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Over an extended period, coercive messages continued. At first, allegedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, and then from the police themselves. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was ordered to the police station and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is among those fighting a expensive initiative where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be demolished and modernized by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of Dharavi is exceptional in the planet," explains Shaikh. "Yet they want to dismantle our social fabric and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that loom over the settlement. Homes are assembled randomly and often lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the air is saturated with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and residences with proper sanitation is an optimistic future come true.

"We don't have proper healthcare, proper streets or drainage and there are no spaces for children to play," explains a chai seller, in his fifties, who relocated from southern India in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Community Resistance

But others, such as Shaikh, are resisting the project.

None deny that this community, consistently overlooked as informal housing, is in stark need financial support and improvement. However they worry that this initiative – without community input – could potentially turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, forcing out the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have lived there since the late 1800s.

This involved these shunned, relocated individuals who built up the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and economic productivity, whose output is worth between $1m and a substantial sum a year, making it a major informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about one million residents living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer zone, a minority will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the development, which is expected to take a significant period to accomplish. Additional residents will be relocated to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the far outskirts of the city, potentially fragment a historic social network. A portion will be denied housing at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be provided flats in multi-story structures, a substantial change from the evolved, communal way of living and working that has maintained this area for many years.

Commercial activities from garment work to pottery and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be moved to a specific "industrial sector" distant from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For those such as this protester, a leather artisan and multi-generational resident to call home this community, the project presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-floor facility produces apparel – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, fashionable garments – marketed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and abroad.

Household members dwells in the spaces below and laborers and tailors – migrants from north India – reside on-site, permitting him to manage costs. Beyond the slum, accommodation prices are often tenfold more expensive for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

Within the official facilities close by, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a contrasting outlook. Well-groomed people move around on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, acquiring international baked goods and breakfast items and having coffee on an outdoor area adjacent to a coffee shop and treat station. It is a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This represents no improvement for us," states Shaikh. "This constitutes an enormous real estate deal that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the development company. Managed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the national leader – the business group has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and questionable practices, which it denies.

Although administrative bodies labels it a partnership, the business group paid $950m for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings stating that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the developer is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to publicly resist the project, local opponents assert they have been faced a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – comprising phone calls, clear intimidation and suggestions that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to opposing national interests – by individuals they claim are associated with the developer.

Among those alleged to have making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c