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Across several weeks, intimidating phone calls continued. At first, reportedly from a retired cop and a retired army general, and then from the police themselves. In the end, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh claims he was summoned to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.

The leather artisan is part of a group opposing a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces bulldozed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The distinctive community of Dharavi is exceptional in the world," says the resident. "However their intention is to dismantle our social fabric and prevent our protests."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of Dharavi sit in stark contrast to the high-rise structures and elite residences that dominate the neighborhood. Residences are built haphazardly and frequently missing basic amenities, informal businesses produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is permeated by the overpowering odor of uncovered waste channels.

Among some individuals, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, contemporary malls and homes with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We lack sufficient health services, paved pathways or sewage systems and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," explains a chai seller, in his fifties, who moved from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The single option is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Resident Opposition

However, some, like Shaikh, are resisting the plan.

None deny that the slum, long neglected as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring investment and development. But they are concerned that this plan – without community input – is one that will convert premium city property into an elite enclave, forcing out the disadvantaged, immigrant populations who have been there since the late 1800s.

These were these marginalized, migrant workers who built up the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of self-reliance and commercial output, whose output is worth between $1m and $2m per year, making it a major informal economies.

Displacement Concerns

Out of about a million people living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer zone, a minority will be eligible for alternative accommodation in the development, which is projected to take seven years to finish. Others will be moved to barren areas and coastal regions on the remote edges of the metropolis, risking divide a long-established social network. Some will receive no residences at all.

People eligible to continue living in the area will be given flats in high-rise buildings, a major break from the organic, collective approach of living and working that has supported the community for so long.

Businesses from garment work to pottery and material recovery are likely to shrink in number and be moved to an allocated "industrial sector" distant from residential areas.

Existential Threat

For residents like Shaikh, a craftsman and third generation resident to reside in this community, the redevelopment presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-floor operation creates leather coats – formal jackets, suede trenches, fashionable garments – marketed in luxury boutiques in south Mumbai and abroad.

His family resides in the rooms downstairs and laborers and garment workers – laborers from north India – also sleep on-site, enabling him to manage costs. Outside Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are often significantly as high for minimal space.

Harassment and Intimidation

At the administrative buildings nearby, a visual representation of the transformation initiative illustrates an alternative outlook. Slickly dressed inhabitants gather on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, buying continental baguettes and croissants and having coffee on a terrace near a restaurant and treat station. This represents a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar first meal and low-cost tea that supports Dharavi's community.

"This represents no development for our community," says the artisan. "This constitutes a huge real estate deal that will price people out for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's skepticism of the development company. Managed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the national leader – the business group has faced accusations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

Although local authorities labels it a collaborative effort, the corporation paid $950m for its 80% stake. A case claiming that the initiative was improperly granted to the business group is pending in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

Since they began to publicly resist the redevelopment, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been faced a long-running campaign of harassment and intimidation – including messages, direct threats and suggestions that criticizing the project was equivalent to opposing national interests – by individuals they allege represent the business conglomerate.

Among those suspected of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c