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Across several weeks, intimidating messages continued. Initially, reportedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, later from law enforcement directly. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is one of many fighting a expensive project where this historic settlement – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be razed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is unparalleled in the globe," explains Shaikh. "But the plan aims to destroy our way of life and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of the slum present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the neighborhood. Homes are assembled randomly and often lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is filled with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of high-end towers, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and residences with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future realized.

"We don't have sufficient health services, roads or drainage and we have no places for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who migrated from his home state in 1982. "The sole solution is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

However, some, including the leather artisan, are resisting the project.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, historically ignored as informal housing, is urgently needing investment and development. However they fear that this plan – absent of community input – is one that will transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, displacing the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have lived there since the late 1800s.

It was these marginalized, displaced people who developed the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and economic productivity, whose output is worth between a significant amount and two million dollars a year, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly one million residents living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the development, which is estimated to take a significant period to finish. The remainder will be moved to wastelands and salt plains on the remote edges of the metropolis, risking fragment a generations-old social network. Certain individuals will not get residences at all.

Residents permitted to remain in the neighborhood will be given flats in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the organic, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has sustained the community for so long.

Commercial activities from tailoring to clay work and waste processing are likely to reduce in scale and be relocated to a specific "business area" separated from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a craftsman and long-time inhabitant to reside in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-storey workshop creates apparel – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – distributed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Household members resides in the accommodations downstairs and laborers and garment workers – migrants from other states – also sleep on-site, allowing him to manage costs. Beyond the slum, housing costs are frequently significantly more expensive for a single room.

Threats and Warning

Within the administrative buildings in the vicinity, a visual representation of the Dharavi project depicts an alternative vision for the future. Well-groomed inhabitants mill about on cycles and electric vehicles, acquiring continental bread and pastries and enlisting beverages on a patio outside a coffee shop and treat station. This represents a stark contrast from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that maintains the neighborhood.

"This represents no progress for us," says the protester. "This constitutes a huge property transaction that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

There is also concern of the business conglomerate. Headed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the government head – the corporation has been subject to claims of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it denies.

Although administrative bodies labels it a collaborative effort, the business group invested $950m for its controlling interest. A lawsuit alleging that the initiative was questionably assigned to the corporation is pending in the nation's highest judicial body.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to publicly resist the redevelopment, local opponents claim they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – including phone calls, explicit warnings and suggestions that criticizing the project was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by individuals they allege are associated with the corporate group.

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