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Over an extended period, threatening communications persisted. Initially, reportedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, later from the authorities. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was called to the police station and warned explicitly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is one of many opposing a high-value initiative where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a large business group.

"The culture of this area is exceptional in the world," says Shaikh. "However their intention is to dismantle our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of the slum sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the settlement. Dwellings are assembled randomly and typically without proper sanitation, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the air is filled with the suffocating smell of uncovered waste channels.

Among some individuals, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of luxury high-rises, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and homes with multiple bathrooms is an optimistic future achieved.

"There's no proper healthcare, paved pathways or water management and there are no spaces for children to play," explains A Selvin Nadar, 56, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The only way is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, like Shaikh, are fighting against the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they fear that this plan – without public consultation – might transform premium city property into a luxury development, evicting the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

It was these marginalized, displaced people who built up the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is estimated at between a significant amount and $2m a year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly 1 million people living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, fewer than half will be qualified for replacement housing in the development, which is projected to take a significant period to accomplish. Additional residents will be transferred to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the remote edges of the city, risking break up a generations-old community. Some will be denied housing at all.

Residents permitted to stay in Dharavi will be given flats in high-rise buildings, a significant rupture from the organic, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has sustained this area for so long.

Commercial activities from garment work to pottery and recycling are likely to shrink in number and be moved to an allocated "industrial sector" distant from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like Shaikh, a workshop owner and multi-generational of his family to reside in the slum, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-storey facility makes apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – marketed in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and overseas.

His family dwells in the spaces below and employees and tailors – laborers from north India – live on-site, permitting him to afford their labour. Outside Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently significantly more expensive for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

In the official facilities nearby, a conceptual model of the redevelopment plan illustrates a contrasting perspective. Fashionable people gather on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, buying continental baguettes and pastries and enlisting beverages on a patio adjacent to a restaurant and treat station. This represents a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no progress for our community," says the protester. "It represents a massive property transaction that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also skepticism of the business conglomerate. Run by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the government head – the corporation has encountered allegations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While the state government labels it a partnership, the corporation contributed nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the initiative was improperly granted to the developer is being considered in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to actively protest the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents claim they have been faced ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – comprising phone calls, direct threats and implications that criticizing the initiative was equivalent to speaking against the country – by individuals they allege are associated with the business conglomerate.

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