Despite its informal status, Dharavi has a rich community life centred on its mosques, temples, community halls, and the small schools and clinics that have emerged to serve its population. The settlement is divided into multiple sub-communities — Muslim weavers from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Hindu Naickers, Maharashtrian fishermen, and Gujarati potters — each maintaining their own religious and social institutions within the overall settlement.
The community life of Dharavi is most accessible through guided tours with resident-run organisations, which frame the neighbourhood as a functioning urban community rather than a social problem to be solved. Visitors consistently report surprise at the warmth of interactions and the complexity of the social organisation they encounter. The annual Ganesh Chaturthi festival transforms Dharavi's public spaces with processions and celebrations that rival those in any Mumbai neighbourhood.