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Over an extended period, coercive communications recurred. At first, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is part of a group fighting a expensive redevelopment plan where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be bulldozed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The culture of Dharavi is exceptional in the planet," explains the protester. "But the plan aims to dismantle our community and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The cramped lanes of the slum sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the neighborhood. Dwellings are assembled randomly and typically without proper sanitation, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is permeated by the overpowering odor of open sewers.

For certain residents, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and residences with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision come true.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, roads or water management and we have no places for youth to recreate," explains A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who migrated from southern India in 1982. "The only way is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, like Shaikh, are opposing the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, historically ignored as informal housing, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. But they fear that this project – without community input – could potentially convert premium city property into an elite enclave, displacing the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have lived there since generations ago.

This involved these marginalized, relocated individuals who developed the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and commercial output, whose economic value is estimated at between a significant amount and two million dollars a year, making it a major informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about a million inhabitants living in the packed 220-hectare zone, fewer than half will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is projected to take a significant period to complete. Additional residents will be moved to barren areas and coastal regions on the distant periphery of Mumbai, risking divide a generations-old community. A portion will not get housing at all.

Those allowed to stay in Dharavi will be given units in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the evolved, communal way of residing and operating that has supported this area for so long.

Commercial activities from tailoring to pottery and recycling are likely to shrink in number and be transferred to a designated "commercial zone" distant from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a craftsman and multi-generational of his family to call home Dharavi, the project presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-floor facility creates apparel – formal jackets, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – marketed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

Household members dwells in the rooms downstairs and laborers and sewers – migrants from north India – also sleep there, enabling him to manage costs. Outside the slum, Mumbai rents are often 10 times more expensive for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the official facilities in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project depicts an alternative perspective. Slickly dressed people mill about on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, acquiring western-style baked goods and croissants and having coffee on a terrace near a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This depicts a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar breakfast and low-cost tea that sustains local residents.

"This represents no improvement for residents," says Shaikh. "This constitutes a massive real estate deal that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's concern of the corporate group. Run by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the national leader – the business group has encountered allegations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it rejects.

Even as local authorities labels it a collaborative effort, the corporation paid nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the corporation is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to actively protest the development, protesters and community members assert they have been experienced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – involving phone calls, clear intimidation and suggestions that criticizing the initiative was tantamount to opposing national interests – by people they assert work for the corporate group.

Included in these alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c