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Across several weeks, threatening phone calls recurred. Originally, reportedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, and then from the police themselves. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was summoned to the local precinct and told clearly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is one of many opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces demolished and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is exceptional in the planet," says the resident. "Yet they want to destroy our community and silence our voices."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that loom over the neighborhood. Homes are built haphazardly and typically without proper sanitation, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the air is saturated with the overpowering odor of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future realized.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, roads or water management and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who moved from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The only way is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

But others, like this protester, are opposing the project.

None deny that Dharavi, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need investment and development. Yet they fear that this initiative – lacking public consultation – could potentially convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, forcing out the lower-caste, working-class residents who have been there since the late 1800s.

This involved these excluded, relocated individuals who developed the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and business activity, whose output is valued at between $1m and $2m a year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately 1 million people living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer area, a minority will be eligible for new homes in the project, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Others will be transferred to wastelands and coastal regions on the far outskirts of Mumbai, threatening to break up a historic social network. Some will not get housing at all.

People eligible to stay in the area will be given flats in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the natural, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has supported the community for many years.

Commercial activities from garment work to pottery and recycling are expected to reduce in scale and be moved to an allocated "commercial zone" separated from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of this protester, a workshop owner and third generation resident to reside in the slum, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, multi-level operation creates apparel – sharp blazers, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the spaces below and laborers and tailors – workers from different regions – live there, enabling him to sustain operations. Outside the slum, Mumbai rents are often 10 times as high for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the government offices nearby, a visual representation of the redevelopment plan illustrates an alternative outlook. Fashionable people move around on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, acquiring continental baguettes and pastries and socializing on an outdoor area near a coffee shop and treat station. It is a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that supports local residents.

"This is not progress for our community," says Shaikh. "It's a massive real estate deal that will price people out for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the business conglomerate. Run by an influential industrialist – among the country's wealthiest and a close ally of the national leader – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

Although local authorities labels it a collaborative effort, the business group paid $950m for its 80% stake. A lawsuit claiming that the project was improperly granted to the corporation is under review in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to publicly resist the redevelopment, local opponents assert they have been faced a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – comprising communications, direct threats and implications that criticizing the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they allege represent the developer.

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