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Over an extended period, intimidating messages recurred. At first, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, later from the authorities. Finally, one resident asserts he was called to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is one of many resisting a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – will be bulldozed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The culture of Dharavi is like nowhere else in the globe," states Shaikh. "However the plan aims to eradicate our social fabric and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the area. Dwellings are constructed informally and typically missing basic amenities, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the air is permeated by the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and apartments with proper sanitation is an optimistic future achieved.

"We don't have sufficient health services, proper streets or sewage systems and there are no spaces for youth to recreate," states a tea vendor, fifty-six, who migrated from southern India in that period. "The only way is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

However, some, including the leather artisan, are resisting the plan.

None deny that the slum, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need financial support and improvement. Yet they are concerned that this plan – absent of community input – is one that will turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, forcing out the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have been there since generations ago.

It was these marginalized, displaced people who established the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and commercial output, whose output is estimated at between a significant amount and two million dollars annually, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately 1 million inhabitants living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer zone, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is projected to take a significant period to finish. The remainder will be moved to wastelands and salt plains on the remote edges of Mumbai, threatening to fragment a long-established neighborhood. A portion will be denied homes at all.

People eligible to stay in Dharavi will be given flats in tower blocks, a substantial change from the organic, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has supported the community for many years.

Industries from clothing production to clay work and material recovery are likely to shrink in number and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" separated from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like this protester, a workshop owner and third generation of his family to call home this community, the plan presents an existential threat. His informal, multi-level operation produces garments – formal jackets, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in high-end shops in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Household members dwells in the spaces downstairs and his workers and garment workers – workers from other states – live there, allowing him to sustain operations. Outside Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are typically tenfold costlier for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the government offices nearby, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan shows an alternative outlook. Slickly dressed people mill about on bicycles and e-vehicles, buying international baked goods and croissants and enlisting beverages on a patio near Dharavi Cafe and treat station. This represents a world away from the affordable idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This isn't development for us," says Shaikh. "It represents a huge real estate deal that will price people out for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's concern of the corporate group. Run by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the national leader – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Although local authorities describes it as a joint project, the business group paid a significant amount for its majority share. Legal proceedings stating that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the corporation is being considered in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to actively protest the project, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been experienced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – comprising communications, explicit warnings and suggestions that opposing the initiative was comparable with opposing national interests – by individuals they allege are associated with the business conglomerate.

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