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Over an extended period, coercive communications recurred. At first, reportedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, and then from the authorities. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was called to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is part of a group resisting a expensive initiative where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be razed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is like nowhere else in the planet," explains the protester. "Yet they want to eradicate our social fabric and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the area. Residences are constructed informally and typically without proper sanitation, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the air is permeated by the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and homes with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future realized.

"We lack proper healthcare, roads or sewage systems and we have no places for children to play," states a tea vendor, in his fifties, who migrated from his home state in 1982. "The only way is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

However, some, including this protester, are resisting the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need investment and development. However they worry that this initiative – absent of public consultation – could potentially turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, forcing out the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have been there since the nineteenth century.

It was these excluded, relocated individuals who developed the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose economic value is estimated at between one million dollars and two million dollars annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly one million inhabitants living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer zone, fewer than half will be qualified for new homes in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to finish. The remainder will be moved to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the far outskirts of the city, threatening to fragment a long-established community. Certain individuals will not get homes at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the neighborhood will be given units in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the natural, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has supported Dharavi for so long.

Industries from clothing production to ceramic crafts and material recovery are likely to decrease in quantity and be transferred to an allocated "commercial zone" distant from people's residences.

Existential Threat

In the case of the leather artisan, a craftsman and long-time inhabitant to reside in this community, the project presents an existential threat. His informal, three-storey workshop creates garments – tailored coats, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – marketed in premium stores in south Mumbai and overseas.

Relatives resides in the accommodations below and his workers and sewers – migrants from different regions – also sleep there, enabling him to manage costs. Beyond the slum, housing costs are often significantly as high for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

At the official facilities in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project shows a contrasting outlook. Well-groomed people move around on cycles and electric vehicles, buying western-style bread and breakfast items and having coffee on an outdoor area outside Dharavi Cafe and treat station. This represents a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that sustains the neighborhood.

"This represents no improvement for residents," explains the artisan. "It's a massive land development that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the corporate group. Managed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has faced accusations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

While local authorities calls it a collaborative effort, the corporation invested nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. A case alleging that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the business group is being considered in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to publicly resist the project, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been experienced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – including communications, clear intimidation and suggestions that criticizing the initiative was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by people they assert work for the corporate group.

Among those suspected of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c