For months, coercive phone calls continued. At first, reportedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, subsequently from the authorities. Ultimately, one resident states he was ordered to the police station and warned explicitly: keep quiet or encounter real trouble.
Shaikh is among those opposing a expensive redevelopment plan where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – will be razed and redeveloped by a large business group.
"The culture of this area is exceptional in the world," explains the protester. "Yet they want to eradicate our way of life and prevent our protests."
The cramped lanes of Dharavi stand in sharp opposition to the soaring skyscrapers and elite residences that dominate the area. Residences are assembled randomly and frequently missing basic amenities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the environment is permeated by the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.
To some, the promise of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, organized recreational areas, modern retail complexes and apartments with two toilets is an optimistic future come true.
"We don't have sufficient health services, roads or sewage systems and there are no spaces for children to play," states A Selvin Nadar, 56, who moved from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The single option is to clear the area and build us new homes."
However, some, like the leather artisan, are fighting against the project.
None deny that Dharavi, consistently overlooked as unauthorized settlement, is desperately requiring financial support and improvement. Yet they are concerned that this plan – without resident participation – might transform valuable urban land into a playground for the rich, displacing the disadvantaged, migrant communities who have lived there since generations ago.
These were these marginalized, relocated individuals who established the empty marshland into a widely studied marvel of community resilience and commercial output, whose production is worth between $1m and two million dollars annually, making it a major unregulated sectors.
Out of about 1 million people living in the crowded 220-hectare zone, a minority will be qualified for alternative accommodation in the project, which is estimated to take an extended timeframe to accomplish. Others will be transferred to barren areas and saline fields on the distant periphery of the metropolis, potentially fragment a generations-old social network. Some will not get housing at all.
People eligible to stay in the area will be allocated flats in tower blocks, a significant rupture from the evolved, communal way of living and working that has sustained Dharavi for many years.
Industries from garment work to pottery and waste processing are likely to shrink in number and be moved to an allocated "industrial sector" far from residential areas.
In the case of Shaikh, a craftsman and third generation resident to live in this community, the project presents a fundamental risk. His makeshift, multi-level facility produces garments – formal jackets, suede trenches, decorated jackets – distributed in high-end shops in the city's affluent areas and abroad.
Relatives resides in the rooms underneath and employees and tailors – laborers from north India – reside on-site, allowing him to manage costs. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently 10 times more expensive for basic accommodation.
In the administrative buildings close by, a visual representation of the transformation initiative illustrates a very different perspective. Slickly dressed inhabitants gather on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, purchasing international bread and croissants and socializing on an outdoor area near a coffee shop and treat station. It is a complete departure from the affordable idli sambar breakfast and budget beverage that supports Dharavi's community.
"This represents no improvement for us," states the artisan. "It's a massive property transaction that will price people out for residents to remain."
Furthermore, there's concern of the development company. Managed by a powerful tycoon – one of India's most powerful and an associate of the national leader – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it rejects.
While administrative bodies describes it as a joint project, the developer contributed a significant amount for its majority share. A case alleging that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is being considered in the top court.
After they started to publicly resist the project, local opponents assert they have been faced an extended period of harassment and intimidation – comprising phone calls, explicit warnings and suggestions that criticizing the initiative was equivalent to speaking against the country – by figures they allege represent the corporate group.
Among those accused of issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c
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