Two-tiers: Tabela and Garments
Work Space Mumbai Special: A Kapdawalla's Story. Part 3:
Living, Working and Dyeing in the Two-Tiered Village: Khotwadi, Santa Cruz (W)
Prom Girl on top. Buffaloes and cows below. That's the way the economy of Khotwadi functions. Khotwadi is not all work-space, it also houses a large population who live in tiny homes with family sleeping-space as well as work-space for services for the garment business.
It's easy to differentiate the workshop from the homes, they all have exhaust fans and some of them have air-conditioners, so it wouldn't be right if I call them sweat shops.
Khotwadi is just 1% of the Mumbai garment industry. There are parts of it which have been demolished to make way for luxury apartments. The people who stayed there will be shifted to the standard 320 sq ft 1 Room Kitchen homes as part of the Slum Rehabilitation Plan. Businesses are paid compensation too for displacement. But what is rebuilt will be homes or sleeping places, not work-spaces. People who live there will probably have to travel to work elsewhere.
And here's someone who lives and dyes in Khotwadi.
Tomorrow's story: The national brands of Khotwadi
