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Across several weeks, coercive phone calls recurred. At first, supposedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a former defense officer, and then from the authorities. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh states he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and warned explicitly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is among those resisting a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be demolished and transformed by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is exceptional in the planet," explains Shaikh. "Yet their intention is to eradicate our way of life and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of Dharavi present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and Bollywood penthouses that loom over the area. Residences are assembled randomly and often lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the environment is filled with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

Among some individuals, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and residences with multiple bathrooms is an aspirational dream come true.

"We lack sufficient health services, proper streets or water management and we have no places for youth to recreate," says a chai seller, 56, who moved from southern India in 1982. "The only way is to clear the area and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, including the leather artisan, are fighting against the redevelopment.

All recognize that this community, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. Yet they worry that this project – lacking public consultation – could potentially turn valuable urban land into an elite enclave, evicting the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since the nineteenth century.

It was these excluded, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into an extensively researched phenomenon of self-reliance and economic productivity, whose production is valued at between one million dollars and $2m annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Of the roughly one million inhabitants living in the dense 2.2 square kilometer zone, less than 50% will be able for alternative accommodation in the redevelopment, which is expected to take a significant period to complete. The remainder will be moved to barren areas and salt plains on the distant periphery of Mumbai, threatening to fragment a historic neighborhood. A portion will not get housing at all.

People eligible to remain in Dharavi will be provided flats in high-rise buildings, a major break from the organic, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has sustained this area for so long.

Commercial activities from tailoring to ceramic crafts and waste processing are projected to decrease in quantity and be transferred to a specific "commercial zone" distant from residential areas.

Existential Threat

In the case of the leather artisan, a workshop owner and long-time inhabitant to call home this community, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, three-floor workshop creates apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, studded bomber jackets – distributed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and overseas.

Household members resides in the spaces underneath and his workers and sewers – migrants from different regions – also sleep in the same building, enabling him to sustain operations. Beyond the slum, Mumbai rents are typically significantly costlier for a single room.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the government offices in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a very different outlook. Slickly dressed inhabitants move around on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, purchasing international baguettes and croissants and socializing on an outdoor area outside a restaurant and treat station. This depicts a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains local residents.

"This is not development for residents," states Shaikh. "This constitutes an enormous property transaction that will price people out for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's distrust of the corporate group. Managed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the national leader – the conglomerate has been subject to claims of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Although local authorities describes it as a collaborative effort, the business group contributed nearly a billion dollars for its majority share. A case claiming that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the business group is being considered in the top court.

Sustained Harassment

Since they began to vocally oppose the project, local opponents assert they have been faced a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – involving phone calls, direct threats and insinuations that opposing the initiative was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by people they assert are associated with the business conglomerate.

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