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Over an extended period, coercive messages persisted. Initially, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, and then from law enforcement directly. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is among those fighting a expensive project where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be demolished and modernized by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is exceptional in the world," explains the resident. "However the plan aims to destroy our community and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of this community present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that dominate the neighborhood. Homes are assembled randomly and often missing basic amenities, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is filled with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and residences with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision come true.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or water management and we have no places for kids to enjoy," explains a chai seller, in his fifties, who moved from his home state in 1982. "The sole solution is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Local Protest

However, some, such as this protester, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that Dharavi, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. However they fear that this initiative – absent of community input – could potentially turn premium city property into a playground for the rich, displacing the lower-caste, migrant communities who have been there since generations ago.

This involved these marginalized, displaced people who built up the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and commercial output, whose output is valued at between one million dollars and $2m a year, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about 1 million inhabitants living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer zone, a minority will be qualified for replacement housing in the development, which is expected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Additional residents will be relocated to barren areas and saline fields on the remote edges of Mumbai, potentially break up a long-established neighborhood. Certain individuals will receive no residences at all.

Those allowed to stay in the neighborhood will be given units in multi-story structures, a substantial change from the evolved, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has maintained the community for many years.

Commercial activities from garment work to clay work and recycling are likely to shrink in number and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" separated from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like the leather artisan, a craftsman and third generation inhabitant to live in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His rickety, multi-level workshop makes apparel – tailored coats, luxury coats, decorated jackets – marketed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Household members resides in the spaces downstairs and employees and tailors – workers from different regions – reside in the same building, allowing him to sustain operations. Outside this community, accommodation prices are typically 10 times costlier for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the official facilities nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project shows a very different vision for the future. Well-groomed people mill about on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, acquiring continental baked goods and pastries and having coffee on a terrace adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This depicts a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no development for residents," states the artisan. "This constitutes a huge property transaction that will price people out for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the business conglomerate. Headed by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has been subject to claims of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Although administrative bodies describes it as a collaborative effort, the corporation invested nearly a billion dollars for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the developer is being considered in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to vocally oppose the redevelopment, protesters and community members assert they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – comprising communications, direct threats and suggestions that opposing the initiative was comparable with speaking against the country – by individuals they assert work for the developer.

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