🔗 Share this article

Across several weeks, coercive communications continued. Originally, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, later from the authorities. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was ordered to the police station and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is one of many resisting a high-value initiative where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be razed and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The distinctive community of this area is exceptional in the world," says the protester. "However their intention is to dismantle our social fabric and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of the slum sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the settlement. Homes are built haphazardly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the air is permeated by the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and homes with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream realized.

"We don't have proper healthcare, roads or drainage and we have no places for youth to recreate," says A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who migrated from his home state in that period. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Local Protest

However, some, like Shaikh, are opposing the project.

All recognize that Dharavi, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need investment and development. However they are concerned that this plan – absent of community input – could potentially transform premium city property into an elite enclave, displacing the marginalized, migrant communities who have been there since the nineteenth century.

These were these excluded, relocated individuals who built up the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose economic value is valued at between one million dollars and two million dollars a year, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly one million people living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer area, fewer than half will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the project, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Others will be moved to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of Mumbai, risking break up a long-established neighborhood. Certain individuals will receive no residences at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be provided apartments in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, collective approach of living and working that has supported the community for generations.

Industries from tailoring to clay work and waste processing are expected to decrease in quantity and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" distant from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For residents like the leather artisan, a workshop owner and multi-generational inhabitant to call home the slum, the project presents a survival challenge. His makeshift, multi-level operation creates apparel – sharp blazers, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – marketed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and overseas.

Household members resides in the rooms underneath and employees and sewers – workers from north India – live in the same building, permitting him to afford their labour. Away from this community, housing costs are typically tenfold more expensive for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

In the government offices in the vicinity, a visual representation of the Dharavi project depicts a very different perspective. Well-groomed inhabitants move around on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing continental baguettes and breakfast items and socializing on a patio adjacent to a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This depicts a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no improvement for our community," says the protester. "It's a massive property transaction that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the development company. Run by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and a supporter of the government head – the corporation has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

While local authorities labels it a joint project, the developer contributed a significant amount for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings stating that the project was questionably assigned to the corporation is under review in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to actively protest the project, protesters and community members claim they have been faced an extended period of coercion and warning – comprising messages, clear intimidation and suggestions that opposing the development was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by people they claim represent the developer.

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