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For months, intimidating phone calls recurred. Initially, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the police themselves. In the end, a local artisan asserts he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is among those fighting a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – will be bulldozed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The culture of this area is unparalleled in the planet," states Shaikh. "But they want to eradicate our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of this community present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the neighborhood. Dwellings are built haphazardly and typically lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is saturated with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

To some, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and homes with proper sanitation is an optimistic future come true.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, roads or water management and there's nowhere for children to play," states a tea vendor, 56, who relocated from southern India in that period. "The single option is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

But others, like Shaikh, are fighting against the project.

None deny that this community, historically ignored as informal housing, is in stark need economic input and modernization. But they worry that this project – without community input – could potentially transform valuable urban land into an elite enclave, displacing the lower-caste, migrant communities who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

It was these excluded, relocated individuals who built up the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is valued at between one million dollars and two million dollars a year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly a million people living in the crowded sprawling area, fewer than half will be eligible for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is expected to take seven years to finish. Others will be moved to barren areas and coastal regions on the far outskirts of the metropolis, potentially divide a long-established community. Certain individuals will receive no housing at all.

Residents permitted to stay in Dharavi will be given flats in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the evolved, communal way of residing and operating that has maintained this area for so long.

Businesses from clothing production to ceramic crafts and waste processing are likely to decrease in quantity and be moved to an allocated "commercial zone" far from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For those such as Shaikh, a leather artisan and third generation resident to live in the slum, the project presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-storey operation produces leather coats – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – marketed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family dwells in the accommodations downstairs and his workers and tailors – workers from north India – live in the same building, enabling him to afford their labour. Outside this community, accommodation prices are often tenfold more expensive for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

At the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project shows an alternative outlook. Well-groomed people mill about on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, acquiring western-style baked goods and croissants and enlisting beverages on a terrace adjacent to a restaurant and dessert parlor. This depicts a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for our community," states the protester. "It's a massive property transaction that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the business conglomerate. Headed by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the national leader – the business group has faced accusations of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Although the state government labels it a collaborative effort, the business group contributed nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. A case claiming that the project was unfairly awarded to the corporation is being considered in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to actively protest the redevelopment, protesters and community members assert they have been experienced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – including communications, explicit warnings and suggestions that speaking against the development was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by people they allege are associated with the business conglomerate.

Among those alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c