This paper describes and discusses the changes in the government’s plans to redevelop Dharavi in Mumbai in response to pressure and protest by Dharavi residents, grassroots organizations and a local group of eminent citizens (Concerned Citizens for Dharavi), and as a result of international pressure. Dharavi, a large inner-city township in Mumbai that is often said to be one of Asia’s largest slums is to be redeveloped, and the means through which it will be redeveloped are currently under discussion. Our paper in the October 2007 issue of Environment & Urbanization described how the government of Maharashtra’s plans for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) divided Dharavi into sectors for which international companies would bid for the right to develop. Although the DRP acknowledged that redevelopment must rehouse or resettle Dharavi’s current population, there was no consultation with the residents or enterprises in Dharavi. There were serious concerns that commercial developers would seek to minimize the costs of rehousing the population and maximize the amount of land cleared for commercial development. With no clear policy or official documentation on who would be entitled to rehousing or resettlement, or on grievance redressal for those who would be left out, residents feared that many households and business enterprises stood to lose their homes and places of work.

There were serious concerns that commercial developers would seek to minimize the costs of rehousing the population and maximize the amount of land cleared for commercial development. With no clear policy or official documentation on who would be entitled to rehousing or resettlement, or on grievance redressal for those who would be left out, residents feared that many households and business enterprises stood to lose their homes and places of work. Thus, the homes and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Mumbai inhabitants are at stake, as is the future of thousands of local businesses in Dharavi that are of considerable importance not only for livelihoods but also for Mumbai’s economy. Concerns about this redevelopment project led to an open letter in May 2007 by Jockin Arputham, the head of the National Slum Dwellers Federation, offering the government and the developers interested in Dharavi’s redevelopment a partnership if they worked with the inhabitants and businesses in Dharavi – or a promise of conflict if they did not.