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Over an extended period, intimidating communications continued. At first, supposedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, subsequently from the police themselves. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is among those fighting a expensive initiative where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be bulldozed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The culture of this area is exceptional in the world," explains Shaikh. "But the plan aims to eradicate our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the settlement. Residences are constructed informally and typically without proper sanitation, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the environment is permeated by the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and residences with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, paved pathways or drainage and there are no spaces for children to play," states A Selvin Nadar, 56, who moved from southern India in that period. "The sole solution is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

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

All recognize that the slum, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. But they worry that this project – absent of community input – could potentially transform premium city property into a playground for the rich, evicting the lower-caste, working-class residents who have lived there since generations ago.

It was these shunned, relocated individuals who built up the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose economic value is worth between $1m and $2m a year, making it a major informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about one million residents living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer area, fewer than half will be qualified for new homes in the development, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. The remainder will be transferred to barren areas and salt plains on the remote edges of the city, threatening to fragment a generations-old community. Some will not get residences at all.

People eligible to continue living in the area will be allocated flats in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the organic, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has sustained this area for generations.

Commercial activities from garment work to clay work and recycling are expected to shrink in number and be moved to an allocated "business area" distant from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

For residents like the leather artisan, a leather artisan and multi-generational of his family to call home this community, the project presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-floor facility makes leather coats – tailored coats, suede trenches, fashionable garments – sold in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Relatives resides in the spaces underneath and employees and sewers – migrants from north India – reside on-site, permitting him to manage costs. Outside Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are often 10 times more expensive for basic accommodation.

Pressure and Coercion

In the official facilities close by, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project illustrates a very different outlook. Slickly dressed people move around on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, purchasing international bread and breakfast items and having coffee on an outdoor area adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and treat station. This depicts a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that supports Dharavi's community.

"This is not development for our community," says the protester. "It's a massive property transaction that will price people out for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's concern of the corporate group. Run by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has been subject to claims of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

Although local authorities calls it a partnership, the business group contributed a significant amount for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the project was improperly granted to the business group is pending in the top court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to actively protest the project, protesters and community members state they have been experienced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – comprising messages, explicit warnings and implications that opposing the initiative was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by figures they claim represent the business conglomerate.

Included in these suspected of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c