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For months, threatening phone calls persisted. At first, reportedly from a retired cop and a former defense officer, and then from the authorities. Finally, a local artisan states he was called to the police station and told clearly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

This third-generation resident is one of many fighting a expensive redevelopment plan where one of India's largest slums – an iconic Mumbai neighborhood – faces bulldozed and transformed by a large business group.

"The unique ecosystem of the slum is unparalleled in the world," states Shaikh. "But their intention is to destroy our way of life and prevent our protests."

Contrasting Realities

The narrow alleys of this community present a dramatic difference to the high-rise structures and luxury apartments that loom over the neighborhood. Residences are assembled randomly and typically missing basic amenities, unregulated industries emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is filled with the unpleasant stench of exposed drainage.

For certain residents, the vision of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of premium apartments, well-maintained green spaces, contemporary malls and apartments with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"There's no sufficient health services, paved pathways or water management and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," says A Selvin Nadar, in his fifties, who relocated from Tamil Nadu in that period. "The only way is to clear the area and provide modern residences."

Community Resistance

But others, like the leather artisan, are opposing the redevelopment.

All recognize that the slum, long neglected as an illegal encroachment, is in stark need economic input and modernization. But they worry that this project – without community input – is one that will turn premium city property into a playground for the rich, evicting the marginalized, working-class residents who have lived there since the nineteenth century.

It was these shunned, migrant workers who developed the uninhabited area into a frequently examined example of community resilience and commercial output, whose economic value is worth between a significant amount and $2m annually, making it one of the world's largest unofficial markets.

Relocation Worries

Among approximately one million people living in the dense sprawling zone, fewer than half will be qualified for new homes in the project, which is expected to take seven years to finish. The remainder will be transferred to wastelands and coastal regions on the distant periphery of the metropolis, risking break up a historic community. A portion will receive no homes at all.

Residents permitted to continue living in the area will be given units in tower blocks, a major break from the natural, collective approach of dwelling and laboring that has sustained this area for generations.

Commercial activities from garment work to ceramic crafts and material recovery are expected to decrease in quantity and be relocated to an allocated "industrial sector" far from residential areas.

Livelihood Crisis

For residents like the leather artisan, a workshop owner and third generation of his family to call home Dharavi, the plan presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-storey facility produces leather coats – tailored coats, luxury coats, studded bomber jackets – distributed in luxury boutiques in the city's affluent areas and internationally.

His family resides in the rooms underneath and laborers and tailors – migrants from other states – live there, permitting him to manage costs. Away from Dharavi's enclave, housing costs are typically tenfold as high for a single room.

Threats and Warning

In the administrative buildings nearby, a visual representation of the Dharavi project depicts a very different perspective. Slickly dressed residents move around on two-wheelers and eco-friendly transport, acquiring international bread and pastries and having coffee on a terrace outside a restaurant and Ice-Cream. It is a complete departure from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and 5-rupee chai that supports the neighborhood.

"This is not development for our community," says the protester. "This constitutes a huge land development that will price people out for us to survive."

There is also skepticism of the business conglomerate. Managed by an influential industrialist – a leading figure and a close ally of the Indian prime minister – the conglomerate has faced accusations of preferential treatment and ethical concerns, which it rejects.

Even as the state government labels it a partnership, the corporation invested a significant amount for its controlling interest. A lawsuit claiming that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the developer is under review in India's supreme court.

Sustained Harassment

After they started to vocally oppose the project, Shaikh and other residents assert they have been faced ongoing efforts of coercion and warning – including messages, clear intimidation and insinuations that criticizing the initiative was comparable with speaking against the country – by individuals they allege work for the business conglomerate.

Part of the group accused of delivering warnings is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c