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Over an extended period, intimidating communications continued. At first, supposedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, later from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, one resident states he was summoned to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is one of many resisting a high-value initiative where this historic settlement – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be bulldozed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The culture of this area is exceptional in the planet," states Shaikh. "Yet they want to dismantle our way of life and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of this community stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the area. Dwellings are assembled randomly and typically lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the environment is permeated by the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of high-end towers, neat parks, contemporary malls and residences with proper sanitation is an optimistic future achieved.

"There's no proper healthcare, roads or sewage systems and there's nowhere for children to play," explains a tea vendor, fifty-six, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The only way is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Local Protest

However, some, such as Shaikh, are opposing the project.

All recognize that Dharavi, long neglected as informal housing, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. However they fear that this initiative – lacking public consultation – might turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, displacing the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have been there since the nineteenth century.

These were these marginalized, migrant workers who built up the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and business activity, whose production is estimated at between $1m and two million dollars per year, making it a major informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Among approximately one million residents living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer area, less than 50% will be able for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Additional residents will be moved to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the far outskirts of the metropolis, threatening to divide a long-established social network. A portion will not get housing at all.

Those allowed to stay in the area will be given units in tower blocks, a major break from the natural, collective approach of residing and operating that has maintained Dharavi for generations.

Industries from garment work to ceramic crafts and waste processing are expected to shrink in number and be moved to a designated "commercial zone" far from homes.

Existential Threat

For those such as the leather artisan, a craftsman and third generation of his family to reside in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-storey operation makes apparel – formal jackets, luxury coats, decorated jackets – sold in high-end shops in south Mumbai and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the rooms underneath and laborers and garment workers – migrants from other states – live there, permitting him to sustain operations. Outside Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are typically tenfold as high for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

In the official facilities close by, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project depicts a very different perspective. Slickly dressed people move around on cycles and eco-friendly transport, acquiring western-style bread and breakfast items and socializing on a terrace near a restaurant and dessert parlor. This represents a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains local residents.

"This isn't improvement for our community," explains the artisan. "It represents an enormous property transaction that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

There is also distrust of the development company. Headed by an influential industrialist – among the country's wealthiest and a close ally of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it denies.

Even as local authorities labels it a collaborative effort, the business group invested nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings stating that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the corporation is being considered in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to vocally oppose the redevelopment, protesters and community members assert they have been experienced an extended period of pressure and threats – including communications, explicit warnings and insinuations that opposing the development was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by people they assert are associated with the corporate group.

Part of the group alleged to have issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c