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For months, threatening communications persisted. At first, allegedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, and then from the police themselves. Finally, one resident asserts he was called to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is among those resisting a high-value initiative where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be bulldozed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The culture of Dharavi is exceptional in the world," says Shaikh. "Yet the plan aims to eradicate our community and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of the slum sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that overshadow the neighborhood. Homes are constructed informally and frequently without proper sanitation, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is saturated with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future come true.

"We lack proper healthcare, roads or water management and we have no places for children to play," says a tea vendor, 56, who migrated from his home state in that period. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

But others, like Shaikh, are opposing the plan.

None deny that the slum, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. But they are concerned that this project – absent of community input – might turn premium city property into a luxury development, evicting the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have lived there since the late 1800s.

It was these excluded, migrant workers who built up the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and commercial output, whose economic value is worth between one million dollars and two million dollars per year, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately 1 million people living in the dense sprawling zone, fewer than half will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the development, which is expected to take a significant period to complete. Additional residents will be transferred to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the far outskirts of Mumbai, potentially fragment a generations-old community. A portion will receive no residences at all.

People eligible to stay in the area will be given apartments in multi-story structures, a major break from the natural, shared lifestyle of living and working that has maintained the community for so long.

Industries from clothing production to pottery and waste processing are expected to shrink in number and be relocated to an allocated "commercial zone" far from homes.

Existential Threat

For residents like Shaikh, a leather artisan and third generation resident to reside in this community, the plan presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-storey workshop makes apparel – formal jackets, suede trenches, fashionable garments – distributed in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and overseas.

His family resides in the spaces below and employees and sewers – laborers from other states – reside on-site, allowing him to manage costs. Away from Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are often tenfold costlier for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the government offices in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows an alternative outlook. Slickly dressed residents mill about on cycles and electric vehicles, purchasing continental baguettes and breakfast items and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area outside Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. This depicts a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that supports the neighborhood.

"This isn't development for us," states Shaikh. "It's a huge land development that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

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 business group has faced accusations of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it rejects.

Although administrative bodies labels it a collaborative effort, the corporation contributed nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings alleging that the project was questionably assigned to the corporation is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to vocally oppose the redevelopment, protesters and community members assert they have been experienced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – including messages, clear intimidation and insinuations that criticizing the development was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by people they allege represent the developer.

Among those accused of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c