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For months, intimidating communications continued. Originally, allegedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, and then from the authorities. In the end, one resident asserts he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is one of many fighting a expensive redevelopment plan where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces bulldozed and modernized by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of this area is unparalleled in the planet," says the protester. "Yet their intention is to eradicate our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that loom over the neighborhood. Dwellings are built haphazardly and often without proper sanitation, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the overpowering odor of open sewers.

For certain residents, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and apartments with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We don't have sufficient health services, roads or sewage systems and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," states A Selvin Nadar, 56, who migrated from southern India in 1982. "The only way is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, including this protester, are resisting the project.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, consistently overlooked as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring investment and development. However they fear that this plan – without community input – might transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, evicting the lower-caste, working-class residents who have been there since generations ago.

This involved these shunned, relocated individuals who built up the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose output is worth between one million dollars and two million dollars annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly a million inhabitants living in the dense 220-hectare area, a minority will be able for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is expected to take seven years to complete. The remainder will be transferred to barren areas and salt plains on the distant periphery of the metropolis, threatening to break up a generations-old social network. A portion will be denied residences at all.

Those allowed to stay in the area will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has maintained this area for so long.

Businesses from tailoring to pottery and material recovery are likely to shrink in number and be transferred to a specific "commercial zone" distant from homes.

Existential Threat

For residents like Shaikh, a craftsman and long-time of his family to call home the slum, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-storey facility produces leather coats – tailored coats, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – marketed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the rooms below and his workers and garment workers – migrants from other states – reside there, allowing him to manage costs. Beyond this community, Mumbai rents are typically tenfold costlier for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

At the official facilities nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative illustrates a contrasting vision for the future. Slickly dressed residents gather on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, purchasing international baked goods and croissants and having coffee on an outdoor area adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. This depicts a world away from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This isn't development for our community," states the protester. "It represents a massive property transaction that will price people out for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the business conglomerate. Run by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and a close ally of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has encountered allegations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it disputes.

While administrative bodies calls it a collaborative effort, the business group invested $950m for its 80% stake. A case claiming that the initiative was improperly granted to the developer is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to publicly resist the project, protesters and community members assert they have been faced an extended period of coercion and warning – involving messages, direct threats and suggestions that speaking against the initiative was equivalent to speaking against the country – by people they assert work for the corporate group.

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