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Over an extended period, intimidating phone calls continued. Originally, reportedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the police themselves. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was ordered to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a high-value project where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be demolished and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The distinctive community of Dharavi is exceptional in the planet," states Shaikh. "Yet their intention is to dismantle our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The cramped lanes of this community sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and elite residences that loom over the settlement. Homes are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is saturated with the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

For certain residents, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and apartments with proper sanitation is an optimistic future realized.

"There's no proper healthcare, paved pathways or sewage systems and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," explains a chai seller, fifty-six, who moved from his home state in the early eighties. "The single option is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

However, some, including the leather artisan, are opposing the plan.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. But they worry that this plan – without public consultation – is one that will transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, displacing the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have lived there since generations ago.

These were these marginalized, migrant workers who established the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and business activity, whose production is estimated at between $1m and $2m annually, making it a major informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Out of about a million inhabitants living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be able for alternative accommodation in the project, which is expected to take a significant period to complete. Additional residents will be relocated to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of Mumbai, threatening to divide a long-established neighborhood. A portion will be denied homes at all.

Those allowed to continue living in the neighborhood will be allocated apartments in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the organic, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has supported Dharavi for many years.

Industries from garment work to pottery and waste processing are expected to decrease in quantity and be relocated to a designated "industrial sector" distant from people's residences.

Survival Challenge

In the case of this protester, a workshop owner and long-time resident to live in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His rickety, multi-level facility creates leather coats – sharp blazers, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – marketed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and overseas.

Relatives lives in the spaces below and laborers and tailors – migrants from north India – reside in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently 10 times as high for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

Within the administrative buildings in the vicinity, a visual representation of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative perspective. Well-groomed residents mill about on cycles and e-vehicles, purchasing western-style baguettes and breakfast items and socializing on an outdoor area near a restaurant and dessert parlor. It is a stark contrast from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This represents no development for us," states Shaikh. "This constitutes an enormous land development that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the government head – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While administrative bodies calls it a collaborative effort, the corporation paid $950m for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings stating that the project was improperly granted to the business group is pending in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to publicly resist the project, protesters and community members assert they have been experienced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – including communications, direct threats and implications that criticizing the project was comparable with speaking against the country – by people they assert represent the developer.

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