Anyone who’s travelled by the local train in Mumbai can tell you about some structures they pass by on their journey towards Churchgate or CST – structures in ruins, empty remains of what were once livelihoods of perhaps thousands of workers. And they look particularly ghoulish when the clouds of Mumbai’s monsoons shelter them for hours at a stretch.

And who’d have thought that when the British and Portuguese decided to begin trade in India, the decision would become the very foundation of Mumbai city? Everything that Mumbai is today, is because of the trade and the push of industrialisation. The massive structures flourished and boomed, drawing in breadwinners from the hinterlands of India to work, which earned the city its reputation for being the land of opportunities.

And yet, the mills remain forgotten, full of incomplete dreams and unfulfilled wishes. The walls of these once-gargantuan structures remain in despair today in the company of junkies, and perhaps occasionally witness couples whose stories will fade away with time.

Picture of Khatau Mills, which no longer stands today. Image Credit: Kruti Garg

The mills stood in Bombay, and as the city became Mumbai, they were left forgotten in a very large infrastructural generation gap. If one visits, they sure will be able to feel the pleas to Mumbai of these mills to not be forgotten like Bombay was.

Ghosts of the past

It began around the late 1840s, when mills began to plant themselves around a location which now is central part of Mumbai. The mills were set up towards central and south of Mumbai, when the islands still existed and the land had still not been reclaimed. A significant rise in the port activity led to the businessmen, mostly from the Parsi community to invest in the rising trade in Mumbai. Mills were then built with large hall spaces in order to function with at least one thousand workers in them.

The first mill in Bombay was projected in 1851 by Mr C. Nanabhai Davar and commenced work in 1854 in the name of Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company.

We spoke to one of the city’s leading conservation architect Kruti Garg, perhaps an encyclopedia of city’s heritage and history. She informed us about how the area which was then south of Mumbai became an ideal site for setting up mills. “The earliest mills began around Tardeo and Byculla, and later began moving northwards. The mills are located in the central part of Bombay, in a vast area known as Girangaon – village of the Mills – that encompasses the localities of Byculla, Chinchpokly, Lalbaug, Poybawadi, Parel, Lower Parel, Worli, Deleslie Road and Jacob Circle to Dadar,” she told us.

Shakti Mills : BCCL

The old world charm of the Chawls

The chawls that have defined Mumbai for many decades were also founded in the same era. Mumbai was not quite the flashy land it is today. The locations of the mills happened to be remote and uninhabitable. Therefore chawls were set up around the mills.

The textile industry became the most important employer in the city, giving employment to lakhs of people. The average daily employment in the mills more than doubled between the years 1900 to 1925 – during which more than 15,000 workers were employed.

Chawls of Mumbai : BCCL

These small, confined spaces, have been glorified by Bollywood in numerous films – most notable being Hum, Vaastav, Angaar and more, including the Hritik Roshan starrer Agneepath. While people wonder about how entire families thrive in a chawl, Garg tells us that the chawls were never meant for families.

“When the workers began migrating from the hinterlands to Mumbai, the chawl settlements, more like tenements, were built only to house these workers and not their families - evident with the system of common toilets and bathrooms. However, when the families began to move here too, the chawl culture became more and more prominent, with a mix of ethnic backgrounds,” Garg said.

Blending in the crowd

Garg also told us about how hordes of people began to migrate here in search of a livelihood. “From 1850 – 1920, major waves of immigrants from many origins were attracted to Bombay during this period, and a matrix of strong ethnic neighbourhoods developed,” she said.

What Elphinstone Mills Once Looked Like. Image Credit: Kruti Garg

Naturally, the population rose rapidly - from eight million to almost 10 million in twenty years (1870 – 1890) .

The mills across the Tulsi Pipe Road – like Kamala Mills, Mathuradas Mills, and most famous – Phoenix mills have become quite swanky in their ways. They’re either shopping malls or corporate offices. And perhaps the people who work there are the modern mill workers – the ones without uniforms, technologically up-to-date, with refined manners and more happening social lives.

One of the few mill structures standing in ruins. Image Credit : Kruti Garg

Something old, something new

Phoenix Mills happens to be one of the rare lands where the essential structure of the mill has been retained and rehabilitated into a luxurious shopping mall. However, others like Kamala Mills and Elphinstone have not been that lucky.

“I think that this is a brilliant move, and similar steps need to be taken for other mill structures as well. The very foundation of the history of this city is being forgotten, and the need of the hour is to preserve it as much as we can before the next generation forgets it,” Garg tells us.

Phoenix Mills Stand tall as the best of both worlds. Image Credit : Kruti Garg

Then, there is the mill with the now tainted image – Shakti Mills – where a couple of years ago, a photojournalist was raped by some anti-social elements present there. Mukesh Mills too, is in the league of infamy – quite known for the stories of haunting that people have experienced there.

Back in the time, some mills were privately owned while some belonged to the National Textile Corporation. The E. D. Sassoon Mills, set up in 1851, happens to be one of the mills that is still surviving. Garg informs us that there were about 83 mills in 1915.

View From Lower Parel Flyover. Image Credit : Kruti Garg

In 2004, there were 53 mills in the city, out of which 27 mills belong to the Government, i.e with the National textile Corporation and the remaining 31 mills belong to the private sector. Today there are less than 30 odd structures also losing the battle.

The ideal way, according to Garg is to make these mills creative places by “either making them into textile museums or converting them into recreational parks. This part of Mumbai is in dire need to be saved,” she concluded.