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Over an extended period, intimidating communications persisted. Initially, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, subsequently from law enforcement directly. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is one of many opposing a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be razed and modernized by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of Dharavi is unparalleled in the globe," explains the protester. "But they want to dismantle our community and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that overshadow the neighborhood. Homes are assembled randomly and often without proper sanitation, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the air is filled with the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and homes with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future achieved.

"We don't have proper healthcare, paved pathways or sewage systems and there are no spaces for children to play," explains a tea vendor, in his fifties, who migrated from southern India in that period. "The single option is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

But others, such as Shaikh, are resisting the redevelopment.

None deny that the slum, consistently overlooked as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need investment and development. But they are concerned that this initiative – lacking public consultation – might convert valuable urban land into a luxury development, forcing out the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have lived there since generations ago.

It was these shunned, displaced people who developed the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is valued at between a significant amount and a substantial sum per year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about a million residents living in the crowded sprawling neighborhood, fewer than half will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is expected to take a significant period to accomplish. The remainder will be relocated to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the far outskirts of the city, risking break up a historic social network. Certain individuals will be denied homes at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the area will be allocated units in high-rise buildings, a major break from the evolved, collective approach of living and working that has maintained the community for many years.

Commercial activities from tailoring to ceramic crafts and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be relocated to a specific "business area" far from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For those such as the leather artisan, a craftsman and multi-generational inhabitant to reside in this community, the plan presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-floor operation makes leather coats – tailored coats, suede trenches, fashionable garments – distributed in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Relatives dwells in the rooms below and his workers and garment workers – migrants from north India – also sleep in the same building, enabling him to afford their labour. Away from the slum, Mumbai rents are typically 10 times more expensive for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

Within the administrative buildings close by, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project illustrates an alternative outlook. Well-groomed residents gather on cycles and e-vehicles, acquiring international bread and pastries and enlisting beverages on a patio near Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. This depicts a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not progress for our community," states the artisan. "It represents a huge property transaction that will price people out for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the corporate group. Managed by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Even as local authorities describes it as a collaborative effort, the developer contributed a significant amount for its majority share. Legal proceedings claiming that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the corporation is pending in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to vocally oppose the project, Shaikh and other residents state they have been faced a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – comprising messages, clear intimidation and implications that speaking against the development was comparable with opposing national interests – by figures they assert work for the corporate group.

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