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Over an extended period, threatening messages continued. Initially, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, later from law enforcement directly. In the end, a local artisan states he was summoned to the local precinct and warned explicitly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is part of a group opposing a expensive project where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces razed and redeveloped by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of this area is unparalleled in the world," says Shaikh. "But they want to eradicate our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of the slum present a dramatic difference to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the settlement. Homes are assembled randomly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the air is filled with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

To some, the promise of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and apartments with two toilets is a hopeful vision achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, proper streets or drainage and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," explains a tea vendor, 56, who moved from his home state in that period. "The sole solution is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, like this protester, are opposing the plan.

All recognize that Dharavi, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing investment and development. But they fear that this plan – absent of public consultation – is one that will transform premium city property into a luxury development, evicting the marginalized, working-class residents who have resided there since the late 1800s.

This involved these excluded, relocated individuals who built up the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and business activity, whose economic value is worth between a significant amount and $2m a year, making it a major unregulated sectors.

Resettlement Issues

Of the roughly one million inhabitants living in the dense 220-hectare neighborhood, less than 50% will be eligible for new homes in the redevelopment, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to complete. Others will be relocated to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the far outskirts of the city, risking fragment a generations-old community. Some will receive no housing at all.

Those allowed to remain in Dharavi will be allocated flats in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the evolved, communal way of dwelling and laboring that has supported the community for many years.

Industries from clothing production to clay work and waste processing are expected to reduce in scale and be relocated to an allocated "industrial sector" distant from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a workshop owner and long-time inhabitant to call home Dharavi, the project presents an existential threat. His informal, three-floor workshop produces leather coats – sharp blazers, luxury coats, decorated jackets – sold in premium stores in south Mumbai and overseas.

Relatives resides in the spaces below and laborers and sewers – laborers from north India – live there, permitting him to afford their labour. Away from Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are typically significantly more expensive for basic accommodation.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the official facilities nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the redevelopment plan depicts an alternative vision for the future. Slickly dressed residents gather on bicycles and e-vehicles, acquiring western-style baked goods and croissants and enlisting beverages on a patio outside Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. This represents a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that maintains Dharavi's community.

"This is not progress for our community," says the artisan. "It's an enormous property transaction that will make it unaffordable for residents to remain."

Additionally, there exists concern of the development company. Run by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the business group has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it denies.

While administrative bodies calls it a partnership, the corporation contributed a significant amount for its 80% stake. A case claiming that the project was questionably assigned to the corporation is under review in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to publicly resist the development, Shaikh and other residents state they have been experienced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – including communications, clear intimidation and implications that speaking against the project was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by people they allege are associated with the developer.

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