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Over an extended period, threatening phone calls recurred. Originally, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, subsequently from the police themselves. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is part of a group opposing a expensive initiative where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The culture of this area is unparalleled in the globe," says the resident. "However their intention is to eradicate our social fabric and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and luxury apartments that dominate the settlement. Dwellings are assembled randomly and frequently missing basic amenities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is saturated with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of luxury high-rises, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and apartments with multiple bathrooms is a hopeful vision achieved.

"We lack sufficient health services, roads or sewage systems and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," says a chai seller, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The only way is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Local Protest

But others, such as Shaikh, are fighting against the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, long neglected as informal housing, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. However they are concerned that this project – lacking public consultation – could potentially turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, forcing out the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have lived there since the nineteenth century.

These were these excluded, migrant workers who established the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose output is estimated at between $1m and a substantial sum per year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly one million inhabitants living in the crowded sprawling zone, fewer than half will be able for alternative accommodation in the development, which is projected to take seven years to accomplish. Additional residents will be transferred to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the distant periphery of the city, risking divide a historic neighborhood. Some will not get residences at all.

Residents permitted to remain in Dharavi will be provided units in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the natural, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has maintained Dharavi for so long.

Industries from tailoring to clay work and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be moved to a designated "industrial sector" far from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

In the case of Shaikh, a leather artisan and third generation inhabitant to reside in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-floor operation creates garments – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – distributed in premium stores in south Mumbai and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the spaces below and his workers and sewers – laborers from different regions – reside there, allowing him to manage costs. Outside the slum, accommodation prices are typically tenfold costlier for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the government offices in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project shows a very different outlook. Slickly dressed residents mill about on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, buying western-style bread and croissants and enlisting beverages on a patio adjacent to a restaurant and Ice-Cream. This represents a stark contrast from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for residents," explains the artisan. "It's a massive land development that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

There is also skepticism of the development company. Headed by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and a close ally of the government head – the business group has faced accusations of crony capitalism and questionable practices, which it disputes.

Although local authorities describes it as a joint project, the corporation paid nearly a billion dollars for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the corporation is pending in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to publicly resist the development, local opponents assert they have been experienced an extended period of coercion and warning – including communications, clear intimidation and suggestions that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they claim work for the developer.

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