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Over an extended period, coercive communications continued. Initially, allegedly from an ex-law enforcement official and an ex-military commander, later from the authorities. In the end, a local artisan claims he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

Shaikh is among those fighting a high-value redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – a massive informal community with rich history – will be demolished and modernized by a large business group.

"The culture of this area is like nowhere else in the world," says Shaikh. "However the plan aims to dismantle our community and silence our voices."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that overshadow the settlement. Dwellings are built haphazardly and frequently lacking adequate facilities, unregulated industries release harmful emissions and the air is filled with the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

For certain residents, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of luxury high-rises, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and homes with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We lack sufficient health services, proper streets or sewage systems and there's nowhere for children to play," says A Selvin Nadar, fifty-six, who moved from his home state in that period. "The single option is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, such as Shaikh, are fighting against the project.

None deny that this community, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need economic input and modernization. But they worry that this plan – lacking resident participation – could potentially convert 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 nineteenth century.

It was these marginalized, displaced people who developed the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and commercial output, whose output is estimated at between $1m and a substantial sum per year, making it one of the world's largest informal economies.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately one million inhabitants living in the crowded 220-hectare area, a minority will be able for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is estimated to take a significant period to accomplish. The remainder will be transferred to barren areas and saline fields on the far outskirts of the metropolis, potentially fragment a generations-old community. Certain individuals will be denied homes at all.

People eligible to continue living in the area will be allocated flats in multi-story structures, a substantial change from the natural, communal way of living and working that has sustained the community for so long.

Businesses from garment work to pottery and material recovery are expected to reduce in scale and be transferred to a designated "business area" distant from homes.

Existential Threat

In the case of the leather artisan, a workshop owner and multi-generational of his family to call home Dharavi, the redevelopment presents an existential threat. His rickety, three-floor facility makes leather coats – sharp blazers, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – distributed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and overseas.

His family lives in the spaces below and employees and garment workers – laborers from other states – live on-site, permitting him to manage costs. Beyond the slum, accommodation prices are frequently 10 times costlier for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

At the administrative buildings close by, a conceptual model of the Dharavi project shows a very different perspective. Slickly dressed residents mill about on cycles and e-vehicles, purchasing international bread and pastries and socializing on a terrace near Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. It is a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and 5-rupee chai that sustains the neighborhood.

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

There is also distrust of the corporate group. Headed by a powerful tycoon – a leading figure and a close ally of the government head – the corporation has been subject to claims of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

Although administrative bodies describes it as a joint project, the developer paid $950m for its majority share. A case claiming that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is pending in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to vocally oppose the project, Shaikh and other residents state they have been faced a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – including phone calls, explicit warnings and insinuations that speaking against the project was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by figures they claim represent the business conglomerate.

Included in these accused of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c