Threats, Fear and Hope as Mumbai Inhabitants Face Redevelopment

Over an extended period, intimidating communications persisted. Initially, allegedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, and then from the authorities. In the end, a local artisan asserts he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is among those opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The culture of the slum is unparalleled in the planet," says the resident. "Yet their intention is to dismantle our community and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the neighborhood. Residences are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere 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, shiny shopping centers and homes with two toilets is an optimistic future realized.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, proper streets or drainage and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains A Selvin Nadar, 56, who relocated from his home state in that period. "The only way is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

But others, like this protester, are resisting the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing investment and development. Yet they are concerned that this project – absent of community input – might transform premium city property into a luxury development, evicting the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have been there since generations ago.

It was these excluded, displaced people who developed the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose output is worth between one million dollars and $2m per year, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly a million inhabitants living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, fewer than half will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the project, which is expected to take an extended timeframe to finish. The remainder will be relocated to wastelands and saline fields on the far outskirts of Mumbai, risking fragment a long-established social network. A portion will not get housing at all.

Those allowed to remain in Dharavi will be provided units in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the evolved, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has maintained this area for generations.

Businesses from garment work to pottery and material recovery are projected to shrink in number and be transferred to a specific "commercial zone" distant from homes.

Survival Challenge

For those such as this protester, a craftsman and long-time inhabitant to call home Dharavi, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His rickety, multi-level operation makes apparel – sharp blazers, luxury coats, fashionable garments – marketed in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the spaces underneath and laborers and garment workers – workers from north India – also sleep in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Outside Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are frequently 10 times as high for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the government offices nearby, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project depicts a very different outlook. Fashionable residents move around on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, buying international baguettes and pastries and having coffee on a patio adjacent to a restaurant and treat station. This depicts a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains local residents.

"This represents no development for our community," says the protester. "It represents a huge property transaction that will price people out for our community to continue."

Additionally, there exists concern of the development company. Headed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the national leader – the corporation has been subject to claims of favoritism and questionable practices, which it denies.

Although local authorities calls it a joint project, the corporation contributed $950m for its 80% stake. A lawsuit stating that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the corporation is pending in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to publicly resist the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents state they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – comprising communications, explicit warnings and insinuations that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by people they claim are associated with the developer.

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