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Across several weeks, intimidating phone calls persisted. At first, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, and then from the authorities. Ultimately, a local artisan claims he was called to the local precinct and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is among those resisting a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be demolished and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is like nowhere else in the world," states Shaikh. "Yet their intention is to eradicate our way of life and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the neighborhood. Dwellings are assembled randomly and often missing basic amenities, small-scale operations produce dangerous fumes and the environment is permeated by the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and homes with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision realized.

"There's no sufficient health services, proper streets or sewage systems and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," says a chai seller, in his fifties, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The single option is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Local Protest

But others, like Shaikh, are resisting the plan.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. However they fear that this initiative – absent of community input – might convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, displacing the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have resided there since the late 1800s.

These were these shunned, relocated individuals who established the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose output is estimated at between $1m and $2m annually, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Out of about a million people living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, less than 50% will be eligible for replacement housing in the project, which is estimated to take a significant period to complete. The remainder will be relocated to barren areas and saline fields on the distant periphery of the city, risking divide a historic social network. Certain individuals will be denied housing at all.

Those allowed to continue living in the neighborhood will be allocated apartments in tower blocks, a substantial change from the organic, communal way of residing and operating that has supported the community for generations.

Commercial activities from clothing production to clay work and recycling are likely to decrease in quantity and be relocated to a specific "commercial zone" distant from people's residences.

Survival Challenge

For residents like the leather artisan, a leather artisan and multi-generational inhabitant to call home the slum, the project presents an existential threat. His informal, three-storey workshop creates leather coats – tailored coats, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – marketed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family lives in the accommodations below and employees and tailors – workers from different regions – reside in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Outside Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently significantly more expensive for a single room.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings nearby, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative depicts a very different outlook. Fashionable residents move around on cycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing continental baguettes and pastries and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area outside a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This represents a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that supports Dharavi's community.

"This is not improvement for residents," explains the artisan. "It's a huge land development that will price people out for residents to remain."

There is also skepticism of the development company. Managed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a close ally of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

While local authorities calls it a collaborative effort, the corporation contributed $950m for its 80% stake. A case claiming that the project was unfairly awarded to the developer is pending in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to publicly resist the development, protesters and community members assert they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – comprising messages, direct threats and suggestions that criticizing the initiative was tantamount to speaking against the country – by individuals they claim are associated with the developer.

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