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Over an extended period, threatening phone calls persisted. Originally, allegedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, later from law enforcement directly. In the end, a local artisan asserts he was ordered to the police station and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is one of many fighting a high-value project where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The culture of Dharavi is exceptional in the world," states the resident. "But they want to destroy our community and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of this community sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the neighborhood. Residences are built haphazardly and often missing basic amenities, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is saturated with the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and residences with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, roads or drainage and there are no spaces for children to play," explains a chai seller, fifty-six, who moved from his home state in 1982. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, like the leather artisan, are opposing the project.

All recognize that the slum, historically ignored as informal housing, is in stark need investment and development. But they worry that this plan – without community input – might convert valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, evicting the lower-caste, working-class residents who have lived there since the nineteenth century.

It was these shunned, migrant workers who built up the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose output is estimated at between $1m and two million dollars annually, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly a million people living in the crowded sprawling zone, less than 50% will be eligible for new homes in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. Others will be moved to barren areas and saline fields on the far outskirts of the metropolis, threatening to fragment a long-established neighborhood. Some will not get residences at all.

People eligible to continue living in the neighborhood will be allocated units in tower blocks, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has sustained the community for many years.

Commercial activities from clothing production to clay work and material recovery are projected to shrink in number and be transferred to an allocated "commercial zone" separated from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of this protester, a leather artisan and multi-generational inhabitant to call home this community, the project presents an existential threat. His informal, multi-level operation makes leather coats – formal jackets, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – distributed in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and overseas.

Relatives resides in the spaces below and employees and sewers – laborers from different regions – live on-site, enabling him to sustain operations. Away from Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are often 10 times more expensive for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the government offices close by, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan shows an alternative outlook. Well-groomed people mill about on bicycles and e-vehicles, buying international baked goods and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This depicts a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This isn't progress for residents," says the protester. "This constitutes an enormous property transaction that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

There is also skepticism of the business conglomerate. Run by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and a supporter of the national leader – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and questionable practices, which it denies.

Although administrative bodies labels it a joint project, the developer paid $950m for its controlling interest. A lawsuit claiming that the initiative was improperly granted to the developer is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to publicly resist the redevelopment, protesters and community members state they have been experienced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – including messages, explicit warnings and suggestions that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to opposing national interests – by people they allege represent the business conglomerate.

Among those alleged to have issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c