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Over an extended period, threatening communications continued. At first, supposedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, and then from law enforcement directly. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was ordered to the police station and instructed bluntly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is among those fighting a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – will be bulldozed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is exceptional in the globe," explains the resident. "But they want to destroy our way of life and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that dominate the neighborhood. Residences are constructed informally and frequently without proper sanitation, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

Among some individuals, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and residences with two toilets is an optimistic future realized.

"We lack sufficient health services, paved pathways or sewage systems and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," explains a tea vendor, 56, who relocated from southern India in the early eighties. "The single option is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

However, some, like Shaikh, are fighting against the redevelopment.

All recognize that Dharavi, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they fear that this initiative – absent of resident participation – might convert premium city property into a playground for the rich, evicting the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

These were these shunned, migrant workers who developed the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose production is valued at between one million dollars and two million dollars per year, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly 1 million inhabitants living in the packed sprawling neighborhood, fewer than half will be able for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take a significant period to accomplish. Additional residents will be relocated to barren areas and saline fields on the distant periphery of Mumbai, potentially fragment a historic social network. Some will receive no housing at all.

Residents permitted to remain in the neighborhood will be provided units in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, collective approach of residing and operating that has sustained Dharavi for many years.

Industries from tailoring to clay work and waste processing are projected to shrink in number and be moved to a designated "commercial zone" distant from homes.

Existential Threat

In the case of Shaikh, a leather artisan and long-time inhabitant to call home Dharavi, the project presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-floor operation creates leather coats – formal jackets, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – distributed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

Relatives resides in the rooms below and laborers and sewers – laborers from other states – live on-site, permitting him to manage costs. Beyond the slum, Mumbai rents are typically 10 times more expensive for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the government offices close by, a visual representation of the transformation initiative depicts an alternative outlook. Well-groomed residents gather on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, purchasing international bread and croissants and having coffee on a patio near Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for residents," states the artisan. "This constitutes a huge real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the business conglomerate. Managed by an influential industrialist – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it denies.

Although the state government labels it a joint project, the business group invested nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A lawsuit alleging that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the corporation is pending in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to actively protest the development, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been faced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – including communications, explicit warnings and implications that speaking against the development was equivalent to opposing national interests – by individuals they assert are associated with the corporate group.

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