Dharavi could be described as ‘a city within a city.’ It harbors defined borders and points of entry, flanked on two sides by the deep cut of Mumbai’s Central and Western railway. Along its northern rim Dharavi faces Mumbai’s finance hub, the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), separated by open mangroves and the heavily polluted Mithi River.
 
Dharavi has a rich history reaching back to the 18th century, then a small village of Koli fisherman. As the seven islands of Bom Bahia merged and the city of Bombay grew, Dharavi, at its northernmost point, became the original depository for 'slum clearance' in the South. Rather than the common 'slum' trajectory of an expanding periphery, Dharavi’s borders housed an agglomeration of informal settlements, colonies, transit camps and small villages that, over time, have become increasingly dense and more socially complex. Now, many generations of families make their homes there. 
 
Dharavi grew in scale and economic production in tandem with the city’s expansion as it shifted from periphery to the centre. Today, its central location and excellent connectivity, fed by Sion, Mahim and Matunga stations places it among the city’s most prime sites for real-estate development.
​
The 13th Compound, on Dharavi’s north-western rim, processes approximately 80% of Mumbai’s hard domestic waste. Up to 250,000 rag-pickers supply 40,000 people employed in grassroots recycling micro-enterprises, working in risky and unsanitary conditions. This process of self-organised work is undertaken almost entirely by those with low incomes, low social status and migrants.
 
Most industries in Dharavi are labour-intensive, producing high levels of pollution, even though they contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of the city. Hazardous and cramped working conditions, combined with poor sanitation, means that a factor of such production is that it comes at the expense of human life. The vital contribution made by informal waste recovery through the self-organised recycling sector remains undervalued and largely invisible, echoing the marginalized and disposable status of the extremely poor workers that sustain it.

Recently, a total ban of single-use plastics by the state of Maharashtra has brought the informal recycling industries further into the media spotlight. The policy response to waste management, marine plastic pollution and the requirement for recycling relies on this process of self-organised work, undertaken almost entirely by those with low incomes, low social status and migrants.