🔗 Share this article

For months, coercive communications persisted. Originally, allegedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, a local artisan claims he was ordered to the local precinct and warned explicitly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is among those opposing a expensive project where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces demolished and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The culture of the slum is exceptional in the world," states Shaikh. "Yet they want to eradicate our way of life and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The cramped lanes of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the settlement. Dwellings are constructed informally and frequently missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is permeated by the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and residences with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision achieved.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, roads or water management and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains a chai seller, fifty-six, who moved from his home state in the early eighties. "The single option is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Local Protest

But others, like Shaikh, are fighting against the project.

None deny that the slum, consistently overlooked as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need investment and development. But they fear that this project – without public consultation – is one that will turn premium city property into an elite enclave, forcing out the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have resided there since the late 1800s.

These were these shunned, displaced people who established the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of local enterprise and business activity, whose output is valued at between a significant amount and two million dollars a year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly a million people living in the crowded 220-hectare neighborhood, fewer than half will be able for replacement housing in the development, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to finish. The remainder will be moved to barren areas and salt plains on the distant periphery of Mumbai, risking fragment a generations-old community. A portion will receive no housing at all.

Those allowed to stay in the neighborhood will be provided apartments in tower blocks, a substantial change from the evolved, collective approach of living and working that has supported Dharavi for so long.

Commercial activities from tailoring to pottery and material recovery are projected to shrink in number and be relocated to an allocated "business area" distant from homes.

Existential Threat

For residents like this protester, a leather artisan and long-time inhabitant to reside in Dharavi, the project presents a survival challenge. His makeshift, three-floor workshop makes leather coats – tailored coats, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – distributed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Household members dwells in the spaces below and employees and tailors – workers from different regions – live in the same building, permitting him to afford their labour. Beyond this community, Mumbai rents are typically tenfold more expensive for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

At the government offices in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a very different vision for the future. Well-groomed people move around on cycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing continental baked goods and pastries and socializing on a patio outside a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This depicts a stark contrast from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not improvement for our community," explains Shaikh. "It's a massive real estate deal that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Additionally, there exists skepticism of the development company. Run by a prominent businessman – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

While the state government calls it a collaborative effort, the business group paid $950m for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings claiming that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is pending in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to actively protest the redevelopment, local opponents claim they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – comprising communications, explicit warnings and insinuations that speaking against the project was equivalent to opposing national interests – by people they claim work for the corporate group.

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