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Across several weeks, intimidating phone calls persisted. Initially, supposedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, later from the police themselves. Ultimately, a local artisan claims he was summoned to the police station and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is part of a group opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – faces bulldozed and modernized by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is like nowhere else in the world," explains Shaikh. "Yet the plan aims to dismantle our community and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that loom over the settlement. Homes are built haphazardly and often without proper sanitation, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is permeated by the overpowering odor of open sewers.

For certain residents, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future come true.

"There's no proper healthcare, paved pathways or water management and there are no spaces for youth to recreate," says a tea vendor, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The single option is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Local Protest

But others, including Shaikh, are opposing the plan.

All recognize that this community, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. However they are concerned that this project – without public consultation – might turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, displacing the marginalized, working-class residents who have resided there since the late 1800s.

It was these marginalized, migrant workers who established the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose economic value is estimated at between $1m and a substantial sum annually, making it among the globe's biggest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about 1 million inhabitants living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, fewer than half will be able for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take seven years to accomplish. The remainder will be moved to barren areas and saline fields on the distant periphery of the city, threatening to break up a generations-old community. A portion will be denied residences at all.

Residents permitted to stay in Dharavi will be provided apartments in tower blocks, a major break from the organic, collective approach of living and working that has supported this area for generations.

Commercial activities from garment work to pottery and recycling are expected to decrease in quantity and be transferred to an allocated "business area" distant from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of Shaikh, a leather artisan and multi-generational of his family to reside in this community, the project presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-floor workshop makes garments – tailored coats, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – distributed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Relatives resides in the accommodations below and employees and tailors – workers from other states – also sleep in the same building, permitting him to sustain operations. Outside this community, housing costs are typically 10 times costlier for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the official facilities nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan depicts a very different vision for the future. Slickly dressed residents move around on cycles and electric vehicles, acquiring international baguettes and pastries and socializing on a terrace near Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. This depicts a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar breakfast and low-cost tea that maintains the neighborhood.

"This represents no improvement for our community," says Shaikh. "This constitutes an enormous property transaction that will price people out for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the development company. Headed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a close ally of the government head – the corporation has been subject to claims of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it denies.

Even as administrative bodies describes it as a collaborative effort, the business group invested a significant amount for its 80% stake. A case alleging that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the developer is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to actively protest the project, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been faced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – including communications, direct threats and suggestions that opposing the initiative was tantamount to opposing national interests – by people they claim are associated with the corporate group.

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