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Across several weeks, threatening communications recurred. Originally, allegedly from a former police officer and an ex-military commander, subsequently from the police themselves. Finally, Mohammad Khurshid Shaikh asserts he was ordered to the police station and instructed bluntly: remain silent or encounter real trouble.

This third-generation resident is one of many opposing a high-value project where one of India's largest slums – a massive informal community with rich history – is scheduled to be bulldozed and transformed by a corporate giant.

"The culture of the slum is like nowhere else in the world," says the protester. "However the plan aims to eradicate our community and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The dank gullies of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the towering buildings and Bollywood penthouses that overshadow the neighborhood. Homes are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is permeated by the overpowering odor of open sewers.

For certain residents, the prospect of the slum's redevelopment into a glistening neighborhood of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, modern retail complexes and apartments with two toilets is an optimistic future achieved.

"We don't have proper healthcare, paved pathways or sewage systems and there are no spaces for kids to enjoy," explains A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in 1982. "The single option is to tear it all down and build us new homes."

Community Resistance

But others, like this protester, are fighting against the plan.

None deny that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need investment and development. But they are concerned that this initiative – absent of resident participation – could potentially turn premium city property into a playground for the rich, displacing the marginalized, immigrant populations who have been there since generations ago.

These were these excluded, relocated individuals who developed the empty marshland into a frequently examined example of self-reliance and business activity, whose production is worth between $1m and $2m annually, making it among the globe's biggest unregulated sectors.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately 1 million people living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, fewer than half will be able for new homes in the project, which is expected to take seven years to finish. The remainder will be transferred to wastelands and saline fields on the far outskirts of Mumbai, threatening to divide a long-established social network. Some will receive no homes at all.

Those allowed to remain in the area will be allocated apartments in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the evolved, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has maintained this area for many years.

Commercial activities from garment work to pottery and waste processing are expected to decrease in quantity and be transferred to an allocated "industrial sector" separated from people's residences.

Existential Threat

For those such as this protester, a leather artisan and multi-generational resident to reside in the slum, the project presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, three-floor workshop creates apparel – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – distributed in high-end shops in south Mumbai and abroad.

Relatives dwells in the accommodations underneath and laborers and sewers – laborers from different regions – live there, enabling him to afford their labour. Outside the slum, accommodation prices are typically tenfold costlier for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

Within the official facilities nearby, a visual representation of the transformation initiative illustrates a very different perspective. Well-groomed inhabitants mill about on bicycles and e-vehicles, purchasing continental baked goods and pastries and enlisting beverages on a terrace outside Dharavi Cafe and Ice-Cream. It is a stark contrast from the 20-rupee idli sambar first meal and budget beverage that supports local residents.

"This represents no improvement for us," says the protester. "This constitutes a huge land development that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

There is also skepticism of the business conglomerate. Headed by a powerful tycoon – among the country's wealthiest and a supporter of the Indian prime minister – the business group has faced accusations of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it rejects.

While the state government calls it a collaborative effort, the developer paid a significant amount for its 80% stake. A lawsuit alleging that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the corporation is pending in India's supreme court.

Continued Intimidation

Since they began to publicly resist the development, local opponents state they have been subjected to ongoing efforts of pressure and threats – including phone calls, direct threats and suggestions that speaking against the development was comparable with speaking against the country – by people they claim represent the corporate group.

Included in these suspected of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c