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Over an extended period, intimidating phone calls recurred. Initially, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, later from law enforcement directly. In the end, a local artisan states he was called to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is among those opposing a expensive redevelopment plan where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be demolished and modernized by a large business group.

"The culture of the slum is unparalleled in the planet," explains the protester. "Yet they want to eradicate our community and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of the slum sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the neighborhood. Homes are built haphazardly and typically lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the air is filled with the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and homes with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future realized.

"There's no proper healthcare, roads or water management and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains a chai seller, 56, who relocated from his home state in that period. "The sole solution is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

However, some, like Shaikh, are opposing the plan.

All recognize that the slum, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. However they are concerned that this initiative – without community input – is one that will turn valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, displacing the lower-caste, migrant communities who have been there since the nineteenth century.

These were these shunned, migrant workers who developed the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is worth between a significant amount and $2m per year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately 1 million inhabitants living in the packed sprawling area, less than 50% will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take a significant period to complete. Others will be transferred to barren areas and coastal regions on the remote edges of Mumbai, threatening to break up a generations-old community. Some will not get homes at all.

Residents permitted to remain in the area will be allocated apartments in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the evolved, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has sustained the community for many years.

Industries from clothing production to pottery and material recovery are expected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a specific "business area" far from homes.

Survival Challenge

In the case of Shaikh, a leather artisan and long-time inhabitant to reside in the slum, the project presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-floor operation produces leather coats – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – marketed in premium stores in south Mumbai and internationally.

Household members dwells in the rooms underneath and employees and garment workers – migrants from different regions – live in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Outside Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently tenfold more expensive for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the administrative buildings in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative depicts a very different vision for the future. Fashionable inhabitants gather on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, acquiring international bread and breakfast items and socializing on a patio near a coffee shop and treat station. It is a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no development for our community," says the protester. "It's a massive property transaction that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

There is also skepticism of the business conglomerate. Managed 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 ethical concerns, which it denies.

While local authorities calls it a partnership, the developer contributed nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. Legal proceedings claiming that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is under review in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to actively protest the project, local opponents state they have been subjected to an extended period of coercion and warning – including phone calls, clear intimidation and insinuations that opposing the initiative was comparable with speaking against the country – by people they assert are associated with the business conglomerate.

Among those accused of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c