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For months, intimidating messages recurred. Originally, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, subsequently from the police themselves. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was ordered to the police station and warned explicitly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is part of a group fighting a high-value initiative where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be bulldozed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is like nowhere else in the world," states Shaikh. "But they want to dismantle our community and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of this community stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the area. Dwellings are constructed informally and often missing basic amenities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the air is saturated with the suffocating smell of uncovered waste channels.

Among some individuals, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and apartments with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision achieved.

"We lack adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or sewage systems and there are no spaces for children to play," states a chai seller, in his fifties, who moved from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The single option is to tear it all down and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

But others, such as this protester, are fighting against the redevelopment.

All recognize that this community, historically ignored as informal housing, is in stark need investment and development. But they are concerned that this plan – lacking community input – might convert premium city property into an elite enclave, forcing out the marginalized, working-class residents who have lived there since the late 1800s.

These were these shunned, migrant workers who built up the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and business activity, whose production is estimated at between a significant amount and a substantial sum a year, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about a million inhabitants living in the dense sprawling zone, less than 50% will be able for replacement housing in the development, which is estimated to take seven years to finish. Additional residents will be moved to barren areas and saline fields on the far outskirts of the city, risking divide a generations-old social network. A portion will receive no residences at all.

Those allowed to remain in the neighborhood will be given flats in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the organic, communal way of living and working that has sustained Dharavi for generations.

Commercial activities from clothing production to pottery and recycling are projected to decrease in quantity and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" distant from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

For those such as Shaikh, a craftsman and multi-generational resident to live in the slum, the plan presents an existential threat. His informal, multi-level facility makes apparel – formal jackets, luxury coats, decorated jackets – marketed in luxury boutiques in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Household members dwells in the spaces downstairs and laborers and sewers – migrants from north India – reside on-site, enabling him to sustain operations. Outside this community, housing costs are typically significantly as high for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

At the administrative buildings in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a very different outlook. Well-groomed people mill about on bicycles and electric vehicles, buying western-style bread and breakfast items and socializing on a patio adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. It is a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This is not improvement for our community," states the protester. "It's an enormous property transaction that will price people out for our community to continue."

There is also skepticism of the business conglomerate. Managed by an influential industrialist – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the national leader – the business group has faced accusations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While the state government describes it as a partnership, the developer invested $950m for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings stating that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the developer is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to actively protest the project, local opponents assert they have been experienced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – including phone calls, explicit warnings and insinuations that criticizing the development was equivalent to opposing national interests – by figures they claim work for the business conglomerate.

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