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For months, coercive messages continued. Originally, supposedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, later from the police themselves. Finally, a local artisan asserts he was ordered to the police station and told clearly: keep quiet or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is among those opposing a expensive redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be demolished and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of the slum is like nowhere else in the planet," says Shaikh. "But the plan aims to eradicate our way of life and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that overshadow the area. Dwellings are built haphazardly and frequently without proper sanitation, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

Among some individuals, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and homes with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, roads or sewage systems and we have no places for children to play," says a chai seller, 56, who relocated from his home state in the early eighties. "The single option is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

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

None deny that this community, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. Yet they are concerned that this project – lacking public consultation – could potentially transform premium city property into an elite enclave, displacing the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have lived there since the nineteenth century.

These were these marginalized, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and business activity, whose economic value is estimated at between $1m and $2m a year, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly a million residents living in the packed 220-hectare area, a minority will be qualified for new homes in the redevelopment, which is expected to take seven years to finish. Others will be relocated to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the far outskirts of the city, potentially break up a historic neighborhood. Some will be denied housing at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in Dharavi will be provided units in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the evolved, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has sustained this area for many years.

Industries from tailoring to pottery and material recovery are expected to shrink in number and be moved to an allocated "industrial sector" far from homes.

Existential Threat

For those such as Shaikh, a craftsman and multi-generational of his family to reside in Dharavi, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, multi-level workshop creates apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and abroad.

Household members resides in the accommodations underneath and his workers and sewers – laborers from other states – reside in the same building, enabling him to manage costs. Outside the slum, accommodation prices are frequently significantly more expensive for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

In the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative perspective. Well-groomed people gather on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, purchasing western-style bread and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on a patio outside a restaurant and dessert parlor. This represents a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This isn't improvement for our community," states the protester. "It represents an enormous land development that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also distrust of the development company. Run by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

Even as local authorities describes it as a joint project, the developer paid $950m for its 80% stake. A case stating that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the corporation is pending in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to publicly resist the redevelopment, protesters and community members assert they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – including phone calls, clear intimidation and implications that speaking against the development was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by figures they assert work for the developer.

Among those alleged to have making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c