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Over an extended period, intimidating communications recurred. Originally, allegedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, later from the authorities. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was summoned to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is part of a group fighting a high-value initiative where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be demolished and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of the slum is exceptional in the planet," explains Shaikh. "But the plan aims to dismantle our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of this community stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that dominate the area. Homes are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the air is saturated with the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of high-end towers, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and homes with two toilets is an aspirational dream come true.

"We don't have proper healthcare, proper streets or water management and there are no spaces for children to play," explains a chai seller, 56, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The only way is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

However, some, such as Shaikh, are resisting the project.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, historically ignored as informal housing, is in stark need economic input and modernization. But they are concerned that this initiative – absent of resident participation – is one that will turn valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, displacing the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have resided there since generations ago.

It was these shunned, displaced people who established the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose production is worth between one million dollars and a substantial sum annually, making it a major unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about a million inhabitants living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be eligible for new homes in the development, which is expected to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. Others will be relocated to wastelands and saline fields on the far outskirts of Mumbai, threatening to break up a long-established neighborhood. Certain individuals will receive no homes at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the neighborhood will be allocated apartments in multi-story structures, a major break from the natural, collective approach of residing and operating that has supported the community for so long.

Commercial activities from tailoring to pottery and waste processing are projected to shrink in number and be relocated to an allocated "industrial sector" separated from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of this protester, a craftsman and third generation resident to reside in this community, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His informal, multi-level operation makes leather coats – tailored coats, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and internationally.

Household members resides in the accommodations below and employees and tailors – workers from different regions – also sleep in the same building, permitting him to sustain operations. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are often significantly more expensive for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

At the administrative buildings in the vicinity, a visual representation of the transformation initiative shows a very different vision for the future. Fashionable people mill about on cycles and e-vehicles, purchasing international bread and pastries and socializing on a terrace adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and budget beverage that sustains local residents.

"This represents no progress for our community," explains the artisan. "This constitutes an enormous real estate deal that will render it impossible for us to survive."

There is also concern of the corporate group. Managed by an influential industrialist – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has faced accusations of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it denies.

Even as the state government labels it a partnership, the corporation invested nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the business group is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to vocally oppose the development, Shaikh and other residents state they have been faced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – including communications, direct threats and implications that speaking against the project was equivalent to opposing national interests – by individuals they claim are associated with the business conglomerate.

Among those suspected of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c