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For months, intimidating messages recurred. At first, allegedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, and then from law enforcement directly. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was called to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is among those fighting a multimillion-dollar project where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – will be bulldozed and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is like nowhere else in the world," says Shaikh. "However the plan aims to destroy our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of the slum stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and elite residences that loom over the neighborhood. Residences are built haphazardly and typically without proper sanitation, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the air is filled with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and apartments with two toilets is an optimistic future achieved.

"There's no adequate medical facilities, proper streets or drainage and there's nowhere for children to play," says a tea vendor, fifty-six, who moved from southern India in that period. "The single option is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

But others, such as this protester, are fighting against the project.

All recognize that the slum, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring economic input and modernization. But they worry that this project – without resident participation – might convert premium city property into a playground for the rich, forcing out the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have resided there since generations ago.

These were these shunned, relocated individuals who developed the vacant wetlands into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose production is worth between $1m and a substantial sum a year, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly 1 million residents living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the development, which is expected to take seven years to complete. The remainder will be relocated to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the distant periphery of the city, threatening to fragment a long-established neighborhood. Certain individuals will not get residences at all.

Those allowed to stay in Dharavi will be given apartments in high-rise buildings, a major break from the natural, collective approach of residing and operating that has sustained Dharavi for many years.

Businesses from tailoring to pottery and waste processing are expected to shrink in number and be transferred to a designated "industrial sector" separated from people's residences.

Existential Threat

In the case of Shaikh, a craftsman and multi-generational of his family to live in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, three-storey workshop produces apparel – formal jackets, suede trenches, fashionable garments – distributed in luxury boutiques in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

His family lives in the rooms below and laborers and garment workers – workers from other states – live in the same building, enabling him to sustain operations. Away from Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently tenfold more expensive for a single room.

Threats and Warning

Within the government offices close by, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project illustrates an alternative perspective. Fashionable residents gather on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, buying continental baguettes and breakfast items and socializing on a terrace outside a restaurant and treat station. This depicts a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that sustains the neighborhood.

"This is not improvement for residents," states the artisan. "This constitutes a huge property transaction that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

Additionally, there exists concern of the development company. Headed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the corporation has faced accusations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

While administrative bodies calls it a collaborative effort, the corporation contributed $950m for its majority share. A lawsuit claiming that the redevelopment was questionably assigned to the corporation is under review in the nation's highest judicial body.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to publicly resist the project, protesters and community members assert they have been faced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – involving messages, explicit warnings and suggestions that criticizing the project was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by people they allege represent the business conglomerate.

Part of the group accused of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c