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For months, threatening communications recurred. At first, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, and then from the police themselves. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is part of a group opposing a expensive redevelopment plan where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of the slum is unparalleled in the globe," explains the resident. "However their intention is to dismantle our social fabric and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the neighborhood. Homes are assembled randomly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is permeated by the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and residences with proper sanitation is an optimistic future come true.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, roads or drainage and we have no places for children to play," states a chai seller, 56, who moved from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The only way is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

However, some, including Shaikh, are resisting the project.

All recognize that the slum, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. But they fear that this project – without community input – is one that will turn valuable urban land into a luxury development, forcing out the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have been there since the late 1800s.

It was these excluded, migrant workers who established the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose production is valued at between one million dollars and $2m annually, making it among the globe's biggest unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Out of about one million residents living in the packed sprawling zone, a minority will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the development, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to finish. Additional residents will be moved to barren areas and saline fields on the remote edges of the city, potentially divide a historic neighborhood. A portion will be denied homes at all.

Those allowed to remain in Dharavi will be provided apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the natural, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has supported this area for generations.

Commercial activities from clothing production to clay work and waste processing are expected to decrease in quantity and be moved to an allocated "business area" distant from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

For those such as Shaikh, a leather artisan and long-time of his family to live in the slum, the project presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-storey operation makes leather coats – tailored coats, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – sold in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

His family dwells in the rooms below and employees and sewers – migrants from different regions – reside on-site, enabling him to manage costs. Outside this community, housing costs are frequently 10 times as high for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

At the administrative buildings nearby, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan illustrates an alternative perspective. Fashionable residents gather on cycles and electric vehicles, acquiring western-style baguettes and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and treat station. This represents a world away from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This represents no progress for our community," says the protester. "It represents an enormous land development that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also distrust of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the national leader – the business group has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it denies.

Even as administrative bodies describes it as a collaborative effort, the business group invested a significant amount for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the developer is pending in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to publicly resist the project, local opponents state they have been faced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – comprising phone calls, direct threats and implications that opposing the initiative was comparable with speaking against the country – by people they allege are associated with the business conglomerate.

Part of the group accused of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c