🔗 Share this article

Across several weeks, coercive communications persisted. Originally, supposedly from a former police officer and a former defense officer, later from the police themselves. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is part of a group resisting a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be bulldozed and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of this area is like nowhere else in the planet," says the resident. "Yet they want to eradicate our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The cramped lanes of this community present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and elite residences that overshadow the settlement. Dwellings are constructed informally and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is saturated with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and residences with proper sanitation is an optimistic future achieved.

"There's no proper healthcare, roads or drainage and there's nowhere for children to play," states a chai seller, fifty-six, who moved from southern India in that period. "The sole solution is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

But others, including this protester, are opposing the redevelopment.

None deny that this community, consistently overlooked as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they are concerned that this project – lacking resident participation – might turn valuable urban land into an elite enclave, evicting the marginalized, migrant communities who have been there since generations ago.

These were these shunned, relocated individuals who established the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose output is worth between a significant amount and $2m per year, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly 1 million people living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, less than 50% will be qualified for replacement housing in the project, which is estimated to take seven years to finish. The remainder will be relocated to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the far outskirts of Mumbai, risking break up a historic neighborhood. A portion will not get housing at all.

People eligible to remain in the neighborhood will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the organic, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has supported Dharavi for generations.

Industries from garment work to clay work and waste processing are projected to shrink in number and be relocated to a designated "commercial zone" separated from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like this protester, a craftsman and third generation resident to reside in the slum, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-storey facility produces apparel – sharp blazers, suede trenches, fashionable garments – sold in premium stores in south Mumbai and internationally.

Household members dwells in the accommodations below and laborers and sewers – workers from north India – live there, enabling him to afford their labour. Beyond the slum, accommodation prices are often tenfold as high for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

At the government offices nearby, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative depicts an alternative vision for the future. Fashionable residents move around on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, purchasing international baguettes and croissants and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area near Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. This represents a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no improvement for us," explains Shaikh. "It's an enormous real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

Additionally, there exists concern of the business conglomerate. Run by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it rejects.

Although local authorities labels it a partnership, the corporation contributed a significant amount for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings stating that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the corporation is being considered in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to actively protest the project, protesters and community members state they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – involving messages, explicit warnings and implications that opposing the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they assert are associated with the developer.

Among those accused of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c