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Across several weeks, intimidating communications persisted. Originally, reportedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, later from the authorities. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was ordered to the police station and instructed bluntly: remain silent or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is one of many opposing a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – will be razed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of this area is like nowhere else in the globe," explains Shaikh. "But their intention is to eradicate our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of this community stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and elite residences that dominate the settlement. Homes are assembled randomly and frequently missing basic amenities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the air is permeated by the suffocating smell of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and homes with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision achieved.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, roads or water management and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," says A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who relocated from his home state in the early eighties. "The only way is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

But others, including the leather artisan, are fighting against the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is urgently needing investment and development. However they worry that this plan – lacking resident participation – could potentially turn premium city property into a playground for the rich, forcing out the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have been there since the late 1800s.

It was these shunned, migrant workers who established the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and business activity, whose production is worth between $1m and a substantial sum annually, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Out of about 1 million residents living in the packed sprawling neighborhood, less than 50% will be eligible for new homes in the project, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. The remainder will be moved to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the far outskirts of the city, threatening to break up a generations-old community. Certain individuals will receive no housing at all.

People eligible to remain in Dharavi will be allocated flats in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the natural, communal way of living and working that has maintained the community for so long.

Industries from tailoring to clay work and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a specific "commercial zone" far from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of Shaikh, a craftsman and third generation resident to reside in this community, the plan presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-floor workshop produces garments – tailored coats, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – distributed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Household members resides in the spaces downstairs and laborers and garment workers – laborers from other states – also sleep on-site, enabling him to sustain operations. Outside Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are frequently significantly as high for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the administrative buildings nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a contrasting vision for the future. Fashionable people move around on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, acquiring continental baked goods and pastries and having coffee on an outdoor area adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and treat station. It is a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no improvement for our community," states Shaikh. "It's a huge property transaction that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the corporate group. Run by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and an associate of the government head – the business group has been subject to claims of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

While the state government describes it as a collaborative effort, the business group contributed $950m for its controlling interest. A case stating that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the developer is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to publicly resist the project, protesters and community members assert they have been experienced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – including communications, clear intimidation and implications that opposing the development was comparable with opposing national interests – by people they assert work for the developer.

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