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For months, coercive phone calls recurred. Initially, reportedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the authorities. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was summoned to the police station and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is one of many fighting a multimillion-dollar project where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be razed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of this area is like nowhere else in the planet," states the protester. "But their intention is to eradicate our community and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the settlement. Residences are built haphazardly and frequently without proper sanitation, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the air is saturated with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and homes with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We lack sufficient health services, roads or drainage and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," states a tea vendor, 56, who relocated from southern India in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Local Protest

But others, including Shaikh, are resisting the redevelopment.

All recognize that this community, historically ignored as informal housing, is in stark need economic input and modernization. Yet they are concerned that this plan – absent of community input – could potentially transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, forcing out the marginalized, working-class residents who have been there since generations ago.

It was these shunned, relocated individuals who developed the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and business activity, whose economic value is worth between one million dollars and two million dollars a year, making it among the globe's biggest unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Among approximately one million residents living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, fewer than half will be eligible for new homes in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take a significant period to finish. Others will be moved to wastelands and salt plains on the distant periphery of the city, risking break up a generations-old neighborhood. Certain individuals will be denied residences at all.

People eligible to remain in the area will be allocated flats in tower blocks, a major break from the evolved, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has maintained Dharavi for so long.

Industries from garment work to pottery and waste processing are projected to decrease in quantity and be moved to a specific "commercial zone" distant from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like Shaikh, a craftsman and third generation of his family to call home this community, the project presents an existential threat. His makeshift, multi-level facility makes apparel – sharp blazers, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – distributed in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Household members dwells in the rooms below and laborers and sewers – laborers from north India – also sleep there, permitting him to afford their labour. Beyond the slum, Mumbai rents are frequently significantly more expensive for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

In the government offices close by, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan illustrates a contrasting outlook. Well-groomed inhabitants gather on cycles and e-vehicles, buying continental bread and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area adjacent to Dharavi Cafe and dessert parlor. This depicts a stark contrast from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for us," states the protester. "It represents a massive property transaction that will price people out for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists concern of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has faced accusations of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it rejects.

Although the state government labels it a partnership, the business group contributed $950m for its majority share. Legal proceedings stating that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the business group is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to publicly resist the redevelopment, protesters and community members state they have been faced a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – involving messages, explicit warnings and insinuations that speaking against the development was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by figures they claim represent the business conglomerate.

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