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Over an extended period, intimidating communications continued. Originally, reportedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, and then from law enforcement directly. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was ordered to the police station and told clearly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is part of a group opposing a multimillion-dollar project where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces bulldozed and modernized by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is like nowhere else in the world," explains the resident. "Yet the plan aims to eradicate our social fabric and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of this community stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that dominate the settlement. Homes are assembled randomly and typically lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the environment is filled with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, neat parks, contemporary malls and apartments with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision realized.

"We don't have sufficient health services, paved pathways or drainage and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," states A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who moved from southern India in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, including this protester, are fighting against the project.

All recognize that the slum, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. But they worry that this initiative – without resident participation – might convert premium city property into a luxury development, forcing out the marginalized, working-class residents who have lived there since the late 1800s.

These were these marginalized, displaced people who established the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose economic value is estimated at between $1m and a substantial sum annually, making it a major informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about one million inhabitants living in the crowded 220-hectare zone, less than 50% will be qualified for replacement housing in the project, which is expected to take a significant period to accomplish. The remainder will be relocated to barren areas and salt plains on the distant periphery of the metropolis, risking break up a historic neighborhood. Some will not get residences at all.

People eligible to stay in Dharavi will be allocated flats in tower blocks, a major break from the natural, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has supported this area for so long.

Commercial activities from garment work to clay work and material recovery are projected to reduce in scale and be moved to an allocated "commercial zone" far from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a workshop owner and third generation of his family to live in the slum, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His informal, multi-level workshop makes apparel – sharp blazers, luxury coats, decorated jackets – marketed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and overseas.

Relatives dwells in the spaces underneath and employees and garment workers – workers from different regions – live there, enabling him to sustain operations. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are typically significantly costlier for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative perspective. Fashionable inhabitants move around on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, purchasing international baked goods and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on a patio adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. It is a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for residents," says the artisan. "This constitutes a massive property transaction that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

There is also distrust of the development company. Run by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Although local authorities describes it as a collaborative effort, the corporation contributed a significant amount for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the developer is pending in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the project, protesters and community members state they have been faced ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – involving messages, clear intimidation and implications that opposing the development was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by individuals they claim work for the developer.

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