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Across several weeks, coercive messages persisted. At first, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, later from the police themselves. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was called to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is one of many resisting a high-value redevelopment plan where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be bulldozed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The culture of Dharavi is like nowhere else in the planet," says the resident. "But the plan aims to eradicate our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and elite residences that dominate the area. Residences are assembled randomly and frequently without proper sanitation, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the environment is permeated by the overpowering odor of open sewers.

To some, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and residences with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future achieved.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or water management and there are no spaces for children to play," states a chai seller, fifty-six, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The single option is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

But others, like this protester, are opposing the redevelopment.

None deny that the slum, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. But they are concerned that this project – absent of resident participation – could potentially convert premium city property into an elite enclave, displacing the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

This involved these marginalized, migrant workers who established the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and commercial output, whose production is estimated at between $1m and a substantial sum a year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately one million inhabitants living in the packed 220-hectare zone, fewer than half will be able for new homes in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Others will be relocated to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of Mumbai, risking break up a long-established neighborhood. A portion will be denied housing at all.

Residents permitted to stay in Dharavi will be provided apartments in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the evolved, communal way of residing and operating that has maintained the community for many years.

Businesses from garment work to ceramic crafts and recycling are likely to decrease in quantity and be transferred to an allocated "industrial sector" distant from homes.

Existential Threat

In the case of the leather artisan, a leather artisan and multi-generational inhabitant to live in Dharavi, the plan presents an existential threat. His informal, multi-level workshop produces apparel – sharp blazers, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – sold in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and overseas.

Household members dwells in the rooms underneath and employees and garment workers – workers from different regions – also sleep in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are typically tenfold costlier for a single room.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings close by, a visual representation of the transformation initiative shows a very different outlook. Well-groomed residents mill about on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, purchasing international bread and croissants and having coffee on a patio outside a coffee shop and treat station. This represents a world away from the affordable idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This isn't improvement for residents," says Shaikh. "This constitutes a massive property transaction that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also concern of the business conglomerate. Headed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the national leader – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Even as local authorities labels it a joint project, the developer paid $950m for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the business group is under review in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to vocally oppose the redevelopment, protesters and community members state they have been experienced ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – including phone calls, clear intimidation and insinuations that opposing the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by people they allege are associated with the developer.

Among those alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c