They are poised to undercut the profits of larger industries that manufacture these products, and this inevitably raises the specter of existential threats to the likes of Dharavi.
Thankfully, the state and central governments here have approved an ambitious US$2.3 billion Dharavi Redevelopment Project to transform the area into a self-sustaining township. Close to 4,500 small-scale industries are slated to be rehabilitated under the plan, and most importantly, they will fix and patch any hole in a resource-challenged society.
Just how many metropolises have that capability, I wonder?
For an outsider facing another one of life's crossroads that day, the experience was a sobering reminder that the first might be last, and the last -- first.
There was something mystical after all when we alighted from Sion station that day.
Kuala Lumpur, June 19, 2008
Copyright 2008@Mathew Maavak
