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Across several weeks, intimidating phone calls persisted. Initially, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, and then from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to the police station and warned explicitly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is among those fighting a expensive project where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be demolished and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The distinctive community of the slum is exceptional in the world," states the protester. "But the plan aims to eradicate our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and elite residences that dominate the area. Homes are constructed informally and frequently lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the environment is permeated by the suffocating smell of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and residences with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream realized.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or water management and we have no places for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The only way is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

But others, including Shaikh, are fighting against the plan.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing investment and development. However they worry that this plan – absent of community input – could potentially convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, displacing the lower-caste, migrant communities who have lived there since the late 1800s.

This involved these shunned, migrant workers who developed the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and commercial output, whose production is estimated at between $1m and $2m per year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately a million people living in the dense 220-hectare neighborhood, a minority will be able for new homes in the redevelopment, which is expected to take seven years to accomplish. Additional residents will be relocated to wastelands and saline fields on the distant periphery of the metropolis, risking fragment a generations-old community. Some will receive no residences at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the neighborhood will be provided units in multi-story structures, a major break from the organic, communal way of living and working that has supported this area for generations.

Businesses from clothing production to ceramic crafts and recycling are expected to shrink in number and be moved to an allocated "commercial zone" distant from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like the leather artisan, a workshop owner and multi-generational of his family to live in Dharavi, the project presents a survival challenge. His makeshift, three-floor workshop makes apparel – formal jackets, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – sold in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

Relatives dwells in the accommodations downstairs and his workers and sewers – workers from north India – also sleep in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Away from Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are typically tenfold costlier for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

In the government offices in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project depicts a contrasting perspective. Fashionable inhabitants move around on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, purchasing western-style baguettes and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on a terrace near Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. This depicts a world away from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and budget beverage that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no development for residents," says Shaikh. "It represents an enormous land development that will price people out for residents to remain."

There is also distrust of the development company. Headed by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Even as administrative bodies labels it a joint project, the business group invested $950m for its 80% stake. A case claiming that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is being considered in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the redevelopment, protesters and community members claim they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – including phone calls, clear intimidation and suggestions that criticizing the development was tantamount to speaking against the country – by figures they allege work for the corporate group.

Part of the group suspected of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c