🔗 Share this article

Across several weeks, intimidating messages continued. Initially, supposedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, and then from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is among those fighting a expensive initiative where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – will be razed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is exceptional in the world," says the resident. "However their intention is to dismantle our way of life and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and elite residences that loom over the area. Homes are constructed informally and typically missing basic amenities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is filled with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of high-end towers, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and residences with two toilets is a hopeful vision realized.

"We lack proper healthcare, roads or drainage and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," says a chai seller, fifty-six, who relocated from southern India in 1982. "The only way is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Local Protest

But others, including the leather artisan, are opposing the project.

All recognize that this community, long neglected as informal housing, is in stark need economic input and modernization. However they worry that this plan – without public consultation – could potentially transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, forcing out the marginalized, working-class residents who have been there since generations ago.

These were these excluded, migrant workers who developed the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose production is worth between a significant amount and two million dollars annually, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about 1 million people living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, a minority will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the development, which is estimated to take seven years to finish. Additional residents will be moved to barren areas and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, threatening to break up a long-established community. Some will be denied residences at all.

People eligible to stay in the neighborhood will be allocated flats in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the natural, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has supported Dharavi for generations.

Industries from tailoring to pottery and material recovery are likely to decrease in quantity and be transferred to a specific "industrial sector" distant from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like the leather artisan, a craftsman and long-time inhabitant to live in the slum, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His informal, multi-level workshop produces apparel – formal jackets, luxury coats, fashionable garments – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and internationally.

His family dwells in the accommodations below and laborers and garment workers – laborers from north India – also sleep on-site, allowing him to afford their labour. Outside Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are typically 10 times costlier for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

Within the official facilities in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative vision for the future. Well-groomed inhabitants mill about on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, buying continental baguettes and pastries and having coffee on an outdoor area adjacent to a restaurant and treat station. It is a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that supports local residents.

"This isn't development for residents," states the artisan. "It represents an enormous real estate deal that will price people out for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the development company. Run by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and a close ally of the Indian prime minister – the business group has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

While local authorities describes it as a partnership, the developer contributed a significant amount for its majority share. A case alleging that the project was questionably assigned to the corporation is under review in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to actively protest the development, local opponents assert they have been subjected to an extended period of coercion and warning – involving messages, explicit warnings and insinuations that opposing the initiative was tantamount to opposing national interests – by figures they allege are associated with the business conglomerate.

Part of the group accused of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c