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Across several weeks, coercive phone calls persisted. Initially, allegedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the authorities. In the end, a local artisan asserts he was summoned to the police station and told clearly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is among those opposing a high-value redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be bulldozed and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is unparalleled in the planet," states the resident. "But their intention is to dismantle our community and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of this community stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and elite residences that loom over the neighborhood. Residences are assembled randomly and often without proper sanitation, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is saturated with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and apartments with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision realized.

"There's no sufficient health services, roads or sewage systems and there are no spaces for children to play," states a chai seller, fifty-six, who moved from his home state in the early eighties. "The only way is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, such as this protester, are fighting against the redevelopment.

None deny that this community, historically ignored as informal housing, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. However they are concerned that this initiative – absent of resident participation – could potentially convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, forcing out the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have been there since the nineteenth century.

These were these marginalized, relocated individuals who built up the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and commercial output, whose production is estimated at between a significant amount and $2m a year, making it a major unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately 1 million inhabitants living in the packed sprawling zone, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the development, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Others will be transferred to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the far outskirts of the city, threatening to fragment a historic social network. A portion will not get housing at all.

People eligible to remain in the neighborhood will be allocated units in multi-story structures, a substantial change from the evolved, collective approach of living and working that has supported this area for so long.

Commercial activities from tailoring to pottery and material recovery are likely to decrease in quantity and be moved to a specific "commercial zone" distant from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For those such as Shaikh, a workshop owner and multi-generational of his family to call home Dharavi, the project presents an existential threat. His rickety, multi-level workshop produces garments – sharp blazers, suede trenches, decorated jackets – distributed in premium stores in south Mumbai and abroad.

Relatives dwells in the accommodations underneath and his workers and garment workers – workers from other states – reside there, allowing him to manage costs. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are often significantly more expensive for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

At the official facilities nearby, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative depicts a very different perspective. Fashionable residents move around on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, buying international baguettes and croissants and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. This depicts a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that supports the neighborhood.

"This represents no progress for our community," says the artisan. "It represents a huge real estate deal that will price people out for residents to remain."

There is also concern of the business conglomerate. Managed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it rejects.

Although administrative bodies labels it a partnership, the developer contributed nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. A case stating that the initiative was questionably assigned to the business group is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to publicly resist the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents claim they have been faced a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – comprising communications, explicit warnings and suggestions that criticizing the initiative was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by individuals they assert 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