The Cost of Shifting Dharavi

This letter responds to the special article “Floating in Space: Transfer of Development Rights, Accumulation, and Segregation in Mumbai” (This letter responds to the special article “Floating in Space: Transfer of Development Rights, Accumulation, and Segregation in Mumbai” (EPW, 13 September 2025), which analyses Mumbai’s transfer of development rights (TDR) markets and shows how informal settlements survive by constantly negotiating the city’s shifting spatial politics, creating flexible and adaptive “floating” spaces for redevelopment and rehabilitation. The Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) demonstrates another dimension of this process, where the peripheral salt-pan lands of Bhandup and Mulund are used for the relocation of Dharavi residents.