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For months, threatening communications continued. Initially, reportedly from an ex-law enforcement official and a retired army general, subsequently from law enforcement directly. In the end, one resident claims he was called to the local precinct and told clearly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is part of a group resisting a expensive redevelopment plan where Dharavi – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces demolished and modernized by a corporate giant.

"The unique ecosystem of Dharavi is exceptional in the planet," says Shaikh. "Yet the plan aims to eradicate our community and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of this community present a dramatic difference to the soaring skyscrapers and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the area. Dwellings are assembled randomly and frequently without proper sanitation, small-scale operations release harmful emissions and the atmosphere is filled with the suffocating smell of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and homes with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream achieved.

"There's no proper healthcare, proper streets or sewage systems and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," states A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The single option is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

However, some, including the leather artisan, are opposing the redevelopment.

All recognize that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need economic input and modernization. However they fear that this project – lacking community input – is one that will turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a playground for the rich, evicting the lower-caste, working-class residents who have lived there since the late 1800s.

These were these shunned, displaced people who built up the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of community resilience and business activity, whose output is valued at between $1m and $2m a year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Out of about one million inhabitants living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, a minority will be eligible for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is projected to take seven years to accomplish. The remainder will be relocated to wastelands and saline fields on the remote edges of the metropolis, potentially break up a historic social network. Some will be denied homes at all.

Residents permitted to stay in Dharavi will be given units in multi-story structures, a major break from the evolved, collective approach of residing and operating that has supported this area for so long.

Industries from clothing production to clay work and material recovery are projected to shrink in number and be transferred to an allocated "industrial sector" separated from homes.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like this protester, a craftsman and third generation inhabitant to call home Dharavi, the plan presents a survival challenge. His informal, three-storey workshop makes garments – formal jackets, luxury coats, fashionable garments – marketed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and overseas.

Relatives lives in the rooms underneath and laborers and garment workers – migrants from north India – live in the same building, permitting him to manage costs. Outside Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are typically tenfold more expensive for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings nearby, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project depicts a contrasting vision for the future. Well-groomed residents move around on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing western-style baguettes and croissants and having coffee on an outdoor area outside a coffee shop and treat station. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not improvement for residents," says the artisan. "This constitutes a massive real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the corporate group. Managed by a prominent businessman – among the country's wealthiest and a close ally of the national leader – the corporation has faced accusations of preferential treatment and questionable practices, which it disputes.

While local authorities calls it a partnership, the business group paid $950m for its majority share. A lawsuit alleging that the initiative was improperly granted to the business group is being considered in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

From when they initiated to actively protest the development, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been experienced an extended period of pressure and threats – comprising messages, direct threats and suggestions that criticizing the development was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by people they assert represent the business conglomerate.

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