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Over an extended period, intimidating communications recurred. Originally, reportedly from a former police officer and a former defense officer, subsequently from the police themselves. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was called to the local precinct and told clearly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is one of many opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – will be bulldozed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of Dharavi is unparalleled in the planet," explains the protester. "Yet the plan aims to destroy our way of life and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and elite residences that dominate the settlement. Dwellings are built haphazardly and typically without proper sanitation, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the environment is filled with the suffocating smell of open sewers.

For certain residents, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of high-end towers, neat parks, contemporary malls and homes with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, proper streets or water management and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," explains a tea vendor, in his fifties, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The only way is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, like this protester, are fighting against the project.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, consistently overlooked as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing investment and development. Yet they are concerned that this initiative – absent of public consultation – might turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, displacing the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since generations ago.

This involved these marginalized, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and commercial output, whose output is estimated at between a significant amount and two million dollars per year, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly one million residents living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer area, less than 50% will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to complete. Others will be moved to barren areas and coastal regions on the far outskirts of Mumbai, risking fragment a generations-old community. Certain individuals will be denied residences at all.

People eligible to stay in the area will be given flats in multi-story structures, a substantial change from the natural, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has maintained Dharavi for many years.

Industries from tailoring to ceramic crafts and material recovery are expected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a specific "industrial sector" far from homes.

Survival Challenge

In the case of the leather artisan, a workshop owner and multi-generational of his family to call home Dharavi, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His makeshift, three-storey facility produces apparel – tailored coats, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – marketed in premium stores in south Mumbai and overseas.

Household members resides in the rooms underneath and his workers and garment workers – migrants from north India – also sleep on-site, allowing him to afford their labour. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are frequently tenfold more expensive for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

Within the government offices close by, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan depicts a very different vision for the future. Slickly dressed people move around on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, purchasing continental baguettes and croissants and having coffee on a patio adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and treat station. It is a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that sustains the neighborhood.

"This represents no progress for our community," states the artisan. "It's an enormous land development that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

There is also distrust of the business conglomerate. Managed by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

Although administrative bodies calls it a collaborative effort, the corporation contributed nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A case alleging that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the developer is under review in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents state they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – comprising communications, direct threats and suggestions that opposing the project was tantamount to opposing national interests – by people they allege work for the developer.

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