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Over an extended period, intimidating communications persisted. Initially, allegedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, later from law enforcement directly. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was called to the police station and told clearly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is part of a group opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is like nowhere else in the planet," explains the protester. "Yet they want to dismantle our community and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of the slum sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that loom over the neighborhood. Homes are assembled randomly and typically without proper sanitation, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the air is saturated with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and homes with two toilets is an optimistic future realized.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, proper streets or drainage and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The single option is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, including the leather artisan, are resisting the plan.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need economic input and modernization. Yet they worry that this initiative – lacking community input – might convert valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, displacing the marginalized, working-class residents who have resided there since generations ago.

These were these excluded, displaced people who developed the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of local enterprise and business activity, whose output is estimated at between $1m and two million dollars annually, making it a major unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly 1 million residents living in the crowded 220-hectare zone, less than 50% will be able for new homes in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to finish. The remainder will be relocated to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the distant periphery of the city, potentially break up a historic neighborhood. Some will not get residences at all.

Those allowed to stay in the neighborhood will be provided apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has maintained this area for many years.

Commercial activities from clothing production to ceramic crafts and waste processing are projected to shrink in number and be transferred to a designated "industrial sector" distant from homes.

Existential Threat

For residents like this protester, a leather artisan and third generation of his family to call home the slum, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-floor workshop creates garments – formal jackets, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – marketed in luxury boutiques in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

His family dwells in the spaces below and his workers and sewers – workers from north India – live in the same building, allowing him to afford their labour. Away from the slum, housing costs are typically tenfold costlier for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

At the administrative buildings in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan illustrates a contrasting outlook. Well-groomed residents move around on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, buying western-style bread and croissants and having coffee on a patio near Dharavi Cafe and treat station. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that maintains local residents.

"This represents no development for our community," states the protester. "It represents a huge real estate deal that will price people out for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's distrust of the development company. Managed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it rejects.

While the state government labels it a joint project, the developer invested nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings stating that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the business group is being considered in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to vocally oppose the project, local opponents assert they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – including communications, direct threats and insinuations that opposing the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they claim work for the corporate group.

Part of the group suspected of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c