Threats, Apprehension and Hope as Mumbai Slum Dwellers Await Demolition

Across several weeks, coercive phone calls persisted. Originally, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, later from the police themselves. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was called to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is one of many resisting a expensive project where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces razed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The culture of this area is like nowhere else in the globe," states Shaikh. "However they want to dismantle our community and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of this community stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that loom over the settlement. Dwellings are constructed informally and typically lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the air is saturated with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and residences with two toilets is a hopeful vision realized.

"We don't have sufficient health services, paved pathways or water management and there's nowhere for children to play," explains a chai seller, in his fifties, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The only way is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, including this protester, are fighting against the project.

All recognize that the slum, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. However they fear that this plan – without resident participation – might transform premium city property into a playground for the rich, displacing the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have been there since the late 1800s.

This involved these excluded, migrant workers who built up the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and business activity, whose output is worth between a significant amount and two million dollars per year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Out of about one million people living in the packed 220-hectare neighborhood, less than 50% will be able for new homes in the project, which is expected to take seven years to accomplish. The remainder will be transferred to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the remote edges of the metropolis, potentially divide a generations-old neighborhood. Some will not get homes at all.

Those allowed to stay in Dharavi will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the natural, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has sustained Dharavi for many years.

Industries from garment work to pottery and material recovery are expected to decrease in quantity and be moved to an allocated "commercial zone" far from homes.

Existential Threat

In the case of the leather artisan, a workshop owner and third generation resident to live in this community, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-floor operation makes garments – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – marketed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Household members dwells in the spaces downstairs and employees and tailors – migrants from other states – reside in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Away from Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are typically tenfold as high for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

Within the official facilities in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan depicts a very different outlook. Slickly dressed residents move around on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, purchasing continental baked goods and croissants and having coffee on a terrace adjacent to a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This depicts a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that supports Dharavi's community.

"This is not development for our community," states the protester. "This constitutes a massive property transaction that will price people out for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's distrust of the corporate group. Managed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the national leader – the corporation has faced accusations of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Even as the state government calls it a collaborative effort, the business group invested a significant amount for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the project was unfairly awarded to the business group is pending in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to actively protest the project, local opponents assert they have been faced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – including phone calls, clear intimidation and implications that criticizing the initiative was equivalent to speaking against the country – by individuals they claim represent the developer.

Among those suspected of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c