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Over an extended period, intimidating phone calls recurred. At first, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, subsequently from the police themselves. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was ordered to the police station and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is part of a group resisting a high-value redevelopment plan where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be bulldozed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is exceptional in the world," states the resident. "But they want to destroy our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of this community present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that overshadow the settlement. Residences are constructed informally and typically missing basic amenities, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the environment is saturated with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream achieved.

"There's no proper healthcare, paved pathways or sewage systems and there's nowhere for children to play," states A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who relocated from southern India in 1982. "The sole solution is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

However, some, such as this protester, are fighting against the project.

All recognize that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they are concerned that this project – lacking community input – could potentially convert premium city property into an elite enclave, forcing out the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have resided there since generations ago.

This involved these marginalized, displaced people who developed the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of local enterprise and commercial output, whose production is estimated at between $1m and a substantial sum per year, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about a million inhabitants living in the crowded 220-hectare area, a minority will be able for replacement housing in the project, which is expected to take a significant period to finish. The remainder will be transferred to barren areas and salt plains on the far outskirts of the metropolis, risking divide a historic neighborhood. Certain individuals will not get residences at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the area will be allocated units in high-rise buildings, a major break from the organic, collective approach of living and working that has supported Dharavi for generations.

Commercial activities from tailoring to ceramic crafts and waste processing are projected to shrink in number and be moved to a specific "business area" far from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like Shaikh, a craftsman and long-time resident to call home Dharavi, the project presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, three-floor facility produces leather coats – formal jackets, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and abroad.

Household members dwells in the spaces underneath and his workers and tailors – migrants from other states – also sleep in the same building, permitting him to afford their labour. Outside the slum, Mumbai rents are often tenfold as high for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

Within the administrative buildings nearby, a visual representation of the Dharavi project illustrates a contrasting vision for the future. Well-groomed residents move around on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, buying international baguettes and pastries and socializing on a terrace outside a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. It is a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that maintains the neighborhood.

"This represents no progress for residents," states the protester. "It represents a huge real estate deal that will price people out for us to survive."

There is also concern of the corporate group. Managed by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and an associate of the national leader – the corporation has faced accusations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it rejects.

Although local authorities calls it a collaborative effort, the business group contributed a significant amount for its majority share. Legal proceedings claiming that the project was improperly granted to the corporation is pending in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents state they have been subjected to an extended period of coercion and warning – comprising phone calls, explicit warnings and implications that opposing the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by people 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