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Across several weeks, intimidating messages continued. Initially, allegedly from a former police officer and a former defense officer, later from the police themselves. Ultimately, one resident states he was called to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is one of many opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be bulldozed and transformed by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is unparalleled in the globe," states the resident. "However their intention is to destroy our community and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that overshadow the neighborhood. Residences are built haphazardly and frequently without proper sanitation, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the air is filled with the overpowering odor of open sewers.

To some, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, neat parks, contemporary malls and residences with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream realized.

"We lack proper healthcare, roads or drainage and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who relocated from southern India in the early eighties. "The single option is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, such as the leather artisan, are fighting against the project.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. But they fear that this plan – lacking community input – could potentially transform premium city property into a luxury development, evicting the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have resided there since generations ago.

These were these marginalized, displaced people who developed the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and economic productivity, whose production is worth between a significant amount and two million dollars a year, making it a major informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately 1 million people living in the packed 220-hectare area, fewer than half will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the project, which is expected to take an extended timeframe to finish. Additional residents will be relocated to wastelands and coastal regions on the distant periphery of the city, risking divide a long-established social network. Some will receive no housing at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the area will be provided apartments in tower blocks, a major break from the organic, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has supported Dharavi for so long.

Industries from garment work to clay work and recycling are projected to shrink in number and be relocated to an allocated "business area" distant from people's residences.

Survival Challenge

In the case of this protester, a craftsman and long-time resident to call home the slum, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His makeshift, three-storey workshop creates apparel – formal jackets, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – sold in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family dwells in the accommodations below and laborers and sewers – workers from other states – reside in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Beyond this community, Mumbai rents are typically 10 times as high for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

In the government offices in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project shows a contrasting outlook. Slickly dressed residents gather on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, acquiring western-style baked goods and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area outside a restaurant and dessert parlor. This represents a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that sustains the neighborhood.

"This is not development for our community," says Shaikh. "It's an enormous land development that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Additionally, there exists concern of the business conglomerate. Run by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and a close ally of the government head – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it denies.

Even as the state government calls it a joint project, the developer paid nearly a billion dollars for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings stating that the initiative was improperly granted to the corporation is being considered in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to vocally oppose the development, Shaikh and other residents state they have been subjected to an extended period of coercion and warning – comprising phone calls, clear intimidation and insinuations that speaking against the initiative was equivalent to opposing national interests – by figures they assert represent the developer.

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