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Across several weeks, coercive phone calls persisted. Initially, supposedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, subsequently from the authorities. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was summoned to the local precinct and warned explicitly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a multimillion-dollar initiative where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces demolished and transformed by a large business group.

"The culture of Dharavi is unparalleled in the world," explains the resident. "Yet the plan aims to destroy our community and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the neighborhood. Residences are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the environment is filled with the suffocating smell of open sewers.

For certain residents, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and homes with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future come true.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, proper streets or water management and we have no places for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who moved from southern India in 1982. "The single option is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, like the leather artisan, are fighting against the redevelopment.

None deny that this community, long neglected as informal housing, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. However they are concerned that this project – without public consultation – could potentially convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, displacing the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have resided there since generations ago.

These were these marginalized, relocated individuals who established the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and commercial output, whose output is estimated at between one million dollars and a substantial sum annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly one million inhabitants living in the packed 220-hectare neighborhood, a minority will be able for new homes in the development, which is estimated to take seven years to complete. The remainder will be relocated to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the far outskirts of Mumbai, risking divide a long-established community. A portion will receive no residences at all.

People eligible to remain in the area will be allocated flats in tower blocks, a major break from the organic, collective approach of living and working that has maintained the community for so long.

Commercial activities from garment work to clay work and waste processing are likely to reduce in scale and be moved to an allocated "industrial sector" distant from homes.

Existential Threat

In the case of this protester, a craftsman and third generation resident to call home the slum, the project presents a fundamental risk. His informal, multi-level operation creates leather coats – tailored coats, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – sold in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Household members dwells in the accommodations downstairs and his workers and garment workers – workers from north India – reside in the same building, allowing him to afford their labour. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently tenfold costlier for a single room.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings close by, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project depicts an alternative outlook. Fashionable residents mill about on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, buying western-style bread and pastries and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area adjacent to a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This depicts a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no development for residents," says the protester. "It's a huge property transaction that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's distrust of the development company. Run by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

Although administrative bodies calls it a partnership, the corporation invested $950m for its majority share. A case claiming that the project was questionably assigned to the developer is under review in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the project, Shaikh and other residents claim they have been faced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – comprising communications, clear intimidation and implications that speaking against the project was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they assert represent the business conglomerate.

Part of the group accused of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c