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Across several weeks, threatening messages persisted. At first, reportedly from a retired cop and an ex-military commander, later from the police themselves. Finally, a local artisan asserts he was summoned to the local precinct and instructed bluntly: stop speaking out or face serious consequences.

This third-generation resident is among those fighting a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan where Dharavi – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – is scheduled to be razed and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The unique ecosystem of this area is like nowhere else in the planet," explains the resident. "But the plan aims to eradicate our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Dual Worlds

The dank gullies of this community present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and elite residences that loom over the neighborhood. Dwellings are constructed informally and often missing basic amenities, small-scale operations emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is permeated by the overpowering odor of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the vision of Dharavi transformed into a developed area of luxury high-rises, neat parks, shiny shopping centers and apartments with two toilets is a hopeful vision come true.

"There's no proper healthcare, paved pathways or drainage and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," says A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The single option is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

Yet certain residents, including this protester, are resisting the plan.

All recognize that the slum, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. But they fear that this project – without public consultation – might convert a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, forcing out the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since the late 1800s.

This involved these excluded, migrant workers who established the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of community resilience and commercial output, whose economic value is estimated at between a significant amount and two million dollars per year, making it a major informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Among approximately a million residents living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer zone, fewer than half will be able for replacement housing in the development, which is projected to take seven years to accomplish. Additional residents will be moved to wastelands and saline fields on the far outskirts of the city, potentially break up a historic neighborhood. Some will receive no residences at all.

People eligible to continue living in Dharavi will be provided flats in high-rise buildings, a substantial change from the organic, shared lifestyle of living and working that has sustained the community for so long.

Industries from garment work to ceramic crafts and material recovery are likely to decrease in quantity and be transferred to a specific "commercial zone" separated from people's residences.

Livelihood Crisis

For those such as the leather artisan, a leather artisan and long-time inhabitant to call home Dharavi, the project presents a fundamental risk. His rickety, multi-level workshop makes leather coats – tailored coats, suede trenches, decorated jackets – sold in premium stores in south Mumbai and internationally.

Relatives lives in the spaces below and laborers and tailors – laborers from north India – reside on-site, enabling him to afford their labour. Beyond Dharavi's enclave, Mumbai rents are frequently significantly costlier for a single room.

Threats and Warning

Within the official facilities in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the Dharavi project shows a very different perspective. Well-groomed people gather on bicycles and eco-friendly transport, buying international bread and breakfast items and having coffee on a patio adjacent to a coffee shop and treat station. It is a complete departure from the 20-rupee idli sambar morning meal and budget beverage that maintains the neighborhood.

"This represents no progress for us," says the artisan. "This constitutes a huge property transaction that will render it impossible for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's distrust of the corporate group. Managed by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and a supporter of the government head – the business group has faced accusations of favoritism and ethical concerns, which it disputes.

Even as local authorities labels it a partnership, the corporation paid $950m for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings stating that the redevelopment was improperly granted to the business group is under review in the top court.

Continued Intimidation

After they started to publicly resist the project, Shaikh and other residents state they have been experienced an extended period of pressure and threats – including phone calls, clear intimidation and implications that opposing the development was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by figures they allege represent the business conglomerate.

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