Pressure, Apprehension and Hope as India's financial capital Residents Face Redevelopment

For months, intimidating communications continued. Originally, reportedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, and then from law enforcement directly. Finally, a local artisan asserts he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is part of a group fighting a high-value initiative where this historic settlement – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be razed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is like nowhere else in the globe," says the resident. "However they want to dismantle our way of life and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that loom over the neighborhood. Homes are assembled randomly and frequently without proper sanitation, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the environment is filled with the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with proper sanitation is an optimistic future come true.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, proper streets or water management and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains A Selvin Nadar, 56, who moved from his home state in 1982. "The single option is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

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

Everyone acknowledges that this community, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. Yet they fear that this initiative – absent of public consultation – could potentially turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, forcing out the marginalized, immigrant populations who have resided there since generations ago.

It was these marginalized, displaced people who developed the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of community resilience and business activity, whose output is worth between $1m and a substantial sum a year, making it a major unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly one million residents living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be eligible for new homes in the development, which is expected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Others will be transferred to wastelands and salt plains on the far outskirts of Mumbai, risking fragment a long-established community. Some will not get residences at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the neighborhood will be allocated units in tower blocks, a substantial change from the natural, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has sustained the community for many years.

Commercial activities from tailoring to clay work and recycling are likely to decrease in quantity and be moved to a specific "commercial zone" separated from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as this protester, a craftsman and multi-generational inhabitant to reside in the slum, the project presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-floor operation makes leather coats – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – distributed in premium stores in south Mumbai and internationally.

Relatives resides in the spaces underneath and his workers and sewers – migrants from different regions – live there, enabling him to sustain operations. Outside Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently 10 times costlier for a single room.

Threats and Warning

At the administrative buildings nearby, a visual representation of the redevelopment plan illustrates a very different outlook. Well-groomed residents move around on bicycles and e-vehicles, acquiring western-style baguettes and croissants and having coffee on an outdoor area near a restaurant and Ice-Cream. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that supports the neighborhood.

"This isn't progress for us," explains Shaikh. "It represents a massive real estate deal that will render it impossible for us to survive."

There is also concern of the development company. Headed by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the government head – the business group has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it disputes.

While administrative bodies describes it as a collaborative effort, the corporation invested a significant amount for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the project was unfairly awarded to the corporation is under review in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to publicly resist the redevelopment, local opponents assert they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – comprising messages, direct threats and insinuations that opposing the initiative was equivalent to speaking against the country – by people they claim work for the corporate group.

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