🔗 Share this article

Across several weeks, intimidating communications persisted. Initially, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, later from law enforcement directly. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was called to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is among those opposing a high-value initiative where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be demolished and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is unparalleled in the planet," states the resident. "However the plan aims to dismantle our way of life and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The cramped lanes of this community stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and elite residences that dominate the settlement. Residences are constructed informally and often lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is saturated with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and apartments with two toilets is an optimistic future come true.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, proper streets or drainage and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, 56, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The only way is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

However, some, such as the leather artisan, are resisting the redevelopment.

All recognize that Dharavi, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing investment and development. But they fear that this initiative – absent of community input – might convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, forcing out the marginalized, migrant communities who have been there since generations ago.

These were these shunned, displaced people who developed the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose economic value is valued at between $1m and two million dollars per year, making it among the globe's biggest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly 1 million residents living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer area, fewer than half will be qualified for new homes in the development, which is projected to take seven years to accomplish. The remainder will be transferred to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the remote edges of the metropolis, risking divide a generations-old neighborhood. Certain individuals will receive no homes at all.

People eligible to remain in Dharavi will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, communal way of residing and operating that has sustained this area for many years.

Businesses from garment work to ceramic crafts and recycling are likely to reduce in scale and be transferred to a designated "business area" distant from residential areas.

Existential Threat

In the case of this protester, a craftsman and third generation of his family to reside in the slum, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-storey operation creates garments – tailored coats, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and overseas.

His family resides in the rooms downstairs and employees and tailors – migrants from other states – live on-site, permitting him to sustain operations. Away from the slum, housing costs are frequently 10 times costlier for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings close by, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan shows a contrasting outlook. Fashionable residents gather on bicycles and electric vehicles, purchasing international baguettes and pastries and having coffee on an outdoor area outside Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. This depicts a world away from the affordable idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for our community," explains the protester. "This constitutes an enormous real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

There is also concern of the business conglomerate. Run by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the national leader – the business group has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Even as local authorities describes it as a partnership, the corporation invested a significant amount for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings stating that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the business group is under review in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to vocally oppose the redevelopment, local opponents state they have been experienced ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – including phone calls, direct threats and insinuations that criticizing the project was tantamount to opposing national interests – by individuals they claim work for the business conglomerate.

Part of the group alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c