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Over an extended period, coercive communications recurred. Initially, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Finally, one resident states he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is one of many opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be razed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The culture of this area is unparalleled in the world," explains the protester. "But the plan aims to dismantle our way of life and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of this community stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that dominate the area. Homes are constructed informally and frequently missing basic amenities, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the environment is permeated by the suffocating smell of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a glistening neighborhood of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and homes with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We lack proper healthcare, proper streets or water management and we have no places for children to play," states a tea vendor, 56, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The single option is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, like Shaikh, are resisting the plan.

All recognize that Dharavi, long neglected as informal housing, is in stark need investment and development. However they worry that this project – absent of public consultation – might convert valuable urban land into an elite enclave, evicting the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have lived there since the late 1800s.

It was these excluded, displaced people who established the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of community resilience and economic productivity, whose production is worth between one million dollars and a substantial sum per year, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly one million residents living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer area, fewer than half will be able for new homes in the project, which is projected to take seven years to accomplish. Additional residents will be relocated to wastelands and coastal regions on the distant periphery of Mumbai, risking fragment a historic social network. A portion will be denied housing at all.

People eligible to continue living in the neighborhood will be provided units in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the natural, communal way of living and working that has sustained the community for many years.

Industries from garment work to ceramic crafts and recycling are expected to reduce in scale and be relocated to a specific "business area" far from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

For residents like the leather artisan, a craftsman and long-time inhabitant to live in the slum, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-floor operation creates leather coats – tailored coats, luxury coats, decorated jackets – marketed in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Household members resides in the accommodations below and employees and tailors – migrants from different regions – reside in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Outside this community, housing costs are frequently significantly more expensive for a single room.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative illustrates a contrasting perspective. Well-groomed inhabitants mill about on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, buying western-style bread and croissants and having coffee on a patio adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and treat station. It is a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that supports local residents.

"This isn't improvement for us," says Shaikh. "It's a huge land development that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's distrust of the development company. Managed by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Even as local authorities calls it a joint project, the developer paid a significant amount for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the corporation is being considered in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to publicly resist the project, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been subjected to an extended period of harassment and intimidation – involving phone calls, explicit warnings and insinuations that speaking against the project was tantamount to speaking against the country – by people they claim represent the business conglomerate.

Included in these alleged to have making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c