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Across several weeks, threatening communications persisted. At first, reportedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, later from the authorities. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was summoned to the local precinct and told clearly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is among those opposing a expensive project where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – will be bulldozed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of Dharavi is unparalleled in the world," states Shaikh. "However the plan aims to dismantle our social fabric and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of the slum present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that overshadow the area. Residences are assembled randomly and often missing basic amenities, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is saturated with the suffocating smell of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and residences with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We lack sufficient health services, paved pathways or drainage and there are no spaces for youth to recreate," explains a chai seller, 56, who migrated from his home state in 1982. "The single option is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

But others, including the leather artisan, are resisting the redevelopment.

None deny that this community, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need financial support and improvement. Yet they are concerned that this initiative – without resident participation – might convert valuable urban land into a luxury development, displacing the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have been there since the late 1800s.

This involved these marginalized, migrant workers who built up the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is valued at between one million dollars and a substantial sum annually, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Out of about a million residents living in the dense 220-hectare zone, a minority will be qualified for new homes in the project, which is expected to take seven years to finish. Others will be relocated to wastelands and coastal regions on the distant periphery of the city, potentially divide a generations-old social network. A portion will be denied homes at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in Dharavi will be given flats in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the evolved, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has sustained the community for many years.

Industries from garment work to pottery and waste processing are likely to decrease in quantity and be relocated to an allocated "commercial zone" far from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

For those such as this protester, a workshop owner and third generation resident to live in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His informal, multi-level facility creates garments – tailored coats, luxury coats, fashionable garments – distributed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

His family dwells in the spaces underneath and employees and garment workers – laborers from north India – live on-site, allowing him to afford their labour. Away from Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are typically 10 times costlier for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

Within the government offices in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project depicts a very different perspective. Well-groomed residents gather on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, purchasing international baguettes and pastries and having coffee on an outdoor area near a coffee shop and dessert parlor. It is a world away from the affordable idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This represents no improvement for residents," explains the artisan. "It's an enormous 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 – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it disputes.

Even as the state government labels it a partnership, the developer invested a significant amount for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings alleging that the project was unfairly awarded to the developer is pending in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to vocally oppose the development, protesters and community members assert they have been subjected to an extended period of pressure and threats – comprising phone calls, explicit warnings and insinuations that speaking against the project was equivalent to opposing national interests – by figures they assert represent the business conglomerate.

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