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Across several weeks, coercive phone calls continued. Originally, allegedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, and then from the authorities. Ultimately, one resident asserts he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is part of a group opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be bulldozed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is exceptional in the world," states the protester. "Yet they want to dismantle our community and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of the slum sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and elite residences that overshadow the settlement. Dwellings are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is permeated by the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of premium apartments, neat parks, modern retail complexes and residences with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream realized.

"We lack proper healthcare, paved pathways or water management and there are no spaces for youth to recreate," explains A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who moved from his home state in that period. "The sole solution is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

However, some, like this protester, are fighting against the project.

All recognize that Dharavi, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing investment and development. But they are concerned that this project – lacking resident participation – is one that will transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, evicting the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

This involved these marginalized, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and business activity, whose output is valued at between one million dollars and $2m a year, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Among approximately a million inhabitants living in the packed sprawling neighborhood, less than 50% will be qualified for new homes in the redevelopment, which is expected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Additional residents will be moved to wastelands and salt plains on the remote edges of the city, potentially fragment a historic community. A portion will not get residences at all.

Those allowed to remain in the neighborhood will be provided flats in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the natural, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has supported the community for many years.

Industries from garment work to ceramic crafts and waste processing are projected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a specific "business area" far from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of this protester, a leather artisan and long-time resident to call home the slum, the project presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, three-floor facility makes apparel – tailored coats, luxury coats, fashionable garments – distributed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Household members lives in the accommodations below and laborers and tailors – laborers from different regions – live on-site, allowing him to sustain operations. Outside Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are often tenfold more expensive for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

In the administrative buildings close by, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project depicts a very different vision for the future. Slickly dressed residents mill about on bicycles and electric vehicles, acquiring international baked goods and pastries and socializing on a patio adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that supports Dharavi's community.

"This isn't development for our community," states the artisan. "It's a massive real estate deal that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's concern of the development company. Headed by a prominent businessman – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the government head – the corporation has been subject to claims of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Although the state government labels it a collaborative effort, the corporation paid $950m for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings alleging that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the corporation is under review in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to publicly resist the project, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been faced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – including communications, explicit warnings and suggestions that speaking against the development was comparable with opposing national interests – by individuals they assert work for the corporate group.

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