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For months, coercive phone calls continued. Originally, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, later from the authorities. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was called to the local precinct and told clearly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is among those resisting a expensive project where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be demolished and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The culture of the slum is unparalleled in the globe," says the resident. "But their intention is to eradicate our social fabric and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of this community present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that loom over the area. Homes are constructed informally and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the environment is filled with the overpowering odor of open sewers.

To some, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of luxury high-rises, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and residences with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream come true.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, proper streets or sewage systems and we have no places for children to play," explains a tea vendor, in his fifties, who moved from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, such as the leather artisan, are fighting against the plan.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need investment and development. But they fear that this initiative – absent of community input – might convert premium city property into a playground for the rich, evicting the marginalized, working-class residents who have lived there since the late 1800s.

This involved these shunned, migrant workers who established the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and commercial output, whose economic value is valued at between one million dollars and $2m per year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately 1 million inhabitants living in the crowded 220-hectare zone, less than 50% will be able for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take a significant period to complete. The remainder will be moved to wastelands and coastal regions on the distant periphery of the city, threatening to divide a long-established neighborhood. Certain individuals will be denied housing at all.

Residents permitted to remain in the area will be provided apartments in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the organic, communal way of living and working that has supported the community for many years.

Industries from tailoring to pottery and material recovery are likely to reduce in scale and be moved to a designated "industrial sector" far from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of this protester, a workshop owner and multi-generational of his family to reside in this community, the plan presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-storey workshop creates leather coats – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – sold in luxury boutiques in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

His family resides in the rooms downstairs and laborers and tailors – workers from north India – also sleep in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Outside the slum, accommodation prices are often significantly costlier for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

In the official facilities nearby, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project illustrates a contrasting vision for the future. Slickly dressed people move around on cycles and e-vehicles, buying international bread and breakfast items and socializing on an outdoor area adjacent to a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This depicts a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains local residents.

"This represents no development for residents," explains the artisan. "This constitutes a huge property transaction that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's distrust of the business conglomerate. Run by a prominent businessman – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it rejects.

While local authorities calls it a joint project, the business group paid $950m for its majority share. A lawsuit claiming that the project was unfairly awarded to the business group is being considered in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to vocally oppose the project, protesters and community members state they have been faced an extended period of pressure and threats – including communications, explicit warnings and implications that speaking against the initiative was equivalent to opposing national interests – by individuals they assert represent the business conglomerate.

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