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Across several weeks, threatening communications recurred. Originally, supposedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, later from the authorities. In the end, a local artisan asserts he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is among those opposing a high-value redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces razed and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is exceptional in the world," explains Shaikh. "But their intention is to destroy our community and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that overshadow the area. Residences are assembled randomly and often without proper sanitation, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the air is filled with the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

To some, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of luxury high-rises, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and residences with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision come true.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or sewage systems and there's nowhere for children to play," explains a chai seller, fifty-six, who relocated from southern India in 1982. "The single option is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

However, some, including this protester, are opposing the project.

All recognize that the slum, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. However they worry that this initiative – without resident participation – might transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, evicting the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have been there since the nineteenth century.

It was these excluded, relocated individuals who established the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of community resilience and economic productivity, whose economic value is valued at between a significant amount and two million dollars annually, making it a major unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly a million people living in the crowded 220-hectare neighborhood, less than 50% will be able for new homes in the project, which is expected to take seven years to complete. Additional residents will be moved to wastelands and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, risking break up a historic neighborhood. Certain individuals will be denied homes at all.

People eligible to stay in the area will be provided apartments in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the natural, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has maintained the community for many years.

Commercial activities from garment work to clay work and waste processing are projected to decrease in quantity and be relocated to a designated "industrial sector" distant from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For those such as this protester, a leather artisan and multi-generational resident to call home Dharavi, the plan presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-floor operation makes leather coats – formal jackets, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – distributed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and overseas.

Household members dwells in the accommodations downstairs and laborers and sewers – workers from other states – also sleep there, permitting him to afford their labour. Away from Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are frequently tenfold costlier for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

At the official facilities nearby, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan shows a very different outlook. Slickly dressed people gather on cycles and electric vehicles, purchasing international baked goods and croissants and having coffee on a patio near a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This depicts a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that maintains local residents.

"This is not progress for us," explains the artisan. "This constitutes an enormous land development that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

There is also concern of the business conglomerate. Headed by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and a supporter of the national leader – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

While the state government labels it a collaborative effort, the developer paid nearly a billion dollars for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings claiming that the initiative was improperly granted to the developer is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to actively protest the development, protesters and community members state they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – comprising phone calls, direct threats and implications that opposing the project was equivalent to speaking against the country – by people they claim work for the business conglomerate.

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