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Across several weeks, threatening phone calls recurred. Initially, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the authorities. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to the police station and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is one of many resisting a expensive project where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be razed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of the slum is like nowhere else in the planet," states Shaikh. "But the plan aims to dismantle our social fabric and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of this community present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the neighborhood. Homes are built haphazardly and typically without proper sanitation, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the environment is permeated by the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

To some, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of luxury high-rises, neat parks, contemporary malls and homes with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream come true.

"There's no sufficient health services, roads or drainage and there are no spaces for youth to recreate," says A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The single option is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, including Shaikh, are opposing the project.

None deny that Dharavi, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. But they fear that this project – absent of public consultation – is one that will turn premium city property into an elite enclave, forcing out the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have been there since the late 1800s.

This involved these shunned, migrant workers who established the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose output is valued at between $1m and a substantial sum per year, making it a major informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly a million people living in the packed sprawling zone, fewer than half will be able for new homes in the project, which is projected to take seven years to finish. Additional residents will be relocated to barren areas and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, threatening to divide a long-established community. A portion will be denied housing at all.

Those allowed to continue living in the area will be provided apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the organic, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has sustained Dharavi for generations.

Industries from garment work to pottery and waste processing are expected to decrease in quantity and be transferred to a designated "industrial sector" separated from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a craftsman and multi-generational inhabitant to live in this community, the project presents an existential threat. His informal, three-storey workshop produces garments – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – distributed in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family lives in the accommodations downstairs and laborers and garment workers – laborers from north India – reside in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Away from the slum, Mumbai rents are typically 10 times costlier for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

In the official facilities nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a contrasting vision for the future. Slickly dressed people mill about on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, purchasing continental baguettes and breakfast items and having coffee on a patio adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. It is a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for residents," says the artisan. "It's a huge property transaction that will price people out for our community to continue."

Additionally, there exists concern of the business conglomerate. Run by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and a close ally of the national leader – the corporation has encountered allegations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

While local authorities labels it a collaborative effort, the corporation paid $950m for its controlling interest. A lawsuit alleging that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the developer is being considered in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to actively protest the project, protesters and community members state they have been faced a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – comprising phone calls, explicit warnings and implications that speaking against the initiative was comparable with speaking against the country – by people they claim are associated with the developer.

Among those accused of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c