From 27 Sewing Machines to Factory Jobs, How Aarey’s Warli Women Are Stitching New Beginnings

Sewing and factory jobs are giving Warli women new ways to earn beyond forest produce. This matters because the community has faced displacement, tree loss and uncertainty as Mumbai expanded around Aarey. Paid work helps women assert their place in the city’s economy and build confidence.

The programme began informally by directing existing stitching skills toward useful work. Women now make quilts and bags, receive orders, and some work in factories across Mumbai. Factory employment offers regular wages, while overtime can double a usual day’s pay. Geeta Page, for example, earns Rs 400 for a quilt and continues taking outside orders because factory work depends on management decisions.

The change is not complete or equally secure. Some factory workers still accept urgent orders, and others combine factory employment with home-based stitching. Even so, sewing has become a pathway to formal jobs, income and independence. It also gives women an alternative when forest-based livelihoods are threatened.

The initiative grew because it built on skills women already possessed instead of starting from scratch. Sewing became an informal way to give community skills a practical purpose and create income after forest livelihoods became less secure. Over time, that small effort developed into a route toward formal employment.

Women first stitched when orders arrived, often working from home. Geeta Page describes making quilts for Rs 400 each and also sewing bags. The programme then connected women to factories across Mumbai. When a factory received an urgent bulk order, workers were called in on their weekly day off and paid overtime, showing how informal ability could meet formal production needs.

Today, factory jobs provide a more structured workplace, but they are not the only option. Geeta still accepts outside orders because factory work depends on bosses’ decisions. The progression therefore combines home-based work, paid orders and formal employment, expanding choices without removing uncertainty.

The article presents Warli Adivasis as community members living in Aarey’s hamlets, where families have made their homes since the 1950s. Their lives are closely connected to the forest. They value its trees, including chickoo, guava, jamun and ber, and once relied on forest produce for sustenance.

The programme connects that community background with a skill passed down among the women: sewing. What began as informal stitching became a way to make quilts, bags and other items for orders. Women such as Geeta Page use sewing machines at home, while others work in factories across Mumbai. The skill provides a practical source of income.

This connection matters because the community has had to adapt to a city growing around it. Tree felling and the metro project disrupted older livelihoods and displaced families. Sewing does not replace the community’s relationship with Aarey, but it offers women income, confidence and a stronger economic position while their future remains uncertain.

The Aarey metro car-shed project affected the community at several levels. It threatened 27 Warli Adivasi communities, or padas, that had lived in the forest since the 1950s. The article reports that the number of padas later fell from 27 to 15, while locals estimated that 70 Adivasi families lost their homes.

The environmental impact was also severe. After the Bombay High Court dismissed petitions seeking protected-area status, the BMC felled approximately 2,700 trees over two days on 4 October 2019. Those trees mattered deeply to residents because older community members had planted some of them, and the forest supported daily life and livelihoods.

The figures describe a major disruption, although the article does not present one single official total for every category. It reports the 27 communities, 15 remaining padas, 70 estimated displaced families and approximately 2,700 felled trees. Some hamlets remain safe for now, but residents say they never know what may happen.

Building the metro car shed changed the physical and economic life of Aarey. Trees were cut, homes disappeared, and families lost places where they had lived. The community also saw damage to older sources of sustenance because forest produce had supported daily life. These losses made adaptation necessary.

The reported events were rapid and contentious. After the Bombay High Court dismissed petitions opposing the 33-hectare car shed, the BMC felled approximately 2,700 trees over two days in October 2019. Protestors were detained, beaten and arrested. Locals estimate that 70 Adivasi families lost their homes, while the number of padas fell from 27 to 15.

The project also created continuing practical problems. Surekha says water collects around the car-shed area during rains, causing flooding. The hamlet is safe for the time being, but residents remain uncertain. Women have responded by developing stitching and factory work as alternative income sources.

Forest produce had once been the community’s means of sustenance. When trees were felled during the metro project, women saw that this livelihood could not be treated as dependable. The need was not simply to earn more, but to recalibrate daily life after a major environmental and social disruption.

Stitching offered a practical alternative because the women already had the skill. They could sew quilts and bags at home when orders arrived, then move into factory work as opportunities developed. Geeta Page receives Rs 400 for a quilt and also takes outside orders. Other women accept factory overtime when urgent bulk orders come in, earning double their usual day’s pay.

These jobs create income without requiring the women to abandon their community. They also build confidence and independence. Factory work can still depend on bosses and orders, so it is not fully secure. But combining formal employment with home-based sewing gives women more options after forest-based work was weakened.

Informal work in the article means taking sewing orders as they appear, often from home, without the structure of a factory job. Skill development means strengthening and applying an ability the women already learned within the community. Formal employment means working in factories across Mumbai for organised production and pay. The distinctions matter because each stage offers different security and opportunities.

Geeta Page shows how the stages can overlap. She stitches quilts for Rs 400 and makes bags when orders arrive. She also works through the factory programme, yet says factory work depends on the bosses, so she keeps accepting outside orders. Other women attend factories for urgent bulk orders and receive overtime, sometimes double their usual day’s pay.

Moving from informal work toward formal employment can increase independence by expanding income sources, confidence and access to paid work. It can also reduce reliance on forest produce after tree loss. The move is not automatically secure, but combining both forms gives women greater control over their livelihoods.