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Across several weeks, intimidating phone calls persisted. Originally, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, and then from the authorities. In the end, a local artisan asserts he was summoned to the local precinct and told clearly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is among those opposing a high-value project where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be razed and transformed by a large business group.

"The culture of the slum is exceptional in the globe," explains the resident. "Yet their intention is to dismantle our community and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of this community sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the neighborhood. Homes are constructed informally and often lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is filled with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and homes with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision come true.

"We don't have sufficient health services, paved pathways or drainage and there's nowhere for children to play," explains A Selvin Nadar, 56, who moved from his home state in the early eighties. "The only way is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

But others, including this protester, are resisting the redevelopment.

All recognize that this community, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing investment and development. But they are concerned that this initiative – absent of public consultation – could potentially transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, forcing out the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since the late 1800s.

It was these shunned, displaced people who built up the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and business activity, whose production is valued at between a significant amount and a substantial sum annually, making it among the globe's biggest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately one million people living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be able for alternative accommodation in the development, which is estimated to take a significant period to finish. Additional residents will be transferred to barren areas and saline fields on the far outskirts of Mumbai, threatening to break up a long-established community. Some will be denied housing at all.

Residents permitted to remain in the neighborhood will be provided units in multi-story structures, a major break from the evolved, shared lifestyle of living and working that has supported Dharavi for many years.

Commercial activities from tailoring to ceramic crafts and waste processing are projected to decrease in quantity and be moved to a specific "commercial zone" separated from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as Shaikh, a leather artisan and long-time of his family to reside in this community, the plan presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-floor facility makes leather coats – sharp blazers, luxury coats, decorated jackets – sold in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and overseas.

Household members lives in the rooms below and his workers and garment workers – migrants from different regions – also sleep in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Outside the slum, Mumbai rents are typically significantly more expensive for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

Within the official facilities close by, a visual representation of the transformation initiative illustrates a contrasting outlook. Fashionable residents mill about on bicycles and e-vehicles, acquiring western-style baguettes and breakfast items and having coffee on an outdoor area adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and low-cost tea that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This is not improvement for us," states Shaikh. "It represents an enormous property transaction that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the business conglomerate. Run by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the national leader – the corporation has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it disputes.

Even as the state government calls it a joint project, the business group paid $950m for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the project was questionably assigned to the developer is under review in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to vocally oppose the development, local opponents claim they have been experienced a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – including messages, clear intimidation and implications that speaking against the project was comparable with speaking against the country – by figures they allege are associated with the business conglomerate.

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