India, Nov. 4 -- On weekday evenings, the Shaheed Bhagat Singh playground in Kalachowkie comes alive with the crack of bat against ball and the shouts of players. On three makeshift cricket pitches, local lads go at it, as neighbours - many of them seniors - gather around to watch and chat about nothing in particular. It's food for the soul.

Perhaps not for long. The easy camaraderie of Abhyudaya Nagar, a sprawling enclave of dock and mill workers' families and government employees, will soon surrender to a new way of life. An integrated cluster redevelopment project is converting 48 ageing, low-rise buildings into residential high-rises. The neighbourhood's 3,410 families, living in 220-sq ft homes, will get apartments almost three time...