Over an extended period, intimidating communications persisted. Initially, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the police themselves. In the end, a local artisan states he was summoned to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.
This third-generation resident is part of a group resisting a expensive project where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – faces bulldozed and transformed by a corporate giant.
"The culture of Dharavi is exceptional in the planet," explains the resident. "However their intention is to destroy our way of life and silence our voices."
The dank gullies of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that loom over the area. Homes are assembled randomly and often lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the environment is permeated by the overpowering odor of open sewers.
Among some individuals, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and residences with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision realized.
"There's no adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or water management and there are no spaces for youth to recreate," says a tea vendor, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and build us new homes."
But others, like this protester, are fighting against the project.
None deny that the slum, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring investment and development. Yet they fear that this plan – lacking community input – could potentially turn valuable urban land into a luxury development, displacing the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have resided there since the nineteenth century.
These were these shunned, displaced people who developed the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and business activity, whose production is worth between one million dollars and a substantial sum annually, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.
Of the roughly one million inhabitants living in the crowded sprawling area, a minority will be able for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. The remainder will be relocated to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the distant periphery of Mumbai, potentially divide a historic neighborhood. Certain individuals will be denied homes at all.
Those allowed to continue living in the neighborhood will be provided units in tower blocks, a major break from the evolved, collective approach of living and working that has supported Dharavi for generations.
Businesses from clothing production to pottery and waste processing are projected to reduce in scale and be relocated to an allocated "commercial zone" distant from residential areas.
For those such as Shaikh, a craftsman and third generation resident to call home Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, multi-level workshop creates garments – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.
Relatives resides in the accommodations below and employees and garment workers – workers from different regions – also sleep in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Away from Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are typically significantly costlier for minimal space.
In the government offices close by, a visual representation of the Dharavi project depicts a contrasting vision for the future. Fashionable residents move around on cycles and electric vehicles, buying international bread and pastries and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area near a coffee shop and treat station. This represents a world away from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and low-cost tea that maintains Dharavi's community.
"This isn't progress for residents," says the protester. "It's an enormous property transaction that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."
Furthermore, there's distrust of the development company. Managed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the national leader – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.
Although the state government labels it a partnership, the developer invested a significant amount for its controlling interest. A lawsuit claiming that the initiative was improperly granted to the business group is pending in the top court.
After they started to publicly resist the project, protesters and community members state they have been experienced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – comprising messages, direct threats and insinuations that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to opposing national interests – by figures they allege are associated with the business conglomerate.
Included in these accused of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c
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