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Across several weeks, coercive phone calls recurred. Initially, allegedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, subsequently from law enforcement directly. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is part of a group opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces bulldozed and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The distinctive community of this area is like nowhere else in the planet," states the resident. "But they want to eradicate our social fabric and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of the slum sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that loom over the neighborhood. Homes are constructed informally and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is permeated by the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future realized.

"We don't have sufficient health services, roads or sewage systems and there's nowhere for children to play," explains a chai seller, in his fifties, who relocated from southern India in the early eighties. "The single option is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

However, some, including the leather artisan, are opposing the project.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing investment and development. Yet they worry that this plan – lacking community input – is one that will turn valuable urban land into an elite enclave, forcing out the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have been there since the nineteenth century.

It was these marginalized, relocated individuals who established the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and business activity, whose production is estimated at between one million dollars and two million dollars a year, making it among the globe's biggest unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately one million people living in the dense 220-hectare area, less than 50% will be qualified for replacement housing in the project, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. The remainder will be moved to wastelands and salt plains on the remote edges of Mumbai, risking break up a long-established social network. Certain individuals will receive no housing at all.

People eligible to remain in the neighborhood will be allocated apartments in tower blocks, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has supported the community for generations.

Businesses from garment work to clay work and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be moved to an allocated "business area" far from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of this protester, a leather artisan and long-time of his family to reside in this community, the project presents a fundamental risk. His informal, multi-level facility makes garments – formal jackets, suede trenches, fashionable garments – marketed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and overseas.

His family dwells in the accommodations below and laborers and sewers – laborers from different regions – also sleep in the same building, permitting him to afford their labour. Outside Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently 10 times costlier for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the administrative buildings nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project illustrates a contrasting outlook. Slickly dressed people gather on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, buying western-style baked goods and pastries and socializing on a patio adjacent to a restaurant and treat station. It is a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This isn't development for us," states the artisan. "This constitutes an enormous land development that will price people out for residents to remain."

There is also skepticism of the corporate group. Run by a prominent businessman – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the national leader – the corporation has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While the state government labels it a partnership, the corporation invested a significant amount for its controlling interest. A lawsuit stating that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the business group is under review in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to vocally oppose the redevelopment, protesters and community members assert they have been faced an extended period of pressure and threats – comprising phone calls, explicit warnings and suggestions that opposing the development was equivalent to opposing national interests – by figures they claim represent the developer.

Included in these accused of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c