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Across several weeks, threatening messages persisted. At first, supposedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, subsequently from law enforcement directly. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was ordered to the police station and instructed bluntly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

Shaikh is among those fighting a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where this historic settlement – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – is scheduled to be bulldozed and transformed by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is exceptional in the world," states Shaikh. "Yet the plan aims to eradicate our community and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The cramped lanes of this community stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that loom over the neighborhood. Homes are constructed informally and frequently missing basic amenities, informal businesses release harmful emissions and the environment is permeated by the unpleasant stench of uncovered waste channels.

To some, the prospect of a renewed Dharavi into a glistening neighborhood of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and homes with proper sanitation is an aspirational dream realized.

"We don't have proper healthcare, proper streets or water management and there's nowhere for children to play," explains a chai seller, in his fifties, who moved from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

Yet certain residents, such as this protester, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that Dharavi, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. However they fear that this plan – absent of resident participation – might turn valuable urban land into an elite enclave, displacing the disadvantaged, working-class residents who have resided there since generations ago.

This involved these excluded, migrant workers who established the vacant wetlands into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and commercial output, whose output is valued at between $1m and $2m a year, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately 1 million inhabitants living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer zone, fewer than half will be qualified for replacement housing in the redevelopment, which is projected to take a significant period to accomplish. Others will be relocated to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the far outskirts of the city, threatening to divide a generations-old neighborhood. Certain individuals will not get residences at all.

Residents permitted to stay in the area will be allocated flats in multi-story structures, a significant rupture from the organic, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has supported the community for many years.

Businesses from tailoring to clay work and recycling are projected to shrink in number and be transferred to a specific "commercial zone" distant from homes.

Survival Challenge

In the case of the leather artisan, a leather artisan and long-time of his family to reside in Dharavi, the redevelopment presents a survival challenge. His makeshift, multi-level facility makes garments – sharp blazers, suede trenches, fashionable garments – distributed in premium stores in south Mumbai and abroad.

Relatives lives in the rooms downstairs and laborers and tailors – laborers from north India – live in the same building, allowing him to manage costs. Outside this community, housing costs are often significantly costlier for minimal space.

Threats and Warning

At the administrative buildings in the vicinity, a conceptual model of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative vision for the future. Slickly dressed people gather on cycles and eco-friendly transport, purchasing western-style baked goods and breakfast items and having coffee on an outdoor area outside a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. This depicts a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This isn't improvement for residents," states Shaikh. "This constitutes a huge land development that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

There is also skepticism of the development company. Headed by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and a supporter of the national leader – the business group has faced accusations of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it denies.

Even as administrative bodies calls it a collaborative effort, the business group contributed a significant amount for its controlling interest. Legal proceedings alleging that the initiative was improperly granted to the developer is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to publicly resist the redevelopment, local opponents state they have been experienced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – including phone calls, clear intimidation and suggestions that opposing the development was comparable with anti-national sentiment – by figures they assert are associated with the developer.

Among those suspected of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c