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Over an extended period, coercive phone calls recurred. At first, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, and then from the authorities. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is part of a group resisting a high-value initiative where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be demolished and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of this area is unparalleled in the world," states the protester. "However the plan aims to eradicate our way of life and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of this community stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that overshadow the area. Residences are assembled randomly and typically lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the air is filled with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and residences with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future achieved.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, roads or drainage and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," says a tea vendor, fifty-six, who migrated from southern India in that period. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Local Protest

However, some, including this protester, are opposing the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. But they fear that this project – without public consultation – might turn valuable urban land into an elite enclave, evicting the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have been there since generations ago.

It was these shunned, migrant workers who established the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and economic productivity, whose output is valued at between a significant amount and two million dollars annually, making it a major unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly one million residents living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer area, less than 50% will be eligible for replacement housing in the project, which is expected to take seven years to finish. Additional residents will be relocated to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, potentially break up a long-established community. A portion will receive no homes at all.

Residents permitted to remain in the neighborhood will be provided units in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the evolved, collective approach of living and working that has maintained this area for generations.

Businesses from clothing production to ceramic crafts and material recovery are projected to shrink in number and be relocated to a designated "business area" far from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of this protester, a craftsman and third generation resident to call home the slum, the plan presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-floor workshop produces apparel – formal jackets, suede trenches, fashionable garments – sold in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family dwells in the rooms downstairs and employees and sewers – migrants from other states – live in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Away from this community, Mumbai rents are frequently tenfold as high for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

Within the official facilities nearby, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project shows a very different outlook. Well-groomed inhabitants gather on cycles and e-vehicles, buying western-style baked goods and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on a terrace outside a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This depicts a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that sustains local residents.

"This is not development for residents," states the protester. "This constitutes a huge property transaction that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the development company. Run by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and an associate of the national leader – the corporation has been subject to claims of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

Even as local authorities labels it a joint project, the developer contributed a significant amount for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the business group is pending in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to vocally oppose the redevelopment, protesters and community members state they have been faced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – involving communications, explicit warnings and implications that opposing the initiative was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they claim represent the developer.

Among those alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c