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Over an extended period, coercive communications continued. At first, reportedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, subsequently from the authorities. Ultimately, a local artisan asserts he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: keep quiet or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is part of a group resisting a multimillion-dollar project where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be demolished and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of Dharavi is exceptional in the world," explains Shaikh. "But their intention is to dismantle our social fabric and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the settlement. Homes are assembled randomly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the air is permeated by the suffocating smell of uncovered waste channels.

Among some individuals, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and homes with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, roads or water management and there are no spaces for children to play," says A Selvin Nadar, 56, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, such as Shaikh, are resisting the plan.

None deny that this community, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. But they are concerned that this project – lacking community input – could potentially turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, displacing the marginalized, immigrant populations who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

It was these excluded, displaced people who developed the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and commercial output, whose production is valued at between $1m and two million dollars per year, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly one million residents living in the crowded sprawling neighborhood, less than 50% will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the development, which is estimated to take seven years to complete. The remainder will be transferred to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the remote edges of Mumbai, potentially break up a long-established community. Some will receive no residences at all.

People eligible to stay in the area will be allocated units in multi-story structures, a substantial change from the evolved, collective approach of residing and operating that has supported this area for so long.

Industries from garment work to clay work and waste processing are projected to shrink in number and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" far from people's residences.

Existential Threat

In the case of Shaikh, a workshop owner and long-time of his family to call home Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-storey operation produces garments – formal jackets, suede trenches, decorated jackets – marketed in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family resides in the rooms downstairs and his workers and tailors – laborers from north India – also sleep there, allowing him to manage costs. Outside the slum, housing costs are frequently 10 times costlier for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan depicts a very different perspective. Slickly dressed people mill about on cycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing western-style bread and croissants and socializing on a patio near a restaurant and treat station. It is a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that maintains local residents.

"This is not improvement for our community," says the protester. "It's a huge property transaction that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Additionally, there exists concern of the corporate group. Run by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the government head – the corporation has encountered allegations of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

While administrative bodies labels it a collaborative effort, the developer paid a significant amount for its majority share. A case alleging that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is under review in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to actively protest the redevelopment, local opponents assert they have been experienced an extended period of pressure and threats – involving phone calls, clear intimidation and insinuations that speaking against the initiative was equivalent to opposing national interests – by individuals they assert represent the developer.

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