🔗 Share this article

Across several weeks, threatening messages recurred. Originally, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, and then from the authorities. Finally, one resident asserts he was ordered to the local precinct and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is among those opposing a expensive project where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be demolished and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of the slum is unparalleled in the globe," says Shaikh. "But their intention is to destroy our way of life and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of the slum sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that dominate the settlement. Residences are constructed informally and often lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the environment is filled with the suffocating smell of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and residences with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We lack sufficient health services, proper streets or drainage and there are no spaces for youth to recreate," says a tea vendor, in his fifties, who moved from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The only way is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

However, some, like this protester, are opposing the plan.

All recognize that the slum, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. Yet they fear that this project – absent of public consultation – could potentially convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, forcing out the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have resided there since the late 1800s.

This involved these shunned, relocated individuals who built up the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of local enterprise and business activity, whose economic value is valued at between $1m and a substantial sum per year, making it a major unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately a million people living in the dense sprawling area, less than 50% will be able for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. Additional residents will be moved to wastelands and saline fields on the far outskirts of the city, risking divide a generations-old social network. Some will be denied housing at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be allocated units in multi-story structures, a major break from the evolved, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has supported the community for many years.

Industries from tailoring to ceramic crafts and material recovery are expected to reduce in scale and be relocated to an allocated "business area" separated from people's residences.

Existential Threat

In the case of Shaikh, a craftsman and long-time resident to reside in the slum, the plan presents an existential threat. His informal, three-floor operation creates apparel – tailored coats, luxury coats, fashionable garments – sold in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family dwells in the rooms underneath and laborers and tailors – migrants from north India – live on-site, enabling him to afford their labour. Outside this community, Mumbai rents are often 10 times costlier for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the official facilities close by, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative depicts a very different vision for the future. Fashionable residents move around on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, acquiring international bread and croissants and enlisting beverages on a terrace outside Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. This represents a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains the neighborhood.

"This represents no improvement for our community," states the artisan. "It's an enormous property transaction that will render it impossible for us to survive."

There is also distrust of the development company. Managed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the national leader – the corporation has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it denies.

Although the state government describes it as a joint project, the business group invested a significant amount for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings alleging that the project was unfairly awarded to the developer is under review in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to publicly resist the project, protesters and community members state they have been faced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – comprising phone calls, clear intimidation and suggestions that opposing the project was comparable with speaking against the country – by individuals they allege work for the developer.

Included in these suspected of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c