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Over an extended period, threatening communications recurred. At first, allegedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, subsequently from the authorities. Ultimately, a local artisan asserts he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is one of many fighting a high-value project where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be demolished and transformed by a large business group.

"The culture of the slum is exceptional in the globe," explains the protester. "But the plan aims to destroy our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The cramped lanes of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that loom over the settlement. Homes are built haphazardly and often missing basic amenities, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the air is permeated by the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

To some, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of high-end towers, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and homes with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream achieved.

"There's no proper healthcare, paved pathways or water management and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," states a tea vendor, fifty-six, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The only way is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, like the leather artisan, are opposing the redevelopment.

All recognize that the slum, long neglected as informal housing, is in stark need financial support and improvement. However they are concerned that this plan – absent of resident participation – could potentially convert premium city property into a luxury development, evicting the lower-caste, working-class residents who have lived there since the late 1800s.

These were these shunned, migrant workers who developed the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and business activity, whose economic value is estimated at between one million dollars and two million dollars per year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly a million people living in the crowded sprawling area, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. The remainder will be transferred to barren areas and saline fields on the far outskirts of the city, risking fragment a generations-old social network. A portion will be denied housing at all.

People eligible to continue living in the area will be given apartments in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has maintained this area for many years.

Industries from tailoring to clay work and waste processing are expected to shrink in number and be relocated to an allocated "commercial zone" distant from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

For residents like this protester, a leather artisan and multi-generational of his family to live in this community, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-floor operation produces garments – tailored coats, luxury coats, decorated jackets – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and overseas.

Relatives resides in the spaces underneath and his workers and sewers – laborers from other states – also sleep on-site, enabling him to manage costs. Beyond the slum, housing costs are often 10 times as high for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

Within the official facilities nearby, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative shows a contrasting outlook. Fashionable residents gather on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, buying western-style baked goods and pastries and having coffee on an outdoor area adjacent to a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This depicts a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that sustains local residents.

"This represents no improvement for us," explains the artisan. "It represents a massive land development that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

There is also distrust of the business conglomerate. Managed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and questionable practices, which it rejects.

While local authorities labels it a partnership, the corporation paid $950m for its controlling interest. A case alleging that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the business group is pending in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to actively protest the development, protesters and community members state they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – including phone calls, direct threats and implications that criticizing the project was tantamount to opposing national interests – by people they allege represent the developer.

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