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Across several weeks, coercive phone calls recurred. Initially, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, subsequently from the authorities. Ultimately, one resident states he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is one of many opposing a expensive project where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – will be demolished and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of this area is like nowhere else in the world," states the resident. "However the plan aims to eradicate our social fabric and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of this community sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that dominate the settlement. Homes are built haphazardly and frequently without proper sanitation, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is filled with the suffocating smell of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and apartments with two toilets is an optimistic future come true.

"We lack proper healthcare, paved pathways or drainage and there are no spaces for children to play," states a tea vendor, fifty-six, who relocated from his home state in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

But others, like Shaikh, are opposing the redevelopment.

None deny that the slum, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. Yet they worry that this project – without public consultation – could potentially convert premium city property into a playground for the rich, evicting the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since generations ago.

This involved these shunned, displaced people who established the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose production is worth between one million dollars and two million dollars annually, making it a major unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately one million people living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is projected to take a significant period to finish. Others will be relocated to barren areas and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, potentially break up a generations-old community. Certain individuals will receive no homes at all.

Those allowed to continue living in the neighborhood will be allocated flats in multi-story structures, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has sustained this area for so long.

Businesses from clothing production to pottery and material recovery are expected to reduce in scale and be relocated to an allocated "commercial zone" far from people's residences.

Existential Threat

In the case of this protester, a leather artisan and long-time inhabitant to live in the slum, the project presents an existential threat. His informal, multi-level operation creates garments – tailored coats, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – sold in premium stores in south Mumbai and overseas.

Relatives resides in the rooms below and his workers and garment workers – workers from other states – reside on-site, allowing him to sustain operations. Beyond the slum, Mumbai rents are typically tenfold costlier for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

Within the administrative buildings close by, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan depicts an alternative vision for the future. Fashionable people move around on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, buying continental baked goods and croissants and socializing on an outdoor area adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and treat station. It is a world away from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that maintains local residents.

"This isn't improvement for us," explains the artisan. "It represents an enormous land development that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the corporate group. Managed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Although administrative bodies calls it a joint project, the corporation contributed $950m for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the project was unfairly awarded to the corporation is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to actively protest the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents claim they have been faced an extended period of pressure and threats – comprising messages, direct threats and insinuations that speaking against the development was equivalent to opposing national interests – by individuals they assert represent the business conglomerate.

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