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Over an extended period, coercive phone calls recurred. Initially, allegedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, later from the police themselves. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was ordered to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is one of many opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – will be bulldozed and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is unparalleled in the planet," explains the resident. "However the plan aims to destroy our way of life and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of the slum sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that loom over the neighborhood. Residences are assembled randomly and often without proper sanitation, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the air is permeated by the suffocating smell of open sewers.

To some, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and residences with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, roads or water management and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," says A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who migrated from his home state in the early eighties. "The single option is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

However, some, including this protester, are resisting the project.

All recognize that this community, long neglected as informal housing, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. However they are concerned that this plan – without community input – might convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, displacing the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since generations ago.

This involved these excluded, relocated individuals who developed the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of community resilience and business activity, whose production is worth between a significant amount and a substantial sum annually, making it among the globe's biggest unofficial markets.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately 1 million inhabitants living in the packed sprawling neighborhood, fewer than half will be qualified for new homes in the project, which is expected to take seven years to accomplish. The remainder will be transferred to barren areas and saline fields on the far outskirts of the metropolis, potentially break up a historic social network. Certain individuals will receive no homes at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the area will be provided units in tower blocks, a major break from the natural, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has supported Dharavi for so long.

Industries from tailoring to clay work and material recovery are likely to shrink in number and be transferred to an allocated "commercial zone" distant from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

For residents like this protester, a workshop owner and third generation resident to reside in this community, the project presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-floor facility makes leather coats – sharp blazers, luxury coats, fashionable garments – marketed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

Relatives dwells in the rooms below and his workers and sewers – migrants from north India – reside on-site, allowing him to afford their labour. Away from this community, housing costs are frequently significantly costlier for basic accommodation.

Threats and Warning

At the administrative buildings in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows an alternative vision for the future. Fashionable inhabitants gather on cycles and e-vehicles, purchasing international bread and pastries and socializing on a terrace adjacent to a coffee shop and dessert parlor. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This isn't improvement for our community," states Shaikh. "It's a massive property transaction that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

There is also skepticism of the corporate group. Run by an influential industrialist – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the government head – the corporation has been subject to claims of favoritism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Even as the state government labels it a partnership, the corporation paid a significant amount for its controlling interest. A case alleging that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the developer is pending in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to publicly resist the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents claim they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – comprising communications, direct threats and suggestions that speaking against the development was tantamount to speaking against the country – by people they claim work for the developer.

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