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Across several weeks, coercive phone calls recurred. Originally, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, later from the police themselves. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is part of a group fighting a high-value redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be razed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is exceptional in the world," states the protester. "However their intention is to destroy our community and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the neighborhood. Homes are constructed informally and frequently missing basic amenities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is permeated by the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future come true.

"There's no proper healthcare, proper streets or water management and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," explains a tea vendor, in his fifties, who moved from his home state in the early eighties. "The single option is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

But others, including Shaikh, are resisting the project.

None deny that this community, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. But they fear that this project – lacking community input – might turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, forcing out the marginalized, migrant communities who have lived there since generations ago.

These were these shunned, displaced people who built up the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and business activity, whose output is estimated at between one million dollars and a substantial sum a year, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately 1 million inhabitants living in the dense 220-hectare zone, less than 50% will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to finish. Others will be transferred to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the far outskirts of the metropolis, threatening to divide a historic social network. A portion will receive no housing at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be given apartments in multi-story structures, a substantial change from the organic, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has maintained the community for so long.

Commercial activities from clothing production to clay work and recycling are expected to shrink in number and be transferred to an allocated "industrial sector" far from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as this protester, a workshop owner and third generation of his family to call home Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-storey operation makes leather coats – tailored coats, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – sold in high-end shops in south Mumbai and abroad.

His family lives in the accommodations underneath and laborers and tailors – laborers from different regions – reside on-site, enabling him to sustain operations. Away from the slum, housing costs are often significantly costlier for a single room.

Threats and Warning

At the government offices close by, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project shows a very different outlook. Slickly dressed residents move around on cycles and electric vehicles, buying continental bread and breakfast items and socializing on an outdoor area adjacent to a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This represents a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This isn't improvement for residents," explains the protester. "It represents a massive property transaction that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the development company. Headed by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and a close ally of the national leader – the corporation has encountered allegations of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it denies.

While local authorities labels it a partnership, the corporation paid nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings claiming that the project was questionably assigned to the business group is being considered in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the project, protesters and community members claim they have been faced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – comprising communications, clear intimidation and insinuations that opposing the project was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by people they assert work for the corporate group.

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