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Over an extended period, coercive messages persisted. At first, supposedly from a former police officer and a former defense officer, and then from the police themselves. Finally, one resident asserts he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is among those fighting a high-value project where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – will be razed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The culture of this area is like nowhere else in the planet," states Shaikh. "Yet the plan aims to destroy our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of the slum sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the area. Residences are constructed informally and typically lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is permeated by the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of high-end towers, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We don't have proper healthcare, proper streets or drainage and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," explains a chai seller, 56, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The single option is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

But others, such as the leather artisan, are resisting the redevelopment.

All recognize that this community, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. But they worry that this project – absent of community input – is one that will transform valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, displacing the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have resided there since generations ago.

This involved these excluded, migrant workers who developed the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is estimated at between $1m and a substantial sum a year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly one million inhabitants living in the dense 220-hectare zone, less than 50% will be eligible for replacement housing in the project, which is projected to take seven years to accomplish. Additional residents will be transferred to barren areas and saline fields on the remote edges of Mumbai, threatening to break up a generations-old social network. Some will be denied homes at all.

Residents permitted to remain in the neighborhood will be allocated units in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the evolved, communal way of residing and operating that has sustained the community for many years.

Businesses from clothing production to clay work and waste processing are likely to decrease in quantity and be transferred to a designated "commercial zone" far from residential areas.

Existential Threat

In the case of Shaikh, a leather artisan and third generation resident to live in Dharavi, the plan presents an existential threat. His informal, three-floor workshop creates apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, fashionable garments – sold in high-end shops in south Mumbai and abroad.

Relatives lives in the accommodations below and employees and garment workers – migrants from north India – live in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Away from Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are often 10 times costlier for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

In the administrative buildings nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan shows an alternative outlook. Well-groomed inhabitants gather on cycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing continental baguettes and pastries and having coffee on an outdoor area near Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. This represents a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that supports local residents.

"This is not development for residents," says Shaikh. "It represents a huge property transaction that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the development company. Managed by a prominent businessman – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the government head – the business group has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it denies.

While the state government calls it a joint project, the developer contributed a significant amount for its majority share. Legal proceedings stating that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the corporation is pending in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to actively protest the project, local opponents claim they have been faced ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – involving phone calls, explicit warnings and implications that criticizing the project was equivalent to opposing national interests – by people they allege work for the business conglomerate.

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