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Across several weeks, coercive communications continued. Originally, reportedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, later from the police themselves. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was summoned to the local precinct and told clearly: stop speaking out or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is one of many fighting a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be razed and modernized by a large business group.

"The culture of the slum is unparalleled in the world," explains Shaikh. "Yet they want to dismantle our social fabric and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and elite residences that loom over the neighborhood. Homes are built haphazardly and often lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the air is permeated by the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, neat parks, contemporary malls and apartments with two toilets is an optimistic future realized.

"There's no proper healthcare, paved pathways or sewage systems and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," states a chai seller, 56, who moved from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The single option is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

However, some, such as this protester, are resisting the project.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, historically ignored as informal housing, is desperately requiring investment and development. Yet they fear that this plan – lacking resident participation – might turn premium city property into a luxury development, evicting the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have been there since generations ago.

These were these shunned, migrant workers who built up the uninhabited area into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and business activity, whose economic value is valued at between a significant amount and $2m per year, making it a major unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Among approximately 1 million inhabitants living in the crowded sprawling zone, fewer than half will be eligible for new homes in the development, which is expected to take a significant period to complete. Additional residents will be relocated to barren areas and salt plains on the far outskirts of the metropolis, potentially fragment a generations-old neighborhood. A portion will not get residences at all.

People eligible to stay in the area will be given apartments in tower blocks, a major break from the organic, collective approach of living and working that has maintained this area for many years.

Industries from clothing production to ceramic crafts and waste processing are expected to shrink in number and be relocated to a designated "business area" distant from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as Shaikh, a craftsman and multi-generational resident to call home this community, the project presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-floor workshop produces garments – sharp blazers, suede trenches, fashionable garments – sold in high-end shops in south Mumbai and overseas.

Household members lives in the accommodations below and his workers and tailors – migrants from different regions – reside there, permitting him to sustain operations. Outside the slum, housing costs are often tenfold costlier for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

Within the administrative buildings close by, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project depicts an alternative perspective. Slickly dressed residents mill about on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, acquiring western-style bread and pastries and socializing on an outdoor area outside Dharavi Cafe and treat station. This represents a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar breakfast and budget beverage that maintains local residents.

"This is not progress for us," says the protester. "This constitutes an enormous property transaction that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the business conglomerate. Managed by a prominent businessman – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Even as the state government describes it as a joint project, the developer contributed $950m for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the project was improperly granted to the corporation is under review in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to publicly resist the project, local opponents state they have been faced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – comprising phone calls, clear intimidation and suggestions that criticizing the initiative was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by people they claim are associated with the business conglomerate.

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