Khotachiwadi as a village that was termed as a slum, by the British Authorities so that it can fulfill its dream of larger urban development in the ares. Khotachiwadi and such other Hamlets in Bandra like Ranwar (the one i am studying), Vasai, Thane etc., speak of a distinct history and is a subject of study for a lot of Urban Planners, Designers etc. These Hamlets constituted a format of living and have a very distinct texture to themselves.
read on for more on the article


Why Mumbai's Slums are Villages:
Mumbai’s history reflects two distinct phases. One is the south-oriented story that starts with the development of the docks by the British in the seventeenth century. The other is an older, northern-bound story that starts with the Portuguese conquest and domination of the regions around Vasai village in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The essay argues that the point of intersection of these histories is one that can potentially explain the overwhelming presence of poor, infrastructure deprived habitats – often referred to as slums – that dominate the landscape of the city.
more on : http://www.airoots.org/why-mumbai’s-slums-are-villages/comment-page-1/#comment-3921

Ranwar Square in Detail

This is the Ranwar Square in Detail, an amazing space with an age old cross in the centre and some amazing cottages in the periphery. What is to note is the details of the grill patters, balustrades, staircases, facades details and door and window patters. This is something very common as a visual language amongst the houses that belonged to the paddy cultivators even before the British stepped in India. Its a very common feature all along the Konkan line and even the other suburbs in Mumbai like Vasai, Malad, Andheri along with a few others left in Bandra. The space formation and the urban texture is found to be similar, this was a conclusion after visiting several other villages in Bandra, one set being the Shierly Rajan village near Carter road. 

All the visual elements along with the Architecture style is noted to be on a similar patterns.

now can we visualize ugly high rise constructions instead of these quaint cottages? 

These squares in olden times used to be used largely as community spaces for weddings and other religious ceremonies. It was also a hangout spot for the old and young to just sit around play street games and chit and chat. The extensions vertically were made later with additions in the family, it used to be a loft earlier to store paddy harvests. The square was also used to store the harvest. 

These cottages which age 100 years approx. are now in quite a dilapidated state, maybe waiting for its current owner to pass away and make way for a builder to tap and construct a building. Well, i am not against this, but the issues remains the style in which these builds are constructed. They steal away the pedestrian experience of scale and peace. The vehicular circulation has already done that to a great extent. 

As a solution what is thought is to have basic guidelines for the builders/architects to build on, that would maintain the scale, proportion and style of the place. Also it is for the residents as a tool to maintain their own residences. Recreating the space for the same community activities is also something that is to be looked at.

more street views coming soon! 

Heritage Under Siege!

This article: courtesy Herman Rodrigues
Xavier House, one of the older buildings in the heart of Ranwar, photographed here as it stood up until around 1999. The present structure was built in 1841. (The carved wooden plaque above, was embedded in the wall over the main entrance of the house. The IHS symbollises ‘Christ’ and below it, the three nails used to crucify Christ, pierce His heart symbolically).


This rambling, spacious bungalow was typical of the buildings in villages like Ranwar. It had a quaint veranda, with two plain teak benches and wrought iron railings, where passers by used to drop in to chat during the day or evening. The rooms were large and airy and the high wooden ceiling, held a loft that extended through the building. There was a wide garden to the east and a sprawling compound behind the bungalow with two large outhouses, a huge, gnarled tamarind tree, over a hundred years old, an equally tall jambool tree and several coconut palms.

The property was sold to a developer and the original building was demolished at the start of the new millennium.

A photograph shows the partly demolished building with the rooms exposed. The walls were constructed using bricks and white limestone ladhis that were typical of the area. The loft floor and the roof were constructed using solid teak beams that withstood the ravages of time and termites but finally gave way to development in the form of a multistoryed concrete and steel behemoth.

Despite its inappropriate location in a gaothan and heritage area the multi-unit apartment stands as stark evidence of the pressures which villages like Ranwar, Pali, Sherly and Rajan are subject to. The sewer lines, laid in the 1920s were never intended for the huge number of housing units that now have sprung up, with the result that the drains perennially clog and back up. The narrow lanes cannot handle the vastly increased through-traffic and the parking spaces required to accommodate resident vehicles, so that the quiet street, reflecting widespread changes in Bandra, is a chaotic, noisy thoroughfare with traffic jams occurring at bottlenecks, several times each day.

My Comments:

these are a few examples of what is going to happen in the future. these properties in spite of being in the

heritage listing are undergoing this fate! 

as an exercise to atleast document these buildings as they were, i am trying to collect old memories through photographs of these magnificent heritage. Looking at these from the exterior we gasp out of surprise and joy,  i cant even imagine how beautiful these might be from the interiors. 

please pass on any such information anyone has to put up on the blog and share it with all. 

This is also a process of Documentation, which only happens with participation.