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For months, threatening phone calls recurred. Initially, allegedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, and then from the police themselves. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is part of a group fighting a expensive initiative where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be bulldozed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is unparalleled in the planet," says the resident. "Yet they want to dismantle our community and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of this community sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that loom over the area. Dwellings are constructed informally and typically without proper sanitation, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is permeated by the unpleasant stench of open sewers.

For certain residents, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and homes with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream realized.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, roads or drainage and we have no places for kids to enjoy," says a chai seller, 56, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The single option is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, including Shaikh, are fighting against the redevelopment.

All recognize that this community, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they are concerned that this plan – lacking resident participation – could potentially convert valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, forcing out the lower-caste, working-class residents who have lived there since the nineteenth century.

This involved these shunned, migrant workers who built up the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose production is valued at between $1m and a substantial sum a year, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about one million residents living in the packed 220-hectare zone, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is expected to take seven years to complete. The remainder will be relocated to barren areas and salt plains on the remote edges of Mumbai, threatening to fragment a historic neighborhood. Certain individuals will be denied residences at all.

Those allowed to stay in the neighborhood will be allocated apartments in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the evolved, collective approach of residing and operating that has sustained the community for so long.

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

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of the leather artisan, a craftsman and multi-generational of his family to live in this community, the plan presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-floor facility produces apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – distributed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and overseas.

His family dwells in the spaces downstairs and laborers and tailors – laborers from other states – also sleep in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Away from this community, Mumbai rents are typically significantly costlier for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project depicts an alternative vision for the future. Slickly dressed residents gather on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, purchasing international baked goods and croissants and enlisting beverages on a patio adjacent to a coffee shop and dessert parlor. It is a world away from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains local residents.

"This is not progress for our community," explains the protester. "It's a massive land development that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists concern of the development company. Run by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it disputes.

Although local authorities labels it a joint project, the developer invested nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A case alleging that the project was questionably assigned to the developer is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the development, protesters and community members claim they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – including communications, clear intimidation and implications that criticizing the initiative was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by figures they claim represent the developer.

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