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Over an extended period, intimidating phone calls recurred. Originally, allegedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, and then from law enforcement directly. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was called to the local precinct and told clearly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is part of a group opposing a high-value initiative where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces demolished and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The culture of the slum is unparalleled in the world," says the resident. "Yet their intention is to eradicate our community and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and elite residences that overshadow the area. Residences are constructed informally and typically lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the environment is saturated with the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

For certain residents, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and apartments with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision come true.

"We lack proper healthcare, paved pathways or sewage systems and we have no places for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who migrated from his home state in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Local Protest

But others, like Shaikh, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that the slum, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. Yet they fear that this initiative – absent of resident participation – could potentially turn valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, forcing out the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have lived there since generations ago.

It was these excluded, migrant workers who developed the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and economic productivity, whose output is estimated at between $1m and two million dollars per year, making it a major unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly 1 million residents living in the crowded 220-hectare neighborhood, a minority will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is projected to take a significant period to complete. The remainder will be relocated to barren areas and saline fields on the remote edges of the metropolis, threatening to fragment a long-established social network. Some will be denied homes at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be provided units in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the evolved, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has supported this area for so long.

Commercial activities from clothing production to pottery and waste processing are expected to decrease in quantity and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" far from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a craftsman and third generation resident to reside in the slum, the plan presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-storey operation produces garments – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – sold in high-end shops in south Mumbai and overseas.

Relatives dwells in the spaces downstairs and employees and sewers – laborers from different regions – live on-site, permitting him to sustain operations. Outside the slum, accommodation prices are often 10 times more expensive for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

At the administrative buildings close by, a visual representation of the Dharavi project illustrates a contrasting outlook. Well-groomed people mill about on cycles and e-vehicles, buying western-style baked goods and pastries and socializing on a terrace outside a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains the neighborhood.

"This isn't progress for our community," explains Shaikh. "This constitutes an enormous property transaction that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

There is also skepticism of the business conglomerate. Run by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and a close ally of the national leader – the business group has encountered allegations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

Although the state government calls it a joint project, the business group paid $950m for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is under review in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to publicly resist the development, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been subjected to an extended period of harassment and intimidation – including communications, explicit warnings and implications that criticizing the development was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they assert work for the corporate group.

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