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Over an extended period, coercive communications recurred. Initially, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, subsequently from law enforcement directly. Finally, one resident claims he was called to the local precinct and warned explicitly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is among those fighting a high-value redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – will be razed and redeveloped by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is unparalleled in the world," states the protester. "But the plan aims to dismantle our community and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The cramped lanes of the slum sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that dominate the settlement. Residences are built haphazardly and typically lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the air is saturated with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a developed area of high-end towers, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and apartments with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future realized.

"There's no proper healthcare, roads or drainage and we have no places for children to play," explains A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who relocated from his home state in 1982. "The only way is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

But others, including Shaikh, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need investment and development. Yet they worry that this project – lacking community input – might transform valuable urban land into an elite enclave, forcing out the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have lived there since the late 1800s.

This involved these shunned, displaced people who built up the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose output is estimated at between one million dollars and two million dollars per year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about a million inhabitants living in the crowded 220-hectare neighborhood, a minority will be able for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is expected to take seven years to finish. Additional residents will be relocated to barren areas and saline fields on the far outskirts of the city, potentially break up a generations-old social network. Certain individuals will be denied housing at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the neighborhood will be given flats in tower blocks, a substantial change from the natural, collective approach of residing and operating that has sustained Dharavi for so long.

Industries from garment work to clay work and material recovery are likely to reduce in scale and be relocated to a designated "business area" separated from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of the leather artisan, a leather artisan and third generation resident to reside in this community, the project presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, three-floor operation produces garments – sharp blazers, suede trenches, decorated jackets – sold in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

Relatives resides in the spaces downstairs and employees and sewers – migrants from different regions – also sleep on-site, allowing him to manage costs. Away from the slum, Mumbai rents are typically tenfold costlier for a single room.

Pressure and Coercion

At the administrative buildings nearby, a visual representation of the transformation initiative shows a very different perspective. Well-groomed people gather on bicycles and e-vehicles, purchasing western-style baguettes and breakfast items and having coffee on a patio near a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This represents a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and budget beverage that sustains the neighborhood.

"This isn't improvement for our community," explains the protester. "This constitutes a huge property transaction that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the government head – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Even as administrative bodies labels it a partnership, the corporation paid a significant amount for its majority share. A lawsuit claiming that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the developer is under review in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to actively protest the project, protesters and community members claim they have been faced ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – involving communications, clear intimidation and implications that opposing the project was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by people they assert work for the business conglomerate.

Among those suspected of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c