Kumbharwada Potters Rise in Protest Against Adani Group's Dharavi Redevelopment Survey

Dharavi, Mumbai: A wave of tension swept across the 100-year-old Kumbharwada settlement in Dharavi on Thursday morning as traditional potters protested against the ongoing survey by the Gautam Adani Group-led Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP). The resistance from the residents temporarily halted the door-to-door survey, raising pressing concerns about the future of their heritage, livelihood, and identity.

Kumbharwada, Asia's largest colony of traditional potters, occupies 12 to 13 acres in the heart of Dharavi. Divided into five sections and crisscrossed by narrow lanes, it houses over 3,500 families whose primary livelihood stems from earthenware production. The area is not just a residential zone but a living, breathing craft village where generations of potters have lived and worked. With their products exported globally to countries like the US, UK, Middle East, and Africa, Kumbharwada has maintained its legacy despite rapid urbanisation.

On Thursday, tensions escalated when survey teams from DRP and Navbharat Mega Developers Private Limited arrived near the 90-feet Road adjacent to Kumbharwada at around 10 am. As the team began marking homes, potters blocked the lane leading into their cluster of ground-plus-two-floor homes surrounding traditional brick kilns. According to Adam G, a resident, "Only a handful of families agreed to this redevelopment survey. Yet, the surveyors were numbering all homes, including those whose occupants had not consented."

Police officials, who were accompanying the DRP surveyors, intervened as the protest grew, taking nearly 40-50 protestors to the police station. There, third-generation potter A. Solanki said, "We are not against development. But we need clarity. Where will we be shifted? What happens to our kilns, our tools, our market access, our livelihoods? This uncertainty is unacceptable."

While the police facilitated the continuation of the survey, protestors returned by 1 pm and again shut it down. "Surveyors had numbered even locked houses and those vocally opposed to the plan. That's why we defaced the red markings on our doors," a resident explained.

This protest follows a milder confrontation a day earlier on July 23, which marked the first ever survey in Kumbharwada's history. Residents, already apprehensive about the massive Rs. 95,790-crore Dharavi Redevelopment Project, have been vocally opposing it for months. The sudden arrival of survey teams without a clear, participative process further inflamed tensions.

DRP representatives, however, have maintained that the survey in Kumbharwada was initiated at the request of some community members. A spokesperson claimed that "only a few powerful families are resisting redevelopment," stating that out of the 3,500 families, nearly 250 homes have already been numbered.

As per the broader DRP figures, over 100,001 tenement surveys have been completed across Dharavi. Of these, approximately 87,000 occupants have submitted documents, which are now being verified. The plan aims to rehabilitate around 58,532 residential tenements in-situ, out of an estimated total of 1.25 lakh.

Notably, the last official survey in Dharavi dates back to 2008, when around 66,000 ground-floor structures were identified for free housing. Even then, Kumbharwada was reportedly excluded from the formal survey process. For the potter community, this exclusion once felt like neglect but is now seen as a shield against forced relocation.

The anxiety among potters stems not just from the threat of physical displacement but from the risk of cultural erasure. Pottery is not merely a job here—it is a way of life. Homes double as workshops; narrow alleys lead to shared kilns and open drying spaces. Any rehabilitation plan that fails to accommodate this unique live-work ecosystem risks uprooting the very fabric of Kumbharwada.

Potters are demanding transparency, participative planning, and assurances that their trade and heritage will be preserved. As redevelopment moves ahead, experts stress the importance of community-centric planning. "Any successful urban redevelopment must start with trust," says an urban policy researcher. "You cannot bulldoze through communities that have existed and contributed to the city for over a century."

As the standoff continues, Kumbharwada remains a potent symbol of the battle between heritage and development. While the Adani-led DRP promises modern infrastructure and in-situ rehabilitation, the potters of Kumbharwada seek a future that respects their past. Whether the two can coexist depends on the willingness of authorities to listen, adapt, and truly engage with the community.

In the coming days, all eyes will be on how the government and DRP respond to the potters' call for dialogue. Until then, Kumbharwada stands firm—a bastion of tradition resisting the tide of unchecked transformation.