🔗 Share this article

For months, threatening phone calls persisted. Initially, reportedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was ordered to the police station and warned explicitly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a multimillion-dollar project where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be demolished and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is exceptional in the world," says the resident. "Yet their intention is to eradicate our way of life and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of this community sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that dominate the neighborhood. Dwellings are assembled randomly and frequently missing basic amenities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is filled with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

Among some individuals, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and homes with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision realized.

"We don't have sufficient health services, paved pathways or sewage systems and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains A Selvin Nadar, 56, who migrated from his home state in the early eighties. "The only way is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

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

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. Yet they fear that this project – absent of public consultation – could potentially turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, evicting the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since the late 1800s.

This involved these shunned, displaced people who established the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and business activity, whose economic value is valued at between $1m and a substantial sum a year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly a million people living in the crowded sprawling neighborhood, fewer than half will be qualified for new homes in the project, which is expected to take seven years to complete. Additional residents will be transferred to barren areas and saline fields on the remote edges of the city, potentially divide a long-established community. Certain individuals will be denied homes at all.

Those allowed to stay in the area will be provided units in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the natural, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has supported Dharavi for generations.

Businesses from tailoring to ceramic crafts and recycling are likely to decrease in quantity and be moved to an allocated "business area" far from people's residences.

Existential Threat

In the case of Shaikh, a craftsman and multi-generational inhabitant to reside in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-floor workshop produces garments – sharp blazers, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – distributed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Relatives lives in the rooms downstairs and employees and tailors – workers from different regions – reside there, permitting him to sustain operations. Outside this community, accommodation prices are often tenfold more expensive for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

At the official facilities in the vicinity, a visual representation of the Dharavi project depicts a contrasting perspective. Well-groomed inhabitants move around on cycles and electric vehicles, purchasing western-style baked goods and pastries and socializing on a patio near Dharavi Cafe and treat station. It is a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not development for our community," states Shaikh. "It represents an enormous property transaction that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

There is also concern of the business conglomerate. Managed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the government head – the corporation has faced accusations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it denies.

Although local authorities labels it a partnership, the developer contributed a significant amount for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings alleging that the project was unfairly awarded to the corporation is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to actively protest the project, local opponents state they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – including messages, explicit warnings and implications that criticizing the development was tantamount to opposing national interests – by figures they allege work for the business conglomerate.

Among those alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c