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For months, intimidating phone calls continued. At first, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, and then from law enforcement directly. Ultimately, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was summoned to the police station and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is one of many resisting a high-value project where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces demolished and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The distinctive community of the slum is unparalleled in the planet," says Shaikh. "Yet their intention is to destroy our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that dominate the settlement. Dwellings are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the air is filled with the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and apartments with two toilets is a hopeful vision come true.

"We lack sufficient health services, roads or sewage systems and there's nowhere for children to play," says a tea vendor, fifty-six, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The single option is to clear the area and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, including Shaikh, are opposing the project.

Everyone acknowledges that the slum, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing financial support and improvement. However they are concerned that this plan – without community input – could potentially turn valuable urban land into a luxury development, forcing out the marginalized, working-class residents who have lived there since generations ago.

It was these marginalized, relocated individuals who developed the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and business activity, whose output is worth between a significant amount and a substantial sum a year, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Displacement Concerns

Of the roughly a million residents living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer zone, fewer than half will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the development, which is expected to take a significant period to complete. Others will be relocated to undeveloped zones and saline fields on the distant periphery of the city, threatening to break up a historic community. A portion will be denied residences at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a major break from the natural, communal way of living and working that has maintained Dharavi for many years.

Commercial activities from clothing production to ceramic crafts and waste processing are projected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a designated "industrial sector" separated from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a leather artisan and long-time of his family to live in the slum, the plan presents a survival challenge. His rickety, three-floor operation produces leather coats – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, studded bomber jackets – distributed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and internationally.

His family lives in the spaces below and his workers and sewers – laborers from other states – live on-site, permitting him to sustain operations. Away from the slum, Mumbai rents are often 10 times more expensive for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

At the government offices nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan depicts a contrasting vision for the future. Slickly dressed inhabitants gather on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, buying continental bread and pastries and having coffee on a terrace adjacent to a coffee shop and treat station. It is a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that supports the neighborhood.

"This represents no progress for residents," states the protester. "This constitutes a huge real estate deal that will render it impossible for us to survive."

There is also concern of the business conglomerate. Managed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and an associate of the government head – the corporation has encountered allegations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it denies.

Even as the state government calls it a joint project, the developer paid a significant amount for its majority share. A lawsuit stating that the project was improperly granted to the business group is being considered in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to vocally oppose the development, local opponents claim they have been subjected to an extended period of pressure and threats – including messages, direct threats and insinuations that opposing the project was tantamount to speaking against the country – by individuals they assert work for the developer.

Among those accused of making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c