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Across several weeks, threatening messages recurred. Initially, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, subsequently from the authorities. Ultimately, one resident claims he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: keep quiet or experience severe repercussions.

Shaikh is one of many resisting a high-value initiative where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – faces demolished and transformed by a large business group.

"The culture of this area is like nowhere else in the globe," states the resident. "Yet they want to destroy our community and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The narrow alleys of this community sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and elite residences that loom over the settlement. Dwellings are constructed informally and often without proper sanitation, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the air is saturated with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of high-end towers, neat parks, contemporary malls and homes with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream come true.

"We don't have adequate medical facilities, proper streets or sewage systems and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who relocated from southern India in that period. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and build us new homes."

Resident Opposition

But others, including the leather artisan, are opposing the redevelopment.

Everyone acknowledges that this community, long neglected as informal housing, is urgently needing investment and development. Yet they fear that this initiative – without community input – is one that will transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into an elite enclave, forcing out the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have been there since the late 1800s.

It was these shunned, relocated individuals who established the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and economic productivity, whose production is valued at between a significant amount and a substantial sum annually, making it among the globe's biggest unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Among approximately a million people living in the crowded 2.2 square kilometer neighborhood, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take seven years to accomplish. The remainder will be relocated to wastelands and coastal regions on the far outskirts of the city, threatening to divide a historic social network. Certain individuals will receive no residences at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the neighborhood will be given units in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the evolved, communal way of living and working that has supported Dharavi for generations.

Commercial activities from garment work to clay work and recycling are expected to shrink in number and be transferred to a specific "industrial sector" separated from people's residences.

Survival Challenge

For those such as this protester, a craftsman and third generation resident to reside in this community, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-floor facility makes apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and overseas.

Relatives dwells in the rooms below and laborers and garment workers – migrants from different regions – also sleep there, enabling him to sustain operations. Away from Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are typically significantly more expensive for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

Within the official facilities nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project illustrates an alternative outlook. Fashionable people mill about on cycles and electric vehicles, purchasing continental bread and pastries and socializing on a patio outside Dharavi Cafe and treat station. It is a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that supports the neighborhood.

"This is not progress for residents," explains the artisan. "It's a massive land development that will make it unaffordable for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the corporate group. Run by a prominent businessman – a leading figure and a supporter of the national leader – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Although the state government describes it as a partnership, the developer paid nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the developer is under review in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to vocally oppose the project, protesters and community members assert they have been faced ongoing efforts of harassment and intimidation – involving messages, explicit warnings and implications that criticizing the project was equivalent to speaking against the country – by figures they allege work for the business conglomerate.

Included in these suspected of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c