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Over an extended period, threatening communications recurred. At first, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the police themselves. Ultimately, a local artisan asserts he was ordered to the police station and warned explicitly: keep quiet or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is among those fighting a high-value redevelopment plan where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be bulldozed and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The culture of this area is like nowhere else in the planet," says 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 high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the settlement. Dwellings are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the air is saturated with the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

To some, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a glistening neighborhood of high-end towers, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream come true.

"We lack proper healthcare, paved pathways or drainage and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," states a tea vendor, 56, who migrated from southern India in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

However, some, such as Shaikh, are opposing the plan.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing investment and development. However they fear that this initiative – absent of community input – is one that will transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, evicting the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have lived there since the late 1800s.

These were these marginalized, relocated individuals who developed the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and business activity, whose production is worth between a significant amount and two million dollars a year, making it a major unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly one million residents living in the packed 220-hectare neighborhood, fewer than half will be qualified for new homes in the development, which is estimated to take a significant period to complete. The remainder will be moved to barren areas and coastal regions on the remote edges of the metropolis, potentially fragment a historic neighborhood. Certain individuals will receive no homes at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the neighborhood will be provided flats in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the organic, collective approach of living and working that has supported this area for many years.

Commercial activities from tailoring to clay work and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be relocated to a designated "industrial sector" distant from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For those such as this protester, a leather artisan and long-time inhabitant to call home this community, the project presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-storey facility creates leather coats – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – sold in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

Household members dwells in the rooms underneath and his workers and tailors – workers from other states – live there, permitting him to sustain operations. Away from this community, housing costs are often significantly costlier for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the official facilities close by, a visual representation of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative vision for the future. Well-groomed inhabitants move around on bicycles and e-vehicles, purchasing western-style baguettes and pastries and socializing on a patio outside a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This depicts a stark contrast from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This isn't improvement for residents," explains the protester. "It's a massive land development that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

Additionally, there exists concern of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the government head – the corporation has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

While the state government labels it a joint project, the corporation contributed a significant amount for its 80% stake. A case stating that the project was questionably assigned to the developer is pending in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the project, local opponents claim they have been subjected to an extended period of pressure and threats – involving messages, clear intimidation and suggestions that opposing the initiative was comparable with speaking against the country – by individuals they assert are associated with the corporate group.

Included in these accused of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c