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Across several weeks, threatening phone calls continued. Originally, supposedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, and then from law enforcement directly. In the end, one resident states he was summoned to the police station and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is one of many opposing a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – faces bulldozed and transformed by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is like nowhere else in the planet," states the protester. "However their intention is to eradicate our way of life and silence our voices."

Opposing Environments

The cramped lanes of the slum sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and elite residences that overshadow the settlement. Residences are constructed informally and often missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the environment is filled with the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

Among some individuals, the vision of the slum's redevelopment into a developed area of premium apartments, neat parks, contemporary malls and homes with two toilets is an aspirational dream realized.

"There's no proper healthcare, roads or water management and there's nowhere for youth to recreate," says A Selvin Nadar, 56, who moved from his home state in the early eighties. "The single option is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, such as Shaikh, are opposing the project.

None deny that the slum, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. However they fear that this initiative – lacking public consultation – could potentially convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, forcing out the lower-caste, immigrant populations who have lived there since the nineteenth century.

It was these shunned, migrant workers who built up the empty marshland into an extensively researched phenomenon of community resilience and commercial output, whose production is valued at between $1m and two million dollars annually, making it one of the world's largest unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Out of about 1 million inhabitants living in the crowded sprawling area, a minority will be able for replacement housing in the development, which is projected to take an extended timeframe to finish. The remainder will be moved to barren areas and saline fields on the distant periphery of the city, risking fragment a long-established social network. Some will not get homes at all.

People eligible to stay in the area will be allocated flats in tower blocks, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of residing and operating that has maintained Dharavi for many years.

Commercial activities from tailoring to ceramic crafts and material recovery are projected to shrink in number and be transferred to a specific "business area" separated from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For those such as the leather artisan, a leather artisan and third generation of his family to reside in this community, the plan presents an existential threat. His informal, multi-level operation makes garments – tailored coats, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and internationally.

His family lives in the rooms underneath and employees and tailors – laborers from different regions – live there, allowing him to sustain operations. Beyond the slum, housing costs are often tenfold as high for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

At the government offices nearby, a visual representation of the transformation initiative illustrates a contrasting outlook. Slickly dressed inhabitants mill about on bicycles and e-vehicles, purchasing western-style baked goods and pastries and having coffee on a terrace outside a coffee shop and treat station. It is a world away from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that sustains Dharavi's community.

"This is not improvement for us," states the artisan. "It represents a huge land development that will render it impossible for our community to continue."

Furthermore, there's concern of the business conglomerate. Headed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a close ally of the government head – the business group has been subject to claims of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

While the state government describes it as a joint project, the developer contributed a significant amount for its majority share. A lawsuit claiming that the project was unfairly awarded to the developer is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Sustained Harassment

From when they initiated to actively protest the development, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been faced a long-running campaign of pressure and threats – involving communications, clear intimidation and implications that opposing the project was equivalent to opposing national interests – by figures they assert are associated with the developer.

Among those alleged to have making intimidations is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c