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Across several weeks, threatening phone calls recurred. Originally, reportedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, later from law enforcement directly. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was called to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is one of many fighting a high-value redevelopment plan where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be razed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is like nowhere else in the globe," states the protester. "But the plan aims to dismantle our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The narrow alleys of the slum present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that loom over the area. Dwellings are constructed informally and often without proper sanitation, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the environment is permeated by the suffocating smell of open sewers.

For certain residents, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a modern district of high-end towers, neat parks, contemporary malls and homes with proper sanitation is a hopeful vision come true.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, paved pathways or drainage and we have no places for children to play," says a chai seller, in his fifties, who relocated from his home state in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, like Shaikh, are opposing the plan.

Everyone acknowledges that Dharavi, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. But they worry that this plan – absent of public consultation – might turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, forcing out the marginalized, working-class residents who have lived there since generations ago.

These were these excluded, displaced people who built up the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and commercial output, whose output is valued at between a significant amount and two million dollars per year, making it a major informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly one million residents living in the crowded 220-hectare zone, a minority will be able for replacement housing in the project, which is projected to take a significant period to complete. Others will be moved to wastelands and saline fields on the far outskirts of the metropolis, risking fragment a generations-old neighborhood. Some will receive no housing at all.

Residents permitted to remain in Dharavi will be provided flats in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the organic, communal way of living and working that has supported Dharavi for many years.

Commercial activities from garment work to pottery and material recovery are likely to decrease in quantity and be moved to an allocated "industrial sector" distant from residential areas.

Existential Threat

For those such as this protester, a workshop owner and third generation resident to call home this community, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-storey workshop creates garments – sharp blazers, suede trenches, fashionable garments – sold in premium stores in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

Household members dwells in the accommodations downstairs and employees and sewers – migrants from north India – reside on-site, permitting him to sustain operations. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are often significantly more expensive for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative vision for the future. Fashionable inhabitants move around on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, purchasing continental baguettes and pastries and having coffee on an outdoor area near Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. This represents a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and budget beverage that supports Dharavi's community.

"This isn't progress for us," explains the artisan. "This constitutes a massive property transaction that will render it impossible for residents to remain."

Furthermore, there's concern of the development company. Headed by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and an associate of the government head – the business group has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it disputes.

Even as the state government labels it a collaborative effort, the developer paid nearly a billion dollars for its controlling interest. A case alleging that the project was improperly granted to the business group is under review in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to publicly resist the redevelopment, protesters and community members state they have been faced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – including phone calls, clear intimidation and implications that criticizing the development was equivalent to opposing national interests – by figures they claim are associated with the corporate group.

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