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Over an extended period, intimidating messages recurred. Originally, reportedly from a former police officer and a retired army general, later from law enforcement directly. Finally, one resident states he was summoned to law enforcement headquarters and told clearly: keep quiet or face serious consequences.

The leather artisan is one of many opposing a expensive project where Dharavi – a massive informal community with rich history – will be bulldozed and transformed by a multinational conglomerate.

"The distinctive community of this area is unparalleled in the planet," explains the protester. "But their intention is to destroy our social fabric and stop us speaking out."

Contrasting Realities

The cramped lanes of this community sit in stark contrast to the towering buildings and luxury apartments that dominate the settlement. Homes are constructed informally and typically without proper sanitation, informal businesses emit toxic smoke and the atmosphere is saturated with the overpowering odor of open sewers.

Among some individuals, the prospect of Dharavi transformed into a modern district of high-end towers, organized recreational areas, shiny shopping centers and homes with two toilets is an aspirational dream achieved.

"We don't have sufficient health services, proper streets or drainage and we have no places for kids to enjoy," says A Selvin Nadar, 56, who relocated from southern India in 1982. "The sole solution is to demolish everything and construct proper housing."

Local Protest

Yet certain residents, like this protester, are opposing the redevelopment.

All recognize that Dharavi, historically ignored as an illegal encroachment, is urgently needing economic input and modernization. However they are concerned that this plan – without community input – could potentially turn a piece of prime Mumbai real estate into a luxury development, evicting the marginalized, migrant communities who have resided there since generations ago.

This involved these shunned, relocated individuals who established the vacant wetlands into a widely studied marvel of local enterprise and business activity, whose output is worth between $1m and two million dollars a year, making it among the globe's biggest informal economies.

Resettlement Issues

Out of about 1 million inhabitants living in the packed 2.2 square kilometer area, less than 50% will be qualified for replacement housing in the project, which is projected to take a significant period to complete. Additional residents will be moved to undeveloped zones and salt plains on the distant periphery of the metropolis, risking fragment a long-established social network. Some will be denied homes at all.

Those allowed to continue living in the area will be given flats in multi-story structures, a major break from the natural, collective approach of living and working that has maintained the community for so long.

Businesses from garment work to ceramic crafts and recycling are projected to decrease in quantity and be moved to an allocated "business area" far from homes.

Existential Threat

For residents like Shaikh, a workshop owner and third generation inhabitant to call home the slum, the project presents a survival challenge. His makeshift, three-floor operation creates garments – tailored coats, premium outerwear, decorated jackets – distributed in luxury boutiques in upscale neighborhoods and abroad.

His family dwells in the spaces downstairs and his workers and sewers – migrants from different regions – also sleep there, permitting him to sustain operations. Outside the slum, housing costs are typically 10 times more expensive for a single room.

Threats and Warning

At the official facilities close by, a visual representation of the Dharavi project depicts a very different outlook. Slickly dressed inhabitants gather on two-wheelers and e-vehicles, buying western-style bread and croissants and socializing on a patio adjacent to a coffee shop and Ice-Cream. It is a world away from the inexpensive idli sambar morning meal and low-cost tea that maintains local residents.

"This is not development for residents," explains the artisan. "This constitutes a massive land development that will price people out for us to survive."

Furthermore, there's concern of the development company. Headed by a prominent businessman – one of India's most powerful and a supporter of the government head – the corporation has faced accusations of favoritism and questionable practices, which it rejects.

Even as administrative bodies calls it a collaborative effort, the developer contributed a significant amount for its 80% stake. A lawsuit claiming that the initiative was unfairly awarded to the developer is being considered in India's supreme court.

Ongoing Pressure

From when they initiated to publicly resist the project, local opponents state they have been subjected to a long-running campaign of coercion and warning – including messages, explicit warnings and suggestions that speaking against the development was equivalent to anti-national sentiment – by figures they allege work for the developer.

Among those alleged to have issuing the threats is {a retired police officer|a former law enforcement official|an ex-c