Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/in-famous-mumbai-slum-redevelopment-plans-stir-controversy Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Hundreds of thousands of Indian citizens are upset with the government's plans to level Mumbai's Dharavi Slum, the now-famous setting for the film "Slumdog Millionaire", to make way for commercial buildings and luxury housing. Simon Marks reports from Mumbai. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: Now, part two of our series of reports on the world's largest democracy, India, where voters go to the polls later this month.Tonight, special correspondent Simon Marks reports on plans for dramatic change in a slum catapulted to Oscar-winning fame. SIMON MARKS, NewsHour Special Correspondent: If it looks like a scene from "Slumdog Millionaire," that's because it is the place where part of the Oscar-winning movie was filmed.Every day in the center of Mumbai's Dharavi slum, clothes are washed at a community laundry. Some of the slum's residents wade waist deep into waters that are heavily polluted by open sewers. The stench is hard to describe, but this is the only place in the neighborhood with even the most basic laundry facility.The neighborhood is Asia's largest slum: 535 acres of land in the heart of India's financial capital. Dharavi is prime real estate, lying at the junction of two busy commuter lines and just a few miles from Mumbai's international airport.How many people actually live in the warren of lanes and alleys that comprise the slum is a subject of heated debate. But many of them, like Siddharth Mehde, who operates a small transportation business here, have lived in Dharavi for more than 40 years. SIDDHARTH MEHDE, Slum Resident (through translator): They say they've taken an official survey, but it was done from the air by helicopter. Tell them to come to Dharavi. They should meet everyone, walk the streets, even though they're big, important people.