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Over an extended period, threatening messages persisted. At first, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, later from the police themselves. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is one of many fighting a high-value redevelopment plan where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be bulldozed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is unparalleled in the planet," explains Shaikh. "Yet the plan aims to destroy our community and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of the slum sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the area. Homes are assembled randomly and frequently missing basic amenities, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the environment is filled with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of luxury high-rises, neat parks, modern retail complexes and homes with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream come true.

"We don't have proper healthcare, roads or water management and there are no spaces for children to play," says A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The only way is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

However, some, such as the leather artisan, are resisting the project.

None deny that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. However they are concerned that this project – without community input – could potentially transform valuable urban land into an elite enclave, evicting the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have lived there since generations ago.

It was these shunned, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose economic value is worth between one million dollars and a substantial sum annually, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about one million people living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the project, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to finish. The remainder will be relocated to wastelands and salt plains on the remote edges of the city, threatening to break up a long-established neighborhood. Certain individuals will receive no housing at all.

Those allowed to stay in the neighborhood will be given apartments in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the organic, collective approach of residing and operating that has maintained Dharavi for so long.

Businesses from garment work to clay work and recycling are projected to shrink in number and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" far from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of Shaikh, a workshop owner and multi-generational of his family to reside in Dharavi, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-floor facility creates garments – tailored coats, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – sold in premium stores in south Mumbai and internationally.

Relatives resides in the rooms underneath and his workers and tailors – laborers from different regions – live in the same building, allowing him to afford their labour. Away from the slum, accommodation prices are often 10 times costlier for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

In the government offices close by, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative depicts an alternative perspective. Fashionable people move around on bicycles and e-vehicles, buying continental bread and pastries and socializing on an outdoor area adjacent to a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This represents a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains local residents.

"This represents no progress for our community," says the protester. "It's a huge property transaction that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the business conglomerate. Run by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and a close ally of the national leader – the corporation has faced accusations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

Although the state government describes it as a collaborative effort, the business group invested a significant amount for its 80% stake. A case claiming that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the developer is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to publicly resist the development, protesters and community members state they have been experienced ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – involving messages, explicit warnings and suggestions that speaking against the development was equivalent to opposing national interests – by people they assert are associated with the business conglomerate.

Included in these alleged to have issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c