Threats, Apprehension and Optimism as Mumbai Residents Face Redevelopment

Across several weeks, coercive communications persisted. Originally, reportedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, later from the authorities. In the end, one resident states he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is part of a group fighting a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – will be razed and transformed by a large business group.

"The culture of the slum is like nowhere else in the world," says Shaikh. "However the plan aims to eradicate our community and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the settlement. Homes are built haphazardly and often lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is permeated by the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and homes with two toilets is a hopeful vision realized.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, proper streets or sewage systems and there are no spaces for children to play," explains a chai seller, in his fifties, who relocated from southern India in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Local Protest

However, some, like the leather artisan, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that the slum, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they worry that this initiative – absent of community input – could potentially transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, displacing the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have been there since generations ago.

These were these excluded, migrant workers who built up the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and commercial output, whose production is valued at between a significant amount and two million dollars annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about 1 million people living in the dense 220-hectare area, fewer than half will be able for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take a significant period to finish. Others will be transferred to wastelands and coastal regions on the far outskirts of the metropolis, threatening to break up a long-established social network. A portion will receive no homes at all.

People eligible to stay in Dharavi will be provided apartments in multi-story structures, a major break from the evolved, communal way of residing and operating that has supported this area for generations.

Businesses from garment work to clay work and material recovery are projected to decrease in quantity and be moved to an allocated "commercial zone" separated from residential areas.

Existential Threat

For those such as the leather artisan, a leather artisan and multi-generational inhabitant to reside in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-floor workshop produces garments – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – distributed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

His family lives in the accommodations underneath and his workers and sewers – migrants from other states – live in the same building, allowing him to afford their labour. Outside this community, accommodation prices are often tenfold more expensive for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan depicts a contrasting vision for the future. Fashionable residents mill about on cycles and eco-friendly transport, acquiring continental bread and croissants and having coffee on a patio outside a restaurant and dessert parlor. It is a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not development for our community," explains the protester. "It represents a massive property transaction that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

There is also distrust of the development company. Managed by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and a close ally of the government head – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Even as the state government labels it a partnership, the business group contributed nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is pending in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to actively protest the redevelopment, local opponents state they have been experienced ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – comprising phone calls, direct threats and suggestions that criticizing the development was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by figures they allege represent the corporate group.

Among those accused of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c