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For months, threatening communications recurred. At first, supposedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, subsequently from the authorities. Finally, one resident claims he was called to the police station and told clearly: remain silent or experience severe repercussions.

The leather artisan is one of many resisting a expensive project where one of India's largest slums – one of India’s largest and most storied slums – faces bulldozed and redeveloped by a large business group.

"The distinctive community of the slum is unparalleled in the planet," says the resident. "However their intention is to destroy our way of life and stop us speaking out."

Opposing Environments

The dank gullies of this community stand in sharp opposition to the high-rise structures and elite residences that overshadow the area. Homes are built haphazardly and frequently missing basic amenities, unregulated industries produce dangerous fumes and the atmosphere is filled with the overpowering odor of open sewers.

For certain residents, the promise of a renewed Dharavi into a modern district of luxury high-rises, well-maintained green spaces, shiny shopping centers and residences with two toilets is a hopeful vision realized.

"We don't have proper healthcare, roads or drainage and there's nowhere for kids to enjoy," explains a chai seller, 56, who migrated from Tamil Nadu in the early eighties. "The sole solution is to tear it all down and provide modern residences."

Local Protest

But others, like the leather artisan, are fighting against the project.

None deny that Dharavi, historically ignored as unauthorized settlement, is in stark need financial support and improvement. Yet they are concerned that this initiative – absent of public consultation – could potentially transform a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, displacing the lower-caste, migrant communities who have been there since the late 1800s.

These were these shunned, displaced people who developed the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and economic productivity, whose production is estimated at between $1m and $2m annually, making it a major unofficial markets.

Displacement Concerns

Among approximately one million residents living in the dense sprawling neighborhood, fewer than half will be eligible for new homes in the redevelopment, which is projected to take seven years to accomplish. Others will be relocated to undeveloped zones and coastal regions on the remote edges of Mumbai, threatening to fragment a historic neighborhood. Some will not get housing at all.

Those allowed to stay in Dharavi will be allocated apartments in tower blocks, a major break from the evolved, shared lifestyle of dwelling and laboring that has maintained this area for so long.

Businesses from clothing production to pottery and recycling are projected to shrink in number and be moved to a specific "business area" separated from residential areas.

Survival Challenge

In the case of this protester, a craftsman and long-time resident to live in the slum, the project presents a fundamental risk. His informal, three-floor facility creates apparel – tailored coats, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – marketed in premium stores in upscale neighborhoods and internationally.

Household members lives in the spaces downstairs and his workers and tailors – workers from other states – also sleep there, permitting him to manage costs. Away from Dharavi's enclave, accommodation prices are frequently 10 times as high for minimal space.

Pressure and Coercion

At the official facilities in the vicinity, an illustrated mock-up of the transformation initiative shows a very different vision for the future. Fashionable inhabitants gather on two-wheelers and electric vehicles, purchasing western-style baguettes and croissants and enlisting beverages on an outdoor area outside a coffee shop and dessert parlor. This represents a stark contrast from the affordable idli sambar first meal and 5-rupee chai that supports local residents.

"This represents no progress for residents," states Shaikh. "It's a massive real estate deal that will make it unaffordable for our community to continue."

Additionally, there exists distrust of the business conglomerate. Run by a prominent businessman – among the country's wealthiest and a close ally of the national leader – the conglomerate has encountered allegations of crony capitalism and financial impropriety, which it disputes.

While administrative bodies calls it a joint project, the developer paid nearly a billion dollars for its 80% stake. Legal proceedings stating that the redevelopment was unfairly awarded to the corporation is being considered in the nation's highest judicial body.

Ongoing Pressure

After they started to publicly resist the redevelopment, local opponents assert they have been experienced a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – comprising communications, direct threats and insinuations that speaking against the initiative was tantamount to anti-national sentiment – by individuals they claim represent the corporate group.

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