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Over an extended period, intimidating phone calls recurred. Originally, supposedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, later from the authorities. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was ordered to the local precinct and warned explicitly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is part of a group fighting a expensive redevelopment plan where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be bulldozed and transformed by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of the slum is unparalleled in the planet," says the protester. "However they want to eradicate our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the settlement. Residences are constructed informally and often missing basic amenities, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the environment is filled with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a glistening neighborhood of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and apartments with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We don't have proper healthcare, proper streets or water management and we have no places for children to play," says a tea vendor, in his fifties, who migrated from his home state in 1982. "The sole solution is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, like this protester, are resisting the redevelopment.

None deny that this community, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they worry that this initiative – lacking resident participation – is one that will turn valuable urban land into a luxury development, evicting the marginalized, working-class residents who have been there since generations ago.

This involved these shunned, displaced people who built up the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of community resilience and economic productivity, whose economic value is worth between one million dollars and $2m annually, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly one million inhabitants living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer zone, less than 50% will be able for alternative accommodation in the development, which is expected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Others will be relocated to barren areas and coastal regions on the far outskirts of Mumbai, potentially fragment a generations-old social network. A portion will not get housing at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the neighborhood will be provided units in tower blocks, a major break from the organic, communal way of residing and operating that has sustained this area for many years.

Commercial activities from clothing production to clay work and waste processing are projected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a designated "business area" separated from people's residences.

Existential Threat

In the case of the leather artisan, a workshop owner and long-time of his family to call home Dharavi, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-floor workshop produces apparel – tailored coats, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – marketed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Household members resides in the spaces below and employees and sewers – workers from north India – also sleep in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Beyond the slum, Mumbai rents are typically 10 times as high for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

Within the government offices close by, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a very different outlook. Well-groomed people gather on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, buying western-style baguettes and breakfast items and socializing on an outdoor area near a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This depicts a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains the neighborhood.

"This is not progress for our community," says the protester. "It represents an enormous real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also skepticism of the development company. Run by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the government head – the corporation has encountered allegations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it rejects.

While local authorities describes it as a joint project, the developer invested nearly a billion dollars for its 80% stake. A case claiming that the project was unfairly awarded to the corporation is being considered in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to publicly resist the redevelopment, local opponents assert they have been experienced an extended period of coercion and warning – involving phone calls, explicit warnings and suggestions that criticizing the initiative was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they assert 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