🔗 Share this article

Across several weeks, threatening messages continued. Originally, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, subsequently from the police themselves. In the end, one resident states he was called to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: keep quiet or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is among those resisting a high-value initiative where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be demolished and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of the slum is exceptional in the world," explains the protester. "Yet they want to eradicate our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of this community sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that loom over the neighborhood. Homes are constructed informally and typically missing basic amenities, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the air is saturated with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future come true.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or water management and we have no places for kids to enjoy," says a tea vendor, 56, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The only way is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

But others, such as the leather artisan, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that this community, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring investment and development. However they fear that this plan – absent of public consultation – could potentially convert premium city property into an elite enclave, evicting the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have lived there since the late 1800s.

This involved these excluded, relocated individuals who established the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and commercial output, whose economic value is valued at between one million dollars and $2m annually, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Out of about one million inhabitants living in the crowded sprawling area, less than 50% will be eligible for new homes in the development, which is projected to take a significant period to accomplish. Others will be moved to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of Mumbai, potentially break up a generations-old social network. A portion will receive no housing at all.

People eligible to stay in Dharavi will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the organic, collective approach of residing and operating that has sustained the community for many years.

Businesses from clothing production to ceramic crafts and waste processing are expected to decrease in quantity and be moved to an allocated "commercial zone" separated from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as this protester, a workshop owner and long-time resident to live in this community, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-storey operation makes apparel – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – sold in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and abroad.

His family resides in the spaces underneath and laborers and sewers – laborers from north India – live there, enabling him to afford their labour. Away from this community, Mumbai rents are typically significantly costlier for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the administrative buildings in the vicinity, a visual representation of the transformation initiative shows an alternative outlook. Slickly dressed residents gather on cycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing western-style baguettes and croissants and socializing on a patio adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This represents a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains local residents.

"This isn't improvement for us," explains Shaikh. "This constitutes an enormous property transaction that will price people out for our community to continue."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the business conglomerate. Managed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the national leader – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it rejects.

While local authorities labels it a collaborative effort, the developer invested nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings claiming that the project was improperly granted to the business group is pending in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to actively protest the project, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been experienced ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – comprising messages, explicit warnings and suggestions that opposing the project was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by people they claim are associated with the developer.

Included in these accused of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c