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For months, threatening phone calls persisted. Originally, allegedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, and then from the police themselves. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was ordered to the local precinct and told clearly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is part of a group resisting a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is like nowhere else in the globe," says the protester. "However their intention is to eradicate our social fabric and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The cramped lanes of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that overshadow the settlement. Dwellings are assembled randomly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the environment is permeated by the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of high-end towers, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and residences with proper sanitation is an optimistic future realized.

"We lack sufficient health services, proper streets or sewage systems and there are no spaces for children to play," states a chai seller, fifty-six, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The single option is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, such as the leather artisan, are opposing the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is in stark need financial support and improvement. Yet they worry that this plan – absent of resident participation – is one that will convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, evicting the marginalized, immigrant populations who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

This involved these excluded, relocated individuals who built up the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is worth between a significant amount and $2m per year, making it a major unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly 1 million inhabitants living in the dense sprawling area, a minority will be eligible for new homes in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. The remainder will be transferred to wastelands and saline fields on the far outskirts of the metropolis, potentially divide a long-established community. Some will be denied housing at all.

People eligible to continue living in the neighborhood will be given flats in multi-story structures, a major break from the evolved, communal way of residing and operating that has supported this area for many years.

Businesses from tailoring to clay work and recycling are expected to reduce in scale and be relocated to a designated "business area" far from people's residences.

Existential Threat

In the case of this protester, a leather artisan and third generation resident to reside in Dharavi, the plan presents an existential threat. His informal, multi-level workshop makes leather coats – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – marketed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

Household members dwells in the rooms underneath and his workers and garment workers – migrants from north India – live there, allowing him to afford their labour. Outside Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are typically significantly costlier for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

At the administrative buildings in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative depicts a contrasting outlook. Slickly dressed people gather on cycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing western-style baked goods and croissants and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area adjacent to a restaurant and treat station. This depicts a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for our community," explains the protester. "This constitutes a massive property transaction that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also distrust of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and an associate of the government head – the corporation has faced accusations of preferential treatment and financial impropriety, which it denies.

Although the state government labels it a joint project, the business group paid nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A case stating that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the corporation is pending in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to actively protest the project, protesters and community members claim they have been faced an extended period of coercion and warning – involving communications, explicit warnings and insinuations that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to opposing national interests – by individuals they claim are associated with the corporate group.

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