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Over an extended period, threatening communications recurred. Initially, allegedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is among those resisting a high-value project where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces demolished and modernized by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is exceptional in the world," states the protester. "Yet they want to eradicate our social fabric and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that overshadow the settlement. Dwellings are constructed informally and typically without proper sanitation, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the environment is permeated by the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

To some, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and homes with two toilets is an optimistic future achieved.

"We lack sufficient health services, proper streets or drainage and we have no places for youth to recreate," says a tea vendor, in his fifties, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The only way is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

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

All recognize that Dharavi, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need investment and development. However they are concerned that this plan – lacking public consultation – could potentially transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, forcing out the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have resided there since the late 1800s.

This involved these excluded, migrant workers who built up the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and commercial output, whose production is worth between $1m and two million dollars annually, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly a million residents living in the crowded sprawling area, a minority will be qualified for replacement housing in the project, which is estimated to take seven years to accomplish. The remainder will be moved to barren areas and coastal regions on the remote edges of Mumbai, threatening to break up a long-established community. Some will not get residences at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the neighborhood will be allocated flats in tower blocks, a major break from the evolved, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has maintained Dharavi for generations.

Industries from garment work to clay work and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a specific "commercial zone" separated from homes.

Survival Challenge

For residents like this protester, a workshop owner and multi-generational of his family to live in this community, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His informal, three-storey workshop produces apparel – tailored coats, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – sold in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the rooms underneath and laborers and sewers – migrants from other states – reside on-site, enabling him to afford their labour. Outside Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are typically tenfold more expensive for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

In the official facilities in the vicinity, a visual representation of the Dharavi project depicts a very different vision for the future. Slickly dressed inhabitants gather on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing continental baked goods and croissants and enlisting beverages on a patio near Dharavi Cafe and treat station. This depicts a world away from the affordable idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains the neighborhood.

"This represents no improvement for our community," explains Shaikh. "It represents a huge land development that will render it impossible for us to survive."

There is also skepticism of the corporate group. Managed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a close ally of the national leader – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Even as administrative bodies calls it a partnership, the developer contributed nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. A lawsuit alleging that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the developer is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to publicly resist the development, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been experienced ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – including phone calls, direct threats and implications that speaking against the project was tantamount to opposing national interests – by figures they assert represent the developer.

Among those suspected of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c