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Over an extended period, threatening phone calls recurred. At first, reportedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, later from the authorities. Finally, one resident asserts he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is one of many fighting a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces razed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is like nowhere else in the world," says the protester. "However they want to destroy our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of the slum present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that dominate the settlement. Dwellings are assembled randomly and often missing basic amenities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is saturated with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision come true.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, roads or water management and there's nowhere for children to play," states a chai seller, in his fifties, who moved from his home state in that period. "The single option is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

But others, such as the leather artisan, are fighting against the project.

All recognize that the slum, long neglected as informal housing, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. Yet they fear that this initiative – absent of public consultation – might turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, displacing the marginalized, working-class residents who have lived there since generations ago.

These were these shunned, migrant workers who established the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose production is worth between one million dollars and $2m a year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Out of about a million residents living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer zone, less than 50% will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to finish. The remainder will be moved to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the remote edges of Mumbai, potentially fragment a long-established social network. Some will not get housing at all.

Those allowed to remain in the area will be given flats in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the evolved, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has sustained this area for many years.

Industries from tailoring to ceramic crafts and waste processing are likely to shrink in number and be relocated to a designated "business area" separated from homes.

Survival Challenge

In the case of the leather artisan, a leather artisan and multi-generational of his family to live in Dharavi, the project presents an existential threat. His makeshift, multi-level workshop creates garments – sharp blazers, luxury coats, decorated jackets – marketed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

Household members resides in the spaces underneath and employees and garment workers – workers from other states – also sleep there, enabling him to sustain operations. Away from the slum, accommodation prices are often 10 times as high for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

In the official facilities nearby, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan depicts a very different outlook. Slickly dressed residents mill about on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, buying international bread and pastries and having coffee on a terrace adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. It is a world away from the affordable idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This represents no development for us," explains Shaikh. "This constitutes an enormous property transaction that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the development company. Run by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and an associate of the national leader – the corporation has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it rejects.

Even as administrative bodies labels it a joint project, the corporation paid a significant amount for its controlling interest. A case claiming that the initiative was questionably assigned to the business group is pending in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to publicly resist the development, Shaikh and other residents state they have been experienced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – including messages, explicit warnings and suggestions that criticizing the project was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they assert represent the business conglomerate.

Part of the group accused of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c