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Across several weeks, coercive phone calls recurred. At first, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, later from law enforcement directly. In the end, a local artisan states he was summoned to the police station and told clearly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is part of a group resisting a multimillion-dollar project where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be razed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of this area is exceptional in the globe," states the resident. "However the plan aims to eradicate our community and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of this community sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that overshadow the settlement. Dwellings are built haphazardly and often lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream come true.

"We lack proper healthcare, roads or drainage and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," says a chai seller, 56, who moved from southern India in that period. "The single option is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, like the leather artisan, are opposing the project.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing investment and development. But they are concerned that this initiative – without public consultation – is one that will convert valuable urban land into a luxury development, evicting the lower-caste, working-class residents who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

It was these excluded, migrant workers who established the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and commercial output, whose production is valued at between $1m and two million dollars per year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately a million people living in the dense sprawling area, a minority will be eligible for new homes in the development, which is estimated to take a significant period to accomplish. Others will be transferred to barren areas and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, potentially fragment a long-established social network. Certain individuals will not get homes at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the area will be given flats in multi-story structures, a major break from the natural, collective approach of living and working that has supported this area for generations.

Commercial activities from clothing production to pottery and material recovery are expected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a designated "commercial zone" far from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as Shaikh, a leather artisan and multi-generational of his family to reside in this community, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-floor facility creates garments – sharp blazers, luxury coats, fashionable garments – marketed in luxury boutiques in the city's affluent areas and overseas.

Relatives dwells in the rooms below and employees and tailors – workers from north India – also sleep in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Away from this community, accommodation prices are frequently 10 times costlier for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the government offices close by, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan depicts a contrasting outlook. Well-groomed inhabitants move around on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing continental baked goods and croissants and having coffee on a patio outside a restaurant and dessert parlor. It is a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and low-cost tea that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for our community," explains Shaikh. "It represents a massive property transaction that will price people out for residents to remain."

There is also concern of the business conglomerate. Run by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it denies.

While the state government labels it a collaborative effort, the corporation invested nearly a billion dollars for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the developer is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to actively protest the development, Shaikh and other residents state they have been faced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – comprising messages, explicit warnings and insinuations that opposing the project was comparable with speaking against the country – by individuals they claim are associated with the business conglomerate.

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