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Across several weeks, coercive phone calls continued. Initially, supposedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, and then from the authorities. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is part of a group resisting a high-value initiative where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be demolished and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of the slum is unparalleled in the globe," explains the resident. "But the plan aims to eradicate our community and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of the slum sit in stark contrast to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that dominate the area. Homes are built haphazardly and typically missing basic amenities, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the air is filled with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision realized.

"There's no proper healthcare, roads or drainage and we have no places for youth to recreate," states a chai seller, in his fifties, who relocated from southern India in that period. "The only way is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, including the leather artisan, are fighting against the project.

All recognize that Dharavi, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. However they are concerned that this project – without public consultation – is one that will transform premium city property into a luxury development, evicting the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have been there since generations ago.

This involved these excluded, displaced people who built up the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and business activity, whose economic value is estimated at between $1m and $2m annually, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about 1 million people living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, a minority will be able for replacement housing in the development, which is expected to take a significant period to accomplish. Additional residents will be transferred to wastelands and coastal regions on the remote edges of Mumbai, risking break up a long-established neighborhood. Certain individuals will receive no residences at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the neighborhood will be allocated units in high-rise buildings, a major break from the natural, collective approach of living and working that has maintained Dharavi for so long.

Commercial activities from clothing production to pottery and material recovery are expected to shrink in number and be transferred to a designated "business area" far from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of the leather artisan, a craftsman and third generation of his family to reside in Dharavi, the project presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-floor operation makes leather coats – formal jackets, luxury coats, fashionable garments – sold in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Household members resides in the spaces downstairs and laborers and garment workers – workers from different regions – live there, permitting him to sustain operations. Beyond the slum, housing costs are typically tenfold more expensive for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

At the official facilities nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project illustrates a very different perspective. Well-groomed people move around on bicycles and electric vehicles, purchasing international bread and croissants and socializing on a patio near a restaurant and dessert parlor. This depicts a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains local residents.

"This isn't progress for residents," explains Shaikh. "It's a huge real estate deal that will render it impossible for us to survive."

There is also distrust of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the national leader – the conglomerate has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

While the state government calls it a partnership, the corporation paid a significant amount for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings stating that the initiative was improperly granted to the business group is pending in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to vocally oppose the development, protesters and community members assert they have been experienced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – involving communications, direct threats and implications that speaking against the development was tantamount to opposing national interests – by individuals they assert are associated with the corporate group.

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