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For months, threatening messages recurred. Originally, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the police themselves. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was called to the police station and warned explicitly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is one of many fighting a high-value project where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces bulldozed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is like nowhere else in the planet," says the protester. "But the plan aims to dismantle our community and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the area. Residences are built haphazardly and often missing basic amenities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the environment is permeated by the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream come true.

"We don't have proper healthcare, proper streets or sewage systems and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," explains a tea vendor, in his fifties, who migrated from southern India in the early eighties. "The single option is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

However, some, such as the leather artisan, are fighting against the project.

All recognize that this community, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need economic input and modernization. However they worry that this plan – absent of community input – could potentially transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, displacing the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have resided there since the late 1800s.

This involved these marginalized, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose economic value is estimated at between $1m and a substantial sum per year, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Out of about a million people living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, fewer than half will be eligible for new homes in the project, which is expected to take a significant period to finish. The remainder will be transferred to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of Mumbai, potentially fragment a long-established neighborhood. Some will receive no residences at all.

Those allowed to continue living in the neighborhood will be given apartments in tower blocks, a major break from the evolved, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has maintained this area for so long.

Businesses from garment work to pottery and material recovery are likely to reduce in scale and be transferred to a specific "business area" distant from residential areas.

Existential Threat

For those such as this protester, a workshop owner and multi-generational inhabitant to call home the slum, the project presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-storey operation produces leather coats – sharp blazers, suede trenches, decorated jackets – sold in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

Relatives resides in the spaces downstairs and laborers and tailors – laborers from other states – live in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are frequently significantly costlier for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings close by, a visual representation of the redevelopment plan depicts an alternative perspective. Well-groomed people mill about on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, buying western-style bread and croissants and socializing on a patio outside a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This represents a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains the neighborhood.

"This is not improvement for us," says the artisan. "This constitutes a huge land development that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also distrust of the business conglomerate. Run by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and an associate of the national leader – the business group has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

While administrative bodies labels it a partnership, the developer contributed $950m for its majority share. Legal proceedings alleging that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the corporation is under review in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to actively protest the development, local opponents claim they have been faced ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – including communications, explicit warnings and implications that opposing the development was comparable with speaking against the country – by people they assert represent the business conglomerate.

Included in these accused of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c