One of the world’s richest men wants to transform India’s biggest slum

When Masoom Ali Shaikh arrived in Mumbai in 1974 as a young man from northern India, the patch of land where he set up shop was “just a creek with no proper road and garbage all around,” he said.

When Masoom Ali Shaikh arrived in Mumbai in 1974 as a young man from northern India, the patch of land where he set up shop was “just a creek with no proper road and garbage all around,” he said. Fifty years later, that swampy area — once a fishing village and rubbish dump — is now Dharavi, one of Asia’s biggest slums and a bustling hub of industry in India’s financial capital. Famously depicted in the 2008 Oscar-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire,” Dharavi is a cacophonous maze of small businesses on every corner, from bakeries to butchers to barbers. These shops service roughly one million residents living cheek by jowl in cramped buildings and narrow alleys. Many of them are migrants and artisans who brought the crafts of their home states to establish businesses in the sprawling 500-acre slum. These small-scale enterprises, which generate a collective annual turnover of more than $1 billion by some estimates, are a crucial source of livelihood for many families, some of whom have lived in Dharavi for generations. Shaikh is one of them. After arriving in Dharavi from his home state Uttar Pradesh, he set up a shoe-making business which allowed him to support six family members over the years, even opening a second shoe store for his daughter to operate. However, many residents fear their livelihoods could now be at risk as the slum prepares to undergo a drastic transformation, overseen by one of Asia’s richest men.