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For months, intimidating communications persisted. At first, reportedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, later from the authorities. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to the local precinct and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is among those opposing a expensive initiative where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – faces demolished and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of Dharavi is unparalleled in the world," explains the protester. "Yet their intention is to destroy our social fabric and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the neighborhood. Residences are built haphazardly and typically missing basic amenities, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the environment is filled with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We lack proper healthcare, proper streets or sewage systems and we have no places for children to play," explains a chai seller, in his fifties, who moved from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The single option is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

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

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, historically ignored as informal housing, is in stark need investment and development. But they fear that this initiative – absent of resident participation – might convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, evicting the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have been there since the late 1800s.

It was these shunned, relocated individuals who developed the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and economic productivity, whose economic value is worth between a significant amount and $2m per year, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly 1 million residents living in the crowded sprawling zone, fewer than half will be able for alternative accommodation in the development, which is projected to take seven years to accomplish. Additional residents will be relocated to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the remote edges of the metropolis, risking fragment a generations-old neighborhood. Some will receive no residences at all.

People eligible to remain in Dharavi will be allocated flats in multi-story structures, a major break from the evolved, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has sustained the community for many years.

Businesses from tailoring to ceramic crafts and waste processing are likely to reduce in scale and be moved to a designated "business area" distant from homes.

Existential Threat

For those such as the leather artisan, a workshop owner and long-time inhabitant to live in Dharavi, the project presents an existential threat. His makeshift, three-floor facility makes garments – formal jackets, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – distributed in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and overseas.

Household members dwells in the spaces downstairs and laborers and garment workers – workers from different regions – also sleep in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Away from this community, housing costs are frequently 10 times more expensive for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

At the administrative buildings nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a contrasting outlook. Slickly dressed residents mill about on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, buying international baked goods and croissants and socializing on a patio adjacent to a restaurant and dessert parlor. This depicts a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This is not progress for our community," says Shaikh. "This constitutes a massive property transaction that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

Additionally, there exists concern of the corporate group. Run by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the national leader – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it denies.

Although local authorities labels it a partnership, the corporation invested nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A case alleging that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the corporation is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to publicly resist the project, local opponents state they have been experienced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – comprising phone calls, direct threats and suggestions that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by figures they assert are associated with the corporate group.

Part of the group alleged to have delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c