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Across several weeks, coercive communications continued. Initially, allegedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, and then from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, one resident claims he was called to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is one of many fighting a high-value redevelopment plan where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be bulldozed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is unparalleled in the world," explains Shaikh. "However they want to destroy our community and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The cramped lanes of the slum present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that dominate the area. Dwellings are assembled randomly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the environment is filled with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

To some, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of premium apartments, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and apartments with proper sanitation is an optimistic future achieved.

"We don't have sufficient health services, roads or drainage and there's nowhere for children to play," explains A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Local Protest

However, some, such as Shaikh, are fighting against the project.

All recognize that the slum, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need investment and development. But they fear that this project – without resident participation – might turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, forcing out the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have lived there since the late 1800s.

These were these excluded, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and commercial output, whose output is valued at between $1m and $2m annually, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly a million people living in the packed 220-hectare neighborhood, fewer than half will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Additional residents will be moved to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the remote edges of the metropolis, risking break up a long-established community. Some will not get residences at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the area will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the organic, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has sustained this area for many years.

Businesses from tailoring to clay work and material recovery are projected to decrease in quantity and be transferred to a specific "industrial sector" distant from people's residences.

Survival Challenge

For residents like Shaikh, a craftsman and long-time of his family to reside in Dharavi, the project presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-floor operation creates garments – formal jackets, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – distributed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

Relatives resides in the spaces downstairs and employees and tailors – laborers from other states – also sleep there, allowing him to manage costs. Away from the slum, housing costs are often significantly as high for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

In the official facilities in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan shows an alternative perspective. Slickly dressed people gather on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing western-style bread and croissants and socializing on a patio outside Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. This represents a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains local residents.

"This represents no improvement for our community," says Shaikh. "It's a massive land development that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also skepticism of the business conglomerate. Run by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the national leader – the corporation has encountered allegations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

While administrative bodies calls it a collaborative effort, the corporation invested nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A case stating that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is being considered in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to actively protest the redevelopment, local opponents state they have been faced an extended period of coercion and warning – involving phone calls, clear intimidation and suggestions that criticizing the project was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by figures they claim represent the developer.

Part of the group suspected of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c